Food & Drinks in Slovenia – Slovenian Beer & Cuisine

A key aspect of travelling for me is local food and beer, and I really enjoy the cuisine and beer in Slovenia. There are many restaurants serving Slovenian food throughout the country, and these also have local beers and wines.

There are two main beers to enjoy in Slovenia: Laško and Union. We found Slovenia to be dog-friendly; thus, we had Slovenian beers and food out with Henry.

Slovenian Beers

Lasko Brewery

Lasko is a popular lager-style beer that is available in bars and eateries in Slovenia. You can usually choose Lasko draught or a bottle. The Lasko Brewery is the largest brewery in Slovenia.

Their brewery is in its namesake town, Lasko, and they established it in 1825. The founder, Franz Geyer, originally made gingerbread and mead before switching to the good stuff. They have a few beers in their range.

Laško Zlatorog, the popular lager beer that has remained unchanged since the brewery was established.
Savinjski Golding is a hoppy beer with a bitter flavour and a honey aftertaste.
Laško Zlatorog Temno is their dark beer offering.
Laško Malt is their zero-alcohol offering. This comes in fruit flavours, including pineapple, pear, and lemon.

Union Beers

My favourite Slovenian beer I’ve tried on my visits is Union. Union beer is everywhere in Slovenia, as it’s an excellent beer. The brewery was founded in 1864 as a small family business as the Kosler brewery. Since then, it has become one of the largest breweries in Slovenia.

Union’s main beer is a tasty lager-type beer which is very drinkable. They also have a range of zero-alcohol options, including a fruit radler and a plain alcohol-free version. Union Brewery has a premium range of beers, which includes light and dark unfiltered options. They also have a hoppy lager in their range.

Pivovarna Maribor – Light Unfiltered Lager

Another pleasant beer I enjoyed in Slovenia was created by Pivovarna Maribor. Pivovarna Maribor is a small brewery in Maribor city centre. They have a few beers in their repertoire. First up is the Light unfiltered lager, which is a lovely drink. It is 4.5% and is golden yellow. Other beers include a dark, unfiltered lager, which is almost black.

Crazy Duck Brewery

I tried some beer from the Crazy Duck Brewery while in Spodnje Gorje in the Slovenian countryside. It was a nice beer, and I had a few of their pale ales. They also do IPA and Weissbier in their range. The Crazy Duck Brewery is from the hills to the west of Ljubljana. It is located at the highest altitude of all the breweries in Slovenia.

What Food To Eat in Slovenia? – Slovenian Cuisine

We had many meals out while in Slovenia and tried traditional Slovenian cuisine. The food is varied and includes lots of soups, meats and seafood too. There is an overlap with Croatian cuisine, Italian food and Austrian cuisine.

Mixed Grill

A favourite meal out for me anywhere is the mixed grill or meat plate. I really enjoyed the mixed grills I had in Slovenia. They typically had pork chops, meat on skewers, sausages, and cevapcici. They serve this with flatbread and ajvar, a pepper condiment which is delicious.

There are many variants of this, and different meats and sometimes mustard are added.

Burek: A Budget-Friendly Savoury Pastry

Burek is made from layers of flaky pastry around a tasty filling. The most common savoury fillings are minced meat and cheese. They sometimes serve a cheese and spinach version, which is my least favourite.

These come in a variety of shapes, including a big pie, which they serve by the slice. There is also a rolled version which looks a bit like a snail. Burek is budget-friendly, and you can find it warm and fresh in most local bakeries, unless they have run out.

Squid – Calamari

Another dish that was frequently on the menus of restaurants in Slovenia was squid. They cook it in a few ways, either grilled, fried, or stuffed.

In one Slovenian restaurant in Maribor, they had a platter with a trio of squid, which included all three types. Lots of this squid is caught on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia.

Mushroom soup in bread

A common dish in Slovenia was the mushroom soup, which they often serve inside hollowed-out bread. This is a popular way of serving soups in Central Europe and as far east as Romania. The mushroom soups we tried were hearty and tasty.

Roast Duck and Idrijski žlikrofi

Another tasty main course was roast duck served with Idrijski žlikrofi. The duck was delicious. Idrijski žlikrofi was the side dish, and these are a traditional dumpling that they often used as a side dish with meals. They make Idrijski žlikrofi with dough with a potato filling, and it tastes good.

Rolled Dumplings – Štruklji

Štruklji is a traditional Slovenian food, and it can be either sweet or savoury. It has been around since the 16th century and has passed the test of time. There are many regional variations of the dish; however, those we tried were delicious.

Slovenian Cheeses

One of my favourite ways of enjoying local food when travelling is to order a cheeseboard. We ordered a few while visiting Slovenia and found the local cheese to be delicious. These typically come with hard and soft cheeses, as well as delicious smoked options. My favourite was Trnič cheese, which was similar in texture to Parmesan with a strong flavour.

Bled Breakfast

A great experience we had at Lake Bled for local food was ordering the Bled Breakfast. The Bled Breakfast is a delivery service that supplies all you need for a filling breakfast. They filled the hamper with local produce. This includes Slovenian baked goods, local cured meats, cheeses and eggs. They also included jams and locally produced juices. Overall, this was excellent food, and it set us up for a day of hiking in this part of Slovenia.

Strudel

A popular dessert in the restaurants and bakeries is strudel. It is a pastry dish with a fruity filling that is originally from Vienna, but the Habsburg Empire spread its popularity. There are many types of strudel available, including apple and berry. It is often served with cream or ice cream and is a delicious dessert.

Stuffed Chicken

Another meal out I enjoyed was a chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. They served this with roast potatoes, rice and vegetables. This was a delicious meal out and was a variant of a pretty familiar dish from my travels.

Zrezek – Schnitzel

‘Zrezek’ is the Slovenian name for ‘schnitzel’, a popular dish in Central Europe, including Slovenia. This is a thin piece of meat covered in breadcrumbs and fried. We tried this in various restaurants in the country. Typically, in Slovenia, the meats used are pork and chicken.

Seafood

Slovenia has a small stretch of coast, and we found lots of seafood on menus. The best seafood we tried was at a riverside restaurant in Ptuj. This included prawns, squid, fish and octopus. It was delicious and put the country’s coast firmly on my bucket list.

Bled Cream Cake

A popular dessert is the famous Bled Cream Cake. This is from the town near Lake Bled and can be tried in cafes and bakeries. The cake has a crispy pastry topping with vanilla cream. It’s rather tasty and well worth trying when out and about.

Torte & Other Desserts in Slovenia

For those that enjoy dessert, the Slovenian take on torte is rather nice, as are other puddings. Torte is an Austrian and German dish but became popular in Slovenia under Habsburg rule. We tried some lovely torte when out hiking in the vineyards near Maribor.

We also enjoyed some other creamy puddings while visiting other towns in Slovenia. Many of these contained chocolate and berries.

Slovenia Restaurant Guides

Some blog posts relating to bars, cafes and restaurants that we visited while in Slovenia. These all feature Slovenian food, beer or both.

I really enjoyed the food and drink in Slovenia. Please comment with any recommendations for my next visit.