Kunstelj 1873, Gostilna in prenočišča, d.o.o. — Restaurant in Radovljica

Short version: the rooms are nice (extraordinary view we enjoyed from our small balcony) and the beers are great, but don't waste your time ordering food.

Long honest version:

Ok i’m not a picky customer but i was really disappointed by the restaurant here. It looks like so much wasted opportunity.

Food wise I ordered the burger which wasn't great, steak (not patty but a real slab of meat) was too heavily salted and special sauce was awful. Salad was a bit crunchy. My wife had a pork roast which looked ok but there were supposed to be grilled vegetables and instead there was a dome of boiled greens. Also the waiter brought her the wrong beer (pale ale instead of IPA) said it was the same with different labels, had us pay for the one we ordered (costs a bit more).

I looked around and many customers looked unhappy too.

I can believe we were unlucky this particular evening but i think the place is suffering from structural downgrading which again is a shame for such a genuinely stunning location (the view!).

Here is what i observed and a few suggestions:

Menu is way too busy. This is quite the red flag. Too many dishes had me default to the burger as a usually safe option, which was a really bad choice. Cut 2/3rd to 3/4 of the menu and hire a chef that masters what you offer, 10 dishes tops. If i want sashimi I'll go to japanese restaurant and i can make myself spaghetti Bolognese at home. Staff is desperately undermanned. Which leads to errors in commands, frustration for everyone, bad habits such as overworked staff hiding behind the cars to smoke when they are clients waiting to be addressed. We were only two, had a reservation, were seated after asking someone twice and after us came large groups of clients who had their orders and food sorted before ours. I’m not accusing the staff, i believe they are doing their best. Either hire more staff or reduce the number of seats, clearly there is too much to do for just 3 persons. Also clearly you should have more people in the kitchen. The view is AMAZING! Therefore you should prevent cars to park in front of your terrace, that is a real eyesore. I insist on that. Put your trash elsewhere, first thing we see when entering your place is a big pile of trash bags and with the heat it smells too. Also stems from issue n.1, if you have too much stock for all the dishes things are bound to get spoiled before you have a chance to cook them.

My best advice would be make a beergarten that benefits from the view, prepare only easy and fast meals that go well with your nice selection of beers (local sausages, a lighter option and a veggie option).

Also the young man who was there for breakfast seems to know what he does and speaks very good English, you should have him work on evening shifts.

I'm not a professional but had quite a few experiences and insights with running a restaurant and it wasn't our first Gostlina in...

RACIST AND RUDE SERVER!!

We had the worst waitress (Natasha) and most rude interaction during our visit to Slovenia. She made it seem like our visit to the restaurant was an inconvenience and was very impatient as we asked her for guidance with the menu. We were the only guests beyond another table so we also don’t understand why she made it seem like spending a few minutes to help with our order was such an inconvenience.

On top of that, the other staff of the hotel sat nearby smoking which was very disruptive for our meal and very disrespectful. They could have easily smoked in the far corner where we were not sitting as guests. Again it was an empty restaurant.

The waitress didn’t bring the cocktail sauce with one of our meals and then tried to charge us for extra sauces we never asked for. We had to argue with her and defend the fact that it was her mistake. When she finally realized, she tried to blame it on the payment machine.

At the end, she asked my partner about his nationality which was irrelevant and when he answered Canadian she went on to say that he is Indian and said it in a way that it was clear she didn’t approve of Indians. Shame on her and everyone at this business who thinks being racist and close minded is a good business and moral practice.

You have put a shame to Slovenians, who otherwise have been friendly to us during our visit. I would not recommend this place and look forward to seeing a response from the owner if they have any sense on how to run a business....

No words would be enough to express our gratitude to the whole Kunstelj team for work and soul they invested in our wedding celebration that we had in Kunstelj. Some of our guests stayed a day before and after the wedding, so we have experienced both sides of Kunstelj - food and accommodation and can confirm both are of superb quality. We were taken care of whole time we were there, Toni was always there to make sure everything is ok. Food was delicious!!! Tender telečja pečenka, amazing štruklji, risotto with šparglji - all was of top quality, fresh and tastes like "at my mother's" like one of our guests said. The view from the garden is stunning, which is an amazing addition to all the rest good things that Kunstelj has to offer its guests. I would recommend visiting Kunstelj (the best option is staying at least one day!) for all foreigners visiting Slovenia - amazing views from all the rooms, delicious food and it's so close to Bled! Dear Kunstelj team, thank you once again from all of us for the unforgettable day you...