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Namaste Restaurant

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fizzytom
fizzytom
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4 out of 5
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Say Hello to Namaste

  • May 4, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by fizzytom from Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Say Hello to Namaste

During my first visit to Ljubljana some Slovenian acquaintances told us that Slovenians don’t much care for spicy food. When, a few nights later, they took us to a Mexican restaurant where the food was filling but rather bland, I thought our friends must be right. Later that trip we went to Lake Bled where we visited "The Ocarina" which bills itself as having Slovenia’s first tandoor oven; however this is only fired on two nights a week so if you want Indian food you should check ahead. In 2007 we visited Maribor where we ate at Srecni Slon, Slovenia’s first Indian restaurant. Finally, later that year, the capital finally got its own Indian restaurant, "Namaste".

Namaste is on the northern bank of the Ljubljanica River in the heart of tourist Ljubljana so it’s close to the Old Town and many of the city centre hotels. So Ljubljana is small and you’ll never be really far away from Namaste, but they did manage to bag themselves a pretty cool spot in what must be a sought after area. They also managed to get themselves a fairly decent bit of outdoor space and this is a great place to eat on a summer’s lunchtime or warm evening.

It’s housed in a solid old building and looks very smart and quite formal from the outside but once inside you can see that the decor is very contemporary and inviting. The colour scheme is peach and sage green with lovely contemporary lighting with wrought iron effect fittings. As you enter the bar is on your right and to the left there are a few high tables with bar stools, somewhere you might wait until a table is ready but it doesn’t look to me comfortable enough to dine. One failing I find with the layout is that it’s quite open so there are no quieter nooks and crannies and they do often get large parties dining. We ate outside as it was a very hot evening.

Although the menu does offer a good, broad selection of dishes, they specialise in food from Northern India, namely Punjabi and Rajastani dishes. Vegetarians are well catered for and there are seafood dishes too. Soups start at just 2€ 50 which is a bargain and there is a range of other starters such as popadoms and different kinds of pakora. Although we had been looking forward to this experience for some time we were hot and bothered and decided to go without starters on this occasion.

Although the menu offers a range of dishes of different degrees of spiciness we couldn’t forget the words of our Slovene friends and decided that we should go for hotter dishes as they were unlikely to be that hot. I opted for lamb and my companion opted for fish, both served in what was ambiguously described as a "hot sauce". We also ordered a portion of tarka dal (yellow lentils cooked with onions and garlic) and a potato side dish.

When the meals came I tucked in eagerly and got a terrible shock – the food was hot after all, very hot! A mango lassi was requested at once; this was quickly downed and another ordered. Thankfully the waiter offered to bring some yoghurt to temper my dish. I’ll never be so cocky again. Once tamed my dish was excellent. There was plenty of meat and it was beautifully tender. The sauce was spicy but you could make out the individual flavours quite well. The fish dish was also successful and much less hot but still had a nice fiery kick and some good use of spices. The fish was a good size and this dish was good value. As for the side dishes they were OK, nothing startling but perfectly acceptable.

The service was friendly enough but I couldn’t say that it stood out more than anywhere in the city where service tends to be speedy and efficient but rarely spontaneously friendly. Everything was cleared away in good time and it was easy enough to get the attention of staff. They also did a god job of keeping us in drinks on that hot evening.

The bill came to 33€ 67 and was presented in a quirky little wooden box which was a nice touch (and clearly memorable as I’m recounting it now!). This included three 33cl beers and two mango lassi so it’s not bad value although you are paying a bit for the location. This was over a year ago however and mains have increased in price and average between 10 and 14€. I have checked with locals and the standard of food is as good as ever.
Other people I know who live in LJ love this place and tend to reserve for special occasions. It won’t be the best curry you’ve ever had but if you are yearning for some hot spicy food then head this way.

Breg 8, 1000 Ljubljana (between Shoemakers (Čevljarski) and Saint Jacob (Šentjakobski) bridges).

Tel.: +386 1 425 01 59


OPENING HOURS:
MONDAY - FRIDAY : 11.00 - 24.00, SATURDAY : 11.00 - 24.00, SUNDAY : 11.00 - 22.00

The lunchtime set menu is 7€ 50 for vegetarians, and 8€ 50 for meat dishes. There are several options and you get soup, a main, a side dish and a dessert.

Namaste also operates a takeaway service, good if you have rented an apartment!

From journal Delightful Ljubljana

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