Description: "Vodnikov Hram" is a fairly large gostilna (a traditional Slovene restaurant) situated at the foot of the "Great Glass Elevator" as I like to call it, or the "Castle Funicular" as it’s known to most people. It’s in a good location opposite the outdoor market, just below the castle, and a two minute walk from the Triple Bridge which is essentially the centre of Ljubljana. We’d been in the restaurant some years previously but only for a cold drink in an air-conditioned environment one hot July afternoon. A board outside the entrance gave an idea of what to expect – which is more or less the same as most restaurants of this kind: breaded chicken, cevapcici, a fish main, a couple of pasta dishes, Kranj sausage, risotto and so on. "Kosilo" and "Malica" were advertised at a reasonable €4.50 and €7.50 respectively.
As I have mentioned before, restaurants in Slovenian town centres tend to be very busy at lunchtime and horribly quiet in the evenings. There are two reasons for this: first, Slovenians tend to eat their main meal at lunchtime, and, second, if they do go out to eat in the evening, it’s more likely to be at a suburban or rural establishment. Although friends tell me the practice is becoming more common, Slovenians tend not to be satisfied with a sandwich at their desk and much prefer to leave the office for a proper meal. As a result, many restaurants offer a set lunch, or a choice of a couple of set lunches, which is known as "kosilo". A kosilo usually consists of soup, a main course and side dish, a salad and a dessert and can cost as little as €5.50, though something in the region of €7 is more common. "Malica" on the other hand, is slightly smaller and usually consist of just a part of a kosilo, for example, a main and salad, or a main and dessert and is usually available from a slightly earlier time. When the country was based on more of a rural economy than it is today, country folk, who rose early, would be ready for a meal around 10.30am – malica. These days some country people still eat a meal at this time, as well as other people who rise early for work (for example, construction workers or drivers) and many elderly people who grew up with the habit. We decided to go in and find out what was on the menu for the set lunch.
The restaurant is in a old building and still retains some traditional features but has been regularly refurbished over the years. It’s clean, modern and comfortable, if a little dated. The walls are decorated with a few photographs of old Ljubljana and a paint effect tries to emphasise the impression of age.
It’s usual (unless your group is particularly large in number) to find your own table and a couple of minutes after sitting down, a waiter brought us a couple of menus and we ordered drinks. Although by now the lunch time rush was over it did take longer than it really should have done for him to come back to take our order. I enquired about the set lunch and was told it was fish; that was good enough for us. Now, we had ordered in Slovenian but the waiter was well aware of our being English as he said something in English when he brought our drinks. I must stress at this point that not only did I point at the kosilo on the menu, I also said "kosilo" when I asked so the waiter knew exactly what we wanted.
After a couple of minutes two bowls of soup were brought to us, along with a basket of bread. We were hungry and tucked into the soup, but we made a point of avoiding the bread as we didn’t know how substantial the main course would be. The soup was little more than a consommé with small pieces of noodle in the bottom but it was an adequate starter and typical of what you get when you have one of these set lunches. It was not a soup to win awards, it was just average.
Shortly after we were presented with our main courses; this was a couple of nicely cooked pieces of white fish perched upon a heap of buttery crushed potatoes and mangold (similar to chard and very popular in Slovenia). We expected our salads to turn up at any moment and when they didn’t we stopped the waiter and asked him. "No salad" he told us. Being typically British we said nothing more to the waiter but complained between ourselves. We resolved to check the bill and then query the lack of salad again if we were charged for the full lunch.
We sat for quite a while before the desserts were brought to us, even though our plates had long since been cleared. The dessert was some kind of profiterole type thing – certainly a choux pastry shell filled with some kind of cream and covered in a chocolately drizzle. As I didn’t get the chance to ask whether it contained nuts before the waiter disappeared again I didn’t eat it myself. Himself ate his and said it was "alright" – he’s not a pudding person – but he didn’t want to eat mine too. The dessert that comes at the end of a set lunch is invariably small, which is hardly surprising given that you aren’t paying much for the whole thing; besides, most people who go for the set lunch are heading back to work and don’t want to fall asleep at their desks.
When the bill came it wasn’t fully itemised but we appeared to have been charged for two koilso at €7.50 each so we grabbed a menu from the shelf behind us and confirmed for ourselves what we should have received. The waiter, when he came back, told us that that the price did not include a salad and when I pointed out that the man at the next table had received a salad AND all the other things we’d had he told me we’d ordered the malica which did not come with salad. However, when I pointed out that the bill did not show we had asked for malica, the waiter became cross, stormed off into the kitchen and could be heard shouting (something no doubt abusive) in Slovenian. He then came back with two salads which was pointless not just because we’d finished the meal, but because we were ready to leave. We refused the salad and he went back to the kitchen to shout some more; when he came back he was with the cook who spoke no English but indulged my shocking attempts to speak her language. She showed me her list of malica/jkosilo options and pointed to what she believed we’d had. I asked her why we’d been charged for the bigger meal if we’d ordered and been brought the smaller one. I really believe that if she could have clipped the waiter round the ear she would have done. After a few sharp words he took the bill away and returned with a new one, charging us for two smaller meals and giving us free drinks, concessions that seemed satisfactory given the way we’d been treated.
On the basis of what happened I'm in two minds as to whether to recommend Vodnikov Hram. The food isn't very exciting but it is good value - if you get what you're meant to; if you're on a budget this is a good option because the overall set lunch is filling and good value for money. I would say, though, that you should check exactly what you're getting before the waiter dashes off. The location is useful as you can stop off during sightseeing without having to go out of your way and the restaurant is clean and comfortable.
I'm giving three stars but would have given four had the service been better.
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