TaBar — Restaurant in Upravna Enota Ljubljana

3 of us went to this place that was recommended as a wine destination by a friend that lives in Ljubljana . My son , a colleague and I were in town on business. We are all wine professionals . Between the 3 of us , 2 hold Advanced Degrees at the Court of Masters Sommeliers, One an Advanced Degree at WSET and One is a DipWSET . I can not tell you how disappointed we were . The wine list is horrible . It is littered with a bunch of small wineries majoring in overly acidic and tannic wines . There is seemingly an emphasis on Natural Wines , but what this really means. Is this . Defective Wines masquerading as natural . We tried 3 different wines each and all but one were horrible . Yet , we did try one wine that was really good . Thank God for the nice lady working there . She made an outstanding recommendation. It was a Malvazija from a small producer in Istria , Zaro . I had heard about this producer , but had never tried any of their wines . The 2016 Zaro Malvazija SBS ( Special Barrel Selection ) was a stunner . Quite frankly we were shocked ! I do not remember the price , but my recollection is that it was not unreasonable . It drank like a €100+ bottle of Chenin Blanc from the Alsace Region of France . But it's not ... it's a Malvazija from Slovenia ! If I had to score this wine , I would give it 94+ points ! This place has lots of potential . They need a lot of help with their wine list , but at least on the night that we were there , there was one really good wine . A wine that I had never had before , but will most definitely recommend from here on out , The 2016 Zaro SBS Malvazija . It saved the night for us and if you go to Tabar , it's a wine that I most definitely recommend...

I was a guest at the “Tabar” restaurant tonight and I must say that the evening was quite disappointing. The ambiance did not seem suitable for a restaurant, more like club vibes. The music was so loud that the waiters’ explanations of the dishes were often difficult to understand and the air conditioning was constantly blowing on us, which was mentioned to the waitress. She responded that it had already been turned down but promised to relay the request to reduce it further, suggesting others likely felt cold as well. It didn’t change at all. A couple at a nearby table even left the restaurant after waiting 10 minutes at their table. The staff seemed disoriented and sloppy, my spoon from the previous plate got dropped on my next plate by the waiter, he offered to replace it, but still not really appropriate for fine dining. The timing of the dishes was chaotic at best (3 course meal). After being seated, we waited 10 minutes for the first interaction, and another 10 minutes for the wine and greeting. Then, a cold starter was served before we even finished the kitchen greeting. The main course arrived 20 minutes after the plates were cleared, and the dessert took even longer to arrive. The food was honestly not that tasty. I liked the main course, but everything else was underwhelming. The meals try to be interesting and special, but the end product is inconsistent and unappealing. Fun fact: I must mention that the dropped spoon was also a coffee spoon not a...

At first glance, this is an inviting eatery and wine bar. Here are the positives: the service was efficient, the wine list extensive and comprehensive (all Slovenian wines), the food that we had was well prepared. I had carp and kid of goat, my friends had other delightful dishes, such as sardines, venison sausage and beef tartare. Our vegetarian friend had… not very much.

Here's where the missing two stars come in – there was not a single dish that excluded animal protein (yes there was cheese, which doesn't count in this context).

When we asked our slightly tired waiter to advise, he suggested to take the meaty bits off some of the dishes, leaving salad leaves or a bit of vegetable, presenting a solution straight from 1987 for a situation that should not occur in a Western urban downtown restaurant in 2022.

Now, we know that this bar previously had a good offering for vegetarians. Every conservative tapas bar in the world does. So not catering to people who don't eat meat seems to have been a political decision by management (who assumedly were also behind the pink and blue genderised toilet doors in the back, disabled people get a green door).

We made the best out of this evening, and had a reasonably good meal with lots of wines (whilst TaBar's wine list is long they don't actually stock all that's advertised on the menu, another slight annoyance.) Unless TaBar becomes more inclusive in its offering, exclude it from your...