LAJK restaurant Dubrovnik — Restaurant in Dubrovnik

Well, where to start with this restaurant? As other reviewers allude to, this is a cynical tourist trap. After hiking Mount Srd in wholly unsuitable footwear to see the sunset, you could say my guard was down somewhat. Entering the old town through the unfamiliar Buza Gate, hunger and weary legs had clearly blinded my better sense. The restaurant is fronted by a relatively well put-together waiter, who evidently hunts for tourists in the crowd. Honestly, he wouldn’t look out of place on a James Bond set, stroking a fluffy white cat. Enticed by the slightly lower prices and fairy lights, we were seated by a brusque waitress who initially didn’t provide a drinks menu. I now understand why.

The drinks in this restaurant are criminally overpriced. The cheapest option for us was €25 for a litre of house white wine. On reflection, this is probably 750ml of wine diluted with 250ml water, but I imagine it disguised the taste. I’ll consider that a small mercy. We were also offered still water, which we accepted. A grave error.

We were then presented with a bread basket. I say ‘presented’, it was unceremoniously dumped on the table by said waitress without a word. For our main meal, I opted for the braised beef with gnocchi, and my partner chose the shrimp gnocchi.

Regarding my meal: if you are a British citizen and a fan of free primary school meals, this could be the dish for you. I can only describe the sauce as a crushed and diluted oxo cube. I spotted some carrot and gnocchi floating in the gloop; prior to this I didn’t think you could go wrong with gnocchi, but they found a way. But fair play, you can hide a multitude of sins with an oxo cube. Notes of bisto were also detected. I paid €25 for the privilege (the cost of 6 school meals?)

My partner’s shrimp gnocchi strongly resembled a Dolmio pasta bake tomato sauce (you know the one you pour over uncooked pasta and then top up with water? That one). Inedible would be a generous term. By this point we had sussed this place out, and started chatting to nearby diners who were equally appalled.

The lady next to us ordered tuna pasta - I’ve seen better-looking out of date Tesco meal deals. Does mayonnaise count as a pasta sauce? Who knows. Lajk certainly tried. Thankfully the litre of wine kept us busy. I digress.

We spotted other diners paying the bill inside, so I went inside to end the torment. I was informed by the rude waitress that they couldn’t accept card payments because the machine couldn’t connect to the internet. An inconvenience, but I agreed to get cash out nearby. I was then presented with the bill on a computer monitor. €87. That doesn’t sound right!

I would have to guess at the price of the water as I don’t recall seeing it on the menu. But no, €87. I queried this with our friend the Bond villain (still without his white cat) and he stated that €6 was for the bread (which we didn’t ask for!), €6 for a ‘cover charge’ (for what? Batteries for the fairy lights?) and €10 for the water. I could’ve keeled over. I imagine the various charges are tucked away on the menu somewhere but I would have to return to the scene of the robbery to confirm, and fortunately I’m back home now.

Suffice to say, I wasn’t impressed. The bill was paid, but not without making eye contact with a group of 4 British men who were considering dining here. A couple of quick gestures from me dissuaded them of this notion. The adjacent Americans were also informed about the hidden charges (you can always rely on Americans to make a fuss, no?), and another group of 3 tourists were also put off by yours truly. Call me Robin Hood.

Overall, this was an abominable dining experience. Hopefully Lajk lost more money from the customers I put off, than they made from my €87 euros. I can only hope and pray. It’s a shame, because the Old Town has some lovely restaurants and we paid between €70 and €90 for an evening meal every night we were there - this seems like the average price for decent food in Dubrovnik. Alas, Lajk is just one big catfish.

Still, it’s a titillating...

SCAM!!!!! DO NOT GO HERE!!! IF I COULD PUT 0 STARS I WOULD. they do not give receipts and so you cannot see your bill and cannot question what cost what. they also don’t have a drinks menu so therefore charge way too much for any drinks you get. we bought two bottles of water which equated to €20!!!!!! food was rubbish, tasteless, dry and over/under cooked. staff was dismissive and rude and they made another couple who were sat down eating move so our group of 5 could have a seat. we wanted to sit inside as it was far too hot outside and we didn’t want to bother the couple that were already there, yet they insisted we sit outside. we checked and there in fact WAS seats inside, and when we asked they dismissed us saying inside and outside were the same temperature, however it was air conditioned, as we checked. i was overheating due to the heatwave and it being high 30s. we ordered the fish which said 100g of fish for €13. fish was unseasoned and tasteless. when we ordered, we were told it was a 300g fish, we wanted to clarify the price, asking if it meant €13 PER 100g or if the 300g fish we were getting also cost €13. the guy laughed at us for asking and even joked saying “yeah yeah €300 for fish”. he clarified that yes, it’s the 300g fish for €13. €35 we got charged for that fish. it wasn’t even 300g either, it was very small. or order was; 2 gnocchis, carbonara, seafood risotto, fish, side salad, 2 peach ice teas, 3 glasses of wine, two water bottles and one small chocolate cake thing for desert. the fish, gnocchi and carbonara cost €13 each. for the risotto it came as a part of a deal they had on, “seafood risotto + side + desert for €15 altogether”. so that equates to €41. we expected to pay roughly €5 each for the glass of wine, €3 each for ice tea and €3 each for water, giving us a grand estimated total of around €68. they instead charged us just under €200. they brought a basket of bread without asking and we didn’t eat it as we saw on the menu it cost €3 PER PERSON for one basket of bread. we didn’t want it and didn’t want to be charged that amount however they charged us wether we ate it or not. they make you pay in cash yet they had a card reader right there. we said we didn’t have enough cash as we were expecting just a quick cheap meal. we questioned the charges, obviously horrified at how the price could be so high and they wouldn’t answer anything, insisting we paid. we’re a group of young girls, me being 17 and out with my friends on holiday, and we are no taller then 5,4. when we disputed the charge the man, around 6’ started getting angry and intimidating towards us. we didn’t want to get ourselves in any trouble so we asked once more and he told us he would lower it only if we paid cash. (cash is easy to hide from audit checks and they get charged a small fee when customers use card) yet we didn’t have enough cash. he then gave in and lowered it to €150. still WAY overpriced. we paid and warned the tables sitting about the scam. we were very scared and worried as we are in a foreign country for the first time and the staff were very angry and intimidating. we left in shock, feeling cheated and worried. please DO...

This place is a joke. I don't even know how they can watch themselves in the mirror. We took 3 menus at 15€ each. Read the small line at the bottom "3€ person charge for the couvert" 9€, so not anymore 15, but 18€ already. What they call a season salad... i should laugh instead of being mad, 1 (not 2 or 3!) slice of tomato, 5g of cabbage and probably less for the green salad. Then... my "chicken filet with French fries", they certainly based the portion on what the kids eat at the nursery school. Frozen "French fries" of course... the 2 risotto my girls took weren't bad, but not "good" at all, just tasteless. The big final : Spanish chocolate cake!! Sorry, I should have take a photo but I was already upset... No exaggeration : a square 4x4 centimetres, cake with chocolate powder, "Benco" like... And the must, of course (my fault, a beginner mistake) I didn't ask for beverages prices... oh-my-god 2 what they call lemonade (oh yes, fresh as they insisted when I told then what a shame it was, how unhappy I was, and how good will be the review I'll make about these thieves!). So, 2 glasses of fresh water with (yes, fresh..) lemon juice : 20€ (who has better?) And one glass of white wine, and I won't do my frenchie, I just talk about the price : 10€ and...tadaaaaam!! A bottle of still water : 10€ 49€ already for 3 regular drinks and a bottle of water... what a lovely world. So finally, I complain of course, very eye in eye, they didn't care without watching, keeping saying, 94€...94€... Mad at myself, and very upset about this tourist trap which is Dubrovnik... AVOID THIS...