Restavracija Strelec — Restaurant in Upravna Enota Ljubljana

Lovely experience in a very picturesque restaurant, well worth the money. We went for the 5-course tasting menu with a glass of wine each, and also began with a glass of fizz, which was a great way to bring in the evening. The service was wonderfully courteous and all the dishes described comprehensively and explained very well.

The highlights were the cold trout starter with roe, as well as the chicken liver pate amuse bouche. The brioche served with the venison tartare wrapped in artichoke was also excellent, as was the cottage cheese-filled gnocchi surrounded by a cheese foam and onions... Absolutely divine! We each had a meat main and a fish main, and both were very nice indeed, especially the carrots with my lamb that was served pink. The only rather odd pairing was the Greek yoghurt and pesto with the lamb, which was very tasty on its own but didn't really go with the lamb. The poached peach dessert with the rosemary ice cream was also very pleasant, as also were the complimentary canelles for afters.

Downsides? The marshmallow and white chocolate canape at the end was a bit too sweet, and the sourdough served with smoked butter at the start was lacking in flavour and salt. Also slightly disappointing was the cauliflower and couscous cold starter, and I could taste vegetable oil on the cauliflower, which always ruins anything it is applied to. The same goes for the crisps on the venison tartare, which otherwise tarnished a gorgeous starter.

Overall, this was a very good meal and we would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Ljubljana and fancying a fine dining meal. However, do bear in mind that to get in to the restaurant, you will need to purchase a castle entry ticket, which is a pity because the castle itself is disappointing, but that is another...

Had a 9pm reservation and I arrived a bit early and they were able to accomodate me on the terrasse. It was quite a nice setting, right at the exit of the funicular station with a view on the bell tower on one side and Ljubljana on the other side. Waiters were dressed en livrée and looked very professional.  It took a while for the waiter to come back to provide menu and explanation. They offer a tasting menu of 5 or 7 dishes with the opportunity for a wine pairing. You can also choose a la carte. The night I dined, the option were fish or lamb for the main and I went for the lamb. To start off the meal there were some complimentary amuse bouche provided. It was a declinaison of pâté, Chicken pâté in the form of a cherry covered by a cherry and beetroot gelée, foie gras mousse and a third in a half mini onion. A second set of amuse bouche was a declinaison around trout, a trout espuma and a trout dumpling. First dish was a venison tartare marinated in Barolo, wrapped in light pickle topinambur with a hazelnut cream. Very good combo. Second dish was a cauliflower, poached egg and truffle combo. 3rd dish was a declinaison on pepper, followed by the main the lamb and a delicious peach based dessert that was amazing for us fruit based dessert lovers out there (#tiredofchocolate). I really the setting was lovely (take a date there if you want to impress) and so was the service as for the food I did not enjoy some of the combination but the wine pairing...

Credit should be given where credit is due, so I take pen to paper after a great dinner at Strelec a few days ago. It is a Michelin star restaurant so one would expect the food to be pretty good. The brigade led by Igor Jagodic, the discrete yet very much present architect of this experience, certainly did not disappoint as the dishes were delicious, creative without pretension and impeccable.

What I did not expect though, is how outstanding the local Slovenia wine pairings were to those tasty dishes. My first experience a few years ago with Slovenian wines had been lackluster, so I was not expecting much. I was in for a big surprise and a wild ride through the dinner, thanks to Jaka Ursic, the very knowledgeable Sommelier du jour (he was skillfully filling in for the resident sommelier who was on holiday at the time). His recommendations not only complimented very well the dishes they were paired with, they also provided a great outlook on what Slovenia has to offer and its very talented wine makers.

A special mention to this great pairing: a venison tartare served with Shiso leaves and foie gras, paired with a Belo 140 from Suklje (80% Kerner, 20% Riesling). The Shiso leaves unique combination of citrus and umami blended beautifully the strong taste of the raw venison meat and the mineral yet floral acidity of this superb white wine!

All in all very much worth visiting, the stunning view from the terrace over Ljubljana adding nicely to...