Description: I’m usually a bit sceptical about fish restaurants in the middle of land-locked countries. Yes, I know you can eat freshwater fish but I’ve never really been a fan of the slighty sludgy flavour of river fish (Scottish salmon excepted) and I find the whole rigmarole of removing countless little bones tedious and off-putting. But sea fish and sea food should, in my opinion be fresh from the sea the same day, if possible, and a restaurant owner or chef should be down at the market at the crack of dawn buying whatever is in season and plentiful that day. Furthermore, the menu in such restaurants should be adaptable and in tune with the seasons, not the same day in day out, over the course of the year; it’s easy enough to tell a customer something is not available that day, but so much better to have a fast changing menu that reflects the very best of the local produce on offer on any day. My final rule is to avoid fish restaurants (or eating fish claimed to be fresh in any restaurant) on a Sunday because most fish markets are closed on Sundays and therefore your fish has been hanging around at least one day, probably more.
By visiting Riblja Konoba, then, I was breaking several of my self-imposed rules. The restaurant is in Niš in the south east of Serbia, a couple of hours from the borders with Bulgaria and Macedonia. Thanks to a combination of poor roads, heavy traffic (Niš is on the route between Turkey and western Europe) and strategically placed mountain ranges (between Serbia and Kosovo, and between Kosovo and the Montenegro coast, just one of the supply routes for fresh fish), getting freshly landed fish from market to the restaurants of eastern Serbia is not a swift process.
The other way in which I violated my own code of piscitarian conduct was to visit Riblja Konoba on a Sunday night. We’d eaten meat (a mountain of it) the night before and knew that we’d be eating lots of meat throughout our holiday so we decided to break with tradition and try this restaurant which had been highly recommended in the Niš in Your Pocket publication.
A ‘konoba’ is a traditional tavern-type of establishment and it’s a word I associate particularly with Croatia; in my experience a konoba is rustic and authentic and serves hearty old-fashioned cooking. I’ve only seen the name konoba used to describe a couple of places outside of Croatia, and when I have done, it’s been given to a restaurant serving Croatian specialities. "Riblja" refers to the fact that this restaurant specialises in fish dishes.
Riblja Konoba is situated in the centre of Niš, mercifully set back from a fairly busy road. It didn’t look too exciting from the outside and the patio area in front of the entrance could have benefited from some attention. There were some nice features such as a trailing vine but overall it was a little shabby. However, since it was a warm evening, we decided to eat outside and only saw the interior of the restaurant during brief visits to use the toilet. The interior is also a little down at heel but it is certainly cosy with a vague nautical theme going on.
The menu was in Serbian and English though it was pretty obvious that some of the traditionally Serbian dishes (and a couple of the fish names) had proven difficult to translate so the Serbian name had been used. The menu was quite extensive and there was a good mix of sea and freshwater fish types as well as seafood and shellfish such as squid and prawns. The guidebook had particularly recommended a dish comprising smoked carp and something called podvarak; it advised that you shouldn’t worry about what that was, but order it anyway and enjoy it. Himself decided to do just that. I played it safe with a portion of crispy fired whitebait. We shared a Serbian salad (essentially a mixed salad but distinguished by the addition of hot yellow-green peppers). A half loaf of bread (really, a whole half loaf, unsliced!) was brought to the table after our order had been taken; as this was the beginning of my holiday I was trying to be good and so I avoided the bread. The salad was not far behind; the salad is never brought with your main courses unless you specifically ask, usually it’s served as if its a starter. This salad was very tasty and colourful and contained lots of hot peppers, just as we like.
Himself asked for a beer and was offered a choice of imported beers, having quite a job of convincing the young waiter that he wanted to drink Serbian beer; eventually the penny dropped. I asked for red wine ("dva deci" of it as we say in Slovenia, which is close enough to the Serbian for the waiter to understand) and was brought a decent enough Macedonian red.
Although we were happy in each other’s company (ask again at the end of a whole fortnight of spending all day every day together) we did feel a little isolated and should really have sat inside. I was also starting to worry about whether I should have DEETed before leaving the hostel. No music was piped outside which was a shame.
Fortunately our food didn’t take too long to come; first the salad which is almost always the way in this part of the world, then our fish dishes. The smoked carp looked brilliant; a delicious looking piece of fish, sitting on top of what looked like a rich tomatoe-y stew with cabbage in it, and the whole lot presented in an earthenware dish with extended sides. My white bait was presented in a not quite so nice way, strewn over a silver tray, but as they tasted so good I didn’t really mind. They were accompanied by a little gravy boat containing a very garlicky vinaigrette.
For a moment I wished I’d ordered the carp myself as it looked stunning but, although it tasted excellent, I couldn’t have eaten that much of it myself because the smokiness was just a little too heavy for my tastes. On the other hand, the stew, which turned out to be made with pickled cabbage worked really well with the fish, cutting through the smokiness rather well.
This was a lovely meal which would probably have been more enjoyable had there been a better atmosphere at the restaurant; this was mainly due to the fact that there were no other customers outdoors but the place could have looked a bit nicer too. The portions were good and the food tasted delicious. At less than £15 for two including drinks our meals were great value; I’m guessing we’d have paid a bit more had the restaurant been situated somewhere more scenic.
Riblja konoba
Kralja Stefana Prvovencanog 5, Niš
The Niš listings magazine says that the restaurant is open daily from 08.00 until midnight but the restaurant was closing as we left at 8.00 on a Sunday evening.
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