Aramis restaurant can be a little hard to find, but it’s worth the effort. I wouldn’t have found it if it weren’t for the sign offering a special lunch deal (until 2pm).
It’s housed in the courtyard of a building on Farská Ulica/street, behind shops about halfway between the main square and the covered staircase up to the castle. The cool, vine-covered courtyard holds four wooden tables, which is enough space for about twenty people. The hubbub of the city feels far away and it’s a very pleasant place to enjoy a meal and relax for a while. The main interior part of the restaurant had another six or seven wooden tables, which could seat around thirty diners.
From the special lunch menu, I chose the fried cheese, with boiled potatoes and a starter of garlic soup. All that cost 80Sk, and while not a huge meal, was still excellent value for money. There were other typical staple dishes of the region available; chicken schnitzel pork cutlet and so on all for around the same price. Whether it was the pleasant surroundings or just my sweet tooth we’ll never know, but I decided also to have coffee and cake, which brought the total bill with a small tip up to 125Sk. The waitress was very young, but quite personable. I gave her 525Sk but she made a mistake and didn’t give me enough change. By the time I’d worked it out and double-checked, she had the correct amount in her hand and was on her way back to my table to apologise.
Even though it was closed at the time, I snuck a peek into the separate bar area, which apparently opens later in the day. The main part of the restaurant is the courtyard and the building behind it in the yard, but underneath the shops with the street frontage, there is a stone cellar with an arched roof. Assorted beer and wine paraphernalia decorated the space, and a row of lights hung along each side wall above the wooden tables and benches. The small stage at one end would seem to indicate that live bands perform there sometimes.
Aramis is open Monday through Thursday from 10am until 9pm, on Friday from 10am until 2am, Saturday from 2pm until 2am and on Sunday only from 2pm to 9pm. I’ll definitely return if I’m ever again in Trenčín. I wish I’d found it sooner in my first visit.