One of the only activities I planned ahead of time for our European Adventure was a food walk in Ljubljana, Slovenia with Ljubljananjam. Brett and I love to try new foods and get a sense of new places by sampling local cuisines, so I felt that a food walk would be a perfect way to get acquainted with Ljubljana! Ljubljananjam offers a variety of different food walks, from "Ljubljana Essentials" to a craft beer tour to tours focusing on coffee and cakes. To set up the reservation, I got in touch with Iva, the owner of Ljubljananjam. She was very easy to communicate with and very helpful in figuring out our preferences via email. We let her know that we were interested in a "Ljubljana Essentials" tour and would need gluten-free food because Brett was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. It was great to hear that a gluten free tour would be no problem. We met Iva by the Tourist Information Center in the center of Ljubljana, an easy walk from our Airbnb, though we initially went to the wrong Tourist Information Center. Luckily, she waited for us even though we were a few minutes late. Iva was friendly, knowledgable, and eager to share about Slovenia's food, culture, and history. Iva, Brett, and I spent the next three hours walking through the streets of Ljubljana, trying a wide variety of foods and learning more about this place. We started in Ljubljana's central market, which is set up almost every day and offers stands filled with produce, cheese, plants, and meats. Personally, I love markets, so I had fun perusing the various offerings as we made our way through the market. Iva had some specific stands for us to sample, including a stand that made goat and sheep cheeses and a meat stand where we tried bear sausage! Yes, it is made with real bear meat mixed with pork! From the market, we sat down at a small shop to eat bowls of vegetable soup before heading to a restaurant where we shared sea bream with lemony potato puree and chicken fillet with buckwheat and pumpkin seed oil sauce. Iva warned us ahead of time that we should expect the fish to be served whole, and, sure enough, on the plate was the entire fish, bones and eyes and all. She was nice enough to de-bone most of the fish for us. We learned that pumpkin seed oil is a common ingredient in Slovenian cuisine. Armed with that knowledge, we headed out of the restaurant to sample some pumpkin seed oil. Next, we stopped in a shop that sold a variety of Slovenian products, including pumpkin seed oil and Slovenian liquor. We were able to taste pumpkin seed oil made from raw and roasted pumpkin seeds. I liked the unique flavor of the pumpkin seed oil and ended up choosing it as salad dressing for other meals in Ljubljana. We also sampled some flavors of Slovenian liquor, which came in flavors like honey, sour cherry, and blueberry. Our next stop was at one of the cafes along the river to drink Slovenian wine. Iva picked a Lisjak Sauvignon Blanc for us, which was quite good. Google tells me that Boris Lisjak is a Slovenian winery in western Slovenia, only 16 km from Trieste, Italy. Brett and I typically choose red wines more often than whites, but we both really liked Iva's pick for us. It was highly enjoyable to drink our wine at a table outside, surrounded by the beautiful buildings of Ljubljana's Old Town with the river in the background. We actually went back to this same cafe the following day to relax with another glass of wine in the sunshine. Following the wine stop, we got gelato! After sampling a few different flavors, I ultimately chose a combination of lemon-ricotta gelato and a flavor with pumpkin seed oil, one scoop of each flavor in my cup. The food tour finished with coffee and espresso. Because Brett loves coffee, Iva and the guy in the shop showed him how to make espresso using the machine, which he had never done before. We chatted for awhile with the guy working in the cafe and found out that he is in a band called Koala Voice, just back from a tour around Europe. Throughout the tour, Iva gave us a number of recommendations for food and drink in Ljubljana and marked them on our map. We appreciated hearing where to go from someone familiar with the food and drink scene in Ljubljana, rather than wandering around by ourselves and guessing which shops were good. Our favorite recommendation from Iva was Moderna, a cafe in the Museum of Modern Art. They roast their own coffee beans and were the only shop in Ljubljana that served pour over coffee (or filter coffee, as they generally called it in Europe). Overall, I highly recommend Ljubljananjam Food Walks! Iva really personalizes the tour for each group and provides a wonderful experience. I didn't include the restaurant names in this post because I don't want to give away all of Iva's secret spots! The only name that I included - Moderna Cafe - wasn't actually on the tour, just a recommendation of Iva's. Brett and I felt that the food tour was easily worth the money that we paid, given the variety of foods we tried as well as the personalized service. The food walk doubled as our lunch, since the tour started at 11:00am and lasted until approximately 2:00pm. It was a fantastic introduction to the city of Ljubljana, and it was clear that Iva was happy to show off her city. I recommend doing a food walk early in your visit to Ljubljana, since it will help orient you to the city. You will also benefit from Iva's recommendations for the rest of your stay! If you are headed to Ljubljana, go to the Ljubljananjam website and find the right food walk for you!
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AuthorMy name is Alyssa Good and I have a passion for travel, adventure, culture, and new experiences! I focus on budget friendly travel, trip planning resources, and seeking out new experiences. Archives
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