European Restaurants
-
A
Gostilna Jež
This very simple eatery is a great place for a cheap and filling lunch (as so many market-goers apparently seem to think).
reviewed
-
B
XXL
The Belgian chef prepares classy, French-style cuisine du marché (dishes based on what's available fresh in the markets) and will be happy to uncork a bottle of French wine.
reviewed
-
C
Istrska Konoba
The 'Istrian Cellar' restaurant at the Turška Mačka hotel is one of the few proper dining rooms in Celje open nightly. It was designed by Karst artist Lojze Spacal; check out the lovely stained-glass doors and windows.
reviewed
-
D
Kuchnia I Wino
The name, 'Cuisine and Wine', may not suggest this bistro has a lot of imagination, however, the delightfully inspired Mediterranean menu is unusual in Kraków, featuring handmade pasta and fresh seafood. It's hard to resist the lovely garden setting, while the interior, with its sky-painted ceiling and Tuscan tones, is also inviting.
reviewed
-
E
Snake House
The best place in town for Russian mains (pelmeny, manty, chicken Kiev) and soups (red and green borsht, solyanka); it also serves seafood. In a unique, slithering twist, diners sit at glass-topped tables with live serpents - many venomous - inside. The jungle-enveloped complex includes a bar, a guesthouse and a crocodile farm: one false step and the crocs will eat as well as you did.
reviewed
-
F
Restaurante 1930
Part of the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, this European-style cafe is perfect for people-watching, and you can’t beat the views of the Teatro Nacional.
reviewed
-
G
Herzog Winery
Refined dining in Herzog’s opulent dining room. Beautifully prepared food and a remarkable wine list. Less extravagant bistro meals (mains $26-28) also available.
reviewed
-
Budda Cafe
This cafe on the main road keeps a hipster vibe with ambient club music on the sound system and ‘om’ symbols stenciled everywhere. It’s a lovely setting for excellent pizzas, cocktails and crepes (savory and sweet). Grab a table over the canal outside for a prime view of the yellow-bellied flycatchers zipping over the canal. Credit cards accepted.
reviewed
-
11 The Quay
Full of Chelsea chic, this distinctive eatery is owned by the artist Damien Hirst, a man famous for exhibiting preserved dead cows and sharks. The menu's less controversial; sample cured ham with pickled garlic or lobster risotto with chives while admiring Hirst's artwork. It includes his Pharmacy installation and, with delicious irony, fish in formaldehyde. The bistro is open for lunch and dinner with snacks served all day.
reviewed
-
H
Basilica
The menu tours more Mediterranean countries than your average InterRailer – expect mezze, Parma ham parcels, grilled haloumi and pasta with chorizo.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Egan's
The wooden tables here are highly polished and so is the food. Rich local ingredients are transformed by well-travelled flavours – the local cod comes with chorizo, the guinea fowl with porcini mushroom risotto.
reviewed
-
I
Elephant Brasserie
The setting may be less formal, but the bistro below Torquay's Michelin-starred Room in the Elephant is still super-stylish. Treatments include lemon sole with shellfish ragout and Noilly Prat cream, and Devon duckling with spiced honey jus.
reviewed
-
Riverford Field Kitchen
At this futuristic farm bistro vegetables are plucked to order from the fields in front of you and the meats are organic and locally sourced. Eating is a convivial affair – diners sit at trestle tables and platters laden with food are passed around. Rich flavours and imaginative treatments might include marinated, grilled Moroccan lamb and British veg transformed by cumin or saffron. Planning laws require you to book, and take a free tour of the fields. The farm is 3 miles west of Totnes.
reviewed
-
J
Wilber's
Hidden away on the edge of Yuèxiù district, Wilber's gets top marks for atmosphere and the food is not far behind. It's housed in an elegantly restored colonial villa with whitewashed walls and a leafy patio. Beautiful urbanites love having an alfresco lunch or sundowners here, and Wilber's sometimes turns into an indoor, gay-friendly drinking den.
reviewed
-
K
Le Papillon
The featured restaurant at Manuel Antonio’s landmark luxury hotel is perfectly perched to take in the daily sunset over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As you’d imagine, you’re paying for the view at this world-class institution, though when the sun dips below the horizon and lights up the sky, you’ll stop caring about the price. The food is largely continental cuisine that takes advantage of Costa Rica’s rich bounty of fresh seafood and tropical produce – if you’re trying to keep to your budget, the lunch menu is a good deal.
reviewed
-
Vančar
If you want to eat where local people do, head for this place about 3km south of Bovec. Expect huge portions.
reviewed
-
Zmajev Hram
Housed in a stunning (and totally revamped) 1920s-style building next to the cave entrance, the 'Cave Restaurant' has a dozen set menus from which to choose. There's also a much cheaper self-service restaurant nearby.
reviewed
-
L
JB
Old-world charm, a hybrid Slovenian-Mediterranean-French menu, a top-notch wine list and very stylish decor have made this restaurant one of the most popular in town for a fancy meal.
reviewed
-
M
Ribič
Arguably the best restaurant in Ptuj, the 'Angler' faces the river and the speciality here is - not surprisingly - fish, especially boiled or fried trout. The seafood soup served in a bowl made of bread is exceptional. If the oil on the salad tastes odd (nutty, a little smoky), that's because it's pumpkin-seed oil (bučno olje), a speciality of the Drava Plain region. Make sure to have the dessert speciality: chocolate fondant with ice cream. There's live Slovenian folk music some nights.
reviewed
-
N
L’Estaminet
Done up like a rustic Belgian pub, L’Estaminet is heavily stocked with a wide selection of Belgian beers – including those potent monastery brews. It also has a selection of excellent wood-fired pizzas, which makes it worth coming for dinner, as well as drinks. The seating areas out the back and on the left are kid-friendly.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
O
Ecco
The vehemently sustainable Ecco was named America's best new restaurant in 2006 by Esquire magazine, and you can certainly have a blowout meal here. But you can also go the tapas/small bite route ($4 to $14) and leave floored with some change in your pocket. The fried goat's cheese with honey and black pepper and the chili-braised pork with garlic and homemade pappardelle are both extraordinary.
reviewed
-
Rose Villa
In-the-know local B&B owners frequently steer their guests to this lovely new under-the-radar bistro, in a renovated Victorian house a few miles north of Daytona. The menu is charmingly old-fashioned 'Continental' – veal chop in cream sauce, Scottish salmon with caper butter – and the setting (vintage wallpaper, heavy carpets, bone china) enchanting. If it's nice out, try for a table in the tree-shaded backyard gazebo.
reviewed
-
P
De Paso
Surprisingly inexpensive good eats in a roadside hideaway just east of town.
reviewed
-
Q
Park Café
Built from scratch, though it looks deceptively like a restored historic building, the Park Café is an anomalous (and felicitous) fusion of antique shop and French restaurant. Michelin-starred chef Richard Neat offers an exquisite menu – crab ravioli with asparagus, artichoke and ginger sauce, for starters – and a carefully curated wine list. The backdrop, created by Neat's partner Louise French, is eclectically decorated and features antiques from India and Bali arranged in the garden courtyard and elegant interior.
reviewed
-
Orangerie im Schlosspark
This beautifully converted 18th-century orangery opens onto a leafy terrace facing the Schlosspark. The chef cooks fresh, seasonal dishes from chanterelle tagliatelle to hearty beef broth with homemade dumplings.
reviewed