Last Friday my lovely lady & I jetted off for a nice weekend break in Eastern Europe. Well, ish - it was Ryanair we booked with & we sat in the plane for over an hour before moving an inch. Which was fun, as you can imagine. Thankfully we managed to nab a couple of emergency exit seats so at least my long legs could actually stretch out whilst we waited...
Anyway, as I was saying, we travelled to Eastern Europe for a couple of nights, just to get out of the city & take advantage of some cheap flights. The destination was Slovakia, and to be more precise Bratislava, its tiny capital.
If you've never been to Bratislava, I'd highly recommend it. It's a small city as I said, so a couple of nights is plenty of time to decide whether you like the place or not, as it's easily possible to get around to most places without any hassle, and everywhere is within walking distance too!
We were staying right in the heart of Bratislava old town (Staré Mesto), which is just so pretty and full of big old buildings. Bars, cafe, bistros & restaurants are dotted all over the place, along with the obligatory souvenir shops, and the welcome we received in each one we visited was the same - warm, friendly and accommodating. A really great advert for Bratislava and its people.
But enough of my waffle; this is a food blog, so let's get on to the food & drink!
Actually the drink side of things is pretty simple to cover off: it's beer. Lots of beer, from dark, to light, to blonde, and from alcohol-free, to strong, to stronger. Beer is often matched with food on the menus in a lot of restaurants, which is a great concept; wine with some of these big meals just wouldn't cut it somehow...
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| Sladovňa beer |
Slovak food is hearty fare, and with the colder climate, food like this is much needed to provide some essential internal heating! The food reminded me (unsurprisingly) of the kind of meals I've had in the Czech Republic, as well as around Bavaria, and consists of staples such as duck, goose, lots of pork, cabbage, and some lovely sauces. Hungry you may be when you enter a Slovak restaurant, but hungry you certainly won't be when you leave; the portions are huge!
Take a look at some of the things we munched, slurped and struggled through during our 2 days in the Slovakian capital:
We visited a fair few places to have a drink and a bite to eat (still full!), but our favourite place of all? Well it has to be Sladovňa, a very cool bar & restaurant set in a restored malthouse. A small selection of local & European beers are joined by some fantastic traditional Slovak cuisine, all cooked perfectly, which you can enjoy sat at oak tables whilst being waited on by the attentive, friendly staff. A definite recommendation for any trip to Bratislava!
Bratislava is easily accessible these days, with Ryanair flying out from many destinations every day (including Dublin - with the exception of Saturdays), and flight times are under 3 hours. So what are you waiting for? Bratislava comes highly recommended to those of you who want to sample a beautiful small capital city in a couple of days, accompanied by great food, great drinks and faultless customer service.
Take a look at some of the things we munched, slurped and struggled through during our 2 days in the Slovakian capital:
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| Liptauer cheese, pork dripping with bacon & red onion, pickled veg, handmade brawn & homemade bread |
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| Bryndzove Halusky (gnocchi with Bryndza cheese & bacon) |
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| Grilled Slovak sausage with mustard & horseradish |
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| Breakfast! French toast, scrambled egg, bacon, sausage & grilled vegetables |
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| Beef tongue with horseradish & cranberry |
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| Moravský Vrabec (stewed pork cubes served with braised cabbage and steamed dumplings) |
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| Grilované Pikantné kuracie krídelká - Deer goulash with red wine & cranberry sauce and bread dumplings |
We visited a fair few places to have a drink and a bite to eat (still full!), but our favourite place of all? Well it has to be Sladovňa, a very cool bar & restaurant set in a restored malthouse. A small selection of local & European beers are joined by some fantastic traditional Slovak cuisine, all cooked perfectly, which you can enjoy sat at oak tables whilst being waited on by the attentive, friendly staff. A definite recommendation for any trip to Bratislava!
Bratislava is easily accessible these days, with Ryanair flying out from many destinations every day (including Dublin - with the exception of Saturdays), and flight times are under 3 hours. So what are you waiting for? Bratislava comes highly recommended to those of you who want to sample a beautiful small capital city in a couple of days, accompanied by great food, great drinks and faultless customer service.
A quick final note to my fellow blogger French Foodie In Dublin: Moods was only 20m from our hotel, but was closed! We might be heading there again in the summer, so hopefully that will give us a better result!
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