Grad Štanjel Restaurant & Lounge bar by Q KOMEL — Restaurant in Upravna enota Sežana

Every once in a blue moon, despite one’s best efforts, a restaurant dinner goes south and becomes a bit of a disaster. That’s what happened to me and my three friends when we arrived in Stanjel to spend the night nearby the restaurant after a full day’s cycling.

The bike tour company let us know that this was the only restaurant in town and that we should make a reservation in advance. About two weeks before our arrival I went on the restaurants website and, after reading everything I could find about their dinner, submitted the online form to lock down a reservation.

Two days later I had still not heard back from the restaurant, so I sent a conventional email to the address I found on their website, again asking them to reserve a table for us that night. Another day or two later, I still had not heard back from the restaurant by email or phone, so I called them from the United States and booked the reservation that way.

The woman I spoke to said nothing about their dinner being a multi-course fixed price dinner at which everybody at the same table had to sign up for the same number of courses.

When the four of us arrived at the restaurant, after having had a very late lunch because of the timing of our cycle tour, and when we hit a town with a restaurant, the hostess sat at the table, poured us a glass of wine, and immediately told us that we all had to sign up for at least a four course dinner. I asked her if perhaps we could have a soup and salad instead, but she said absolutely not. She insisted that the multicourse dinner deal was fully explained on their website, and moreover, that when I booked the reservation, the employee I spoke to would have certainly reminded me of this fact.

In reality, none of this was true. I later went back to their website and with a friend carefully perused all their verbiage and nowhere did it state that multicourse meals were the inflexible policy of the restaurant. I told the hostess that, for sure, the woman I spoke with when I booked the table never said anything about a multi course meal, as I certainly would’ve remembered that. She insisted that I was mistaken and that all the employees are fully trained to explain this policy.

We ended up vacating the table, paying a €12 cover charge for absolutely nothing, and drank our glasses of wine outside on the patio. Of course, we paid for the wine as well, and the whole experience left a bitter taste in our mouth.

The hardiness of the restaurants, hostess and her unwillingness to show us any reasonable hospitality was quite astounding. I should also add that the restaurant was only perhaps one-third filled and the 6:30 seating we were given was the last seating of the evening, which I agree is odd, but it was a...

The food is great, likewise ambient. But we’ve been served by a bit of arrogant waiter - arrived at 16:50, we were told that the restaurant is closed between 5 and 6 pm(which is OK), that we can be served with some dry meat and cheese (again OK), and that we can get a “tasting” menu from 6pm onwards. We did order the dry meat & cheese (delicious by the way) and also confirmed we’d stay until 6pm to take on the “tasting” menu. Though already seated at the table for 4(with no “reserved” sign) we were then told that we’d probably be reseated elsewhere since it could be that someone reserved the table we were sat at... asking if we can get seated to the table where we don’t need to be reseated we were told that can’t be done(by the way there were plenty of tables free at the time). We also asked if we can already order our choice of “tasting” menu but were told we cannot and we have to wait till 6pm(no obvious reason or explanation). Thus thought the place is fine and the food and drinks are really delicious and have a story behind, there was this bitter taste in our mouth due to the way se were treated. Will we return? Not sure, the remanence of bitter taste still lingers... Advice for You who might read this - do try it on your own, it could be we just ran into a bit tired and dissatisfied staff member. First gave 3 points, but the food is really great, thus 4 stars, it would be straight 5 if the service was better. Adding - I know this is “slow food” but 5 hours for 5 dishes is a bit too...

While the view and the location are unmatched, the rudeness of the staff ruins any positive experience. During our first visit, we assumed a language barrier explained the aloofness. Our second visit confirmed a dismissive and disinterested attitude but the Hugos are wonderful and the courtyard is beyond charming. We (stupidly?) returned for a third time on our third day as restaurants/bars are limited in this area. A sign stated that they will be closing at 18:00 when we arrived at 17:15 to have a drink. I asked if we could have a drink and was met instantly with rudeness and "no". I clarified that it was only 17:15. The worker (I cannot in good faith call him a gentleman) than proceeded to angrily tell my husband that "the lady came at me" (being spoken about in the third person whilst standing there is one of my least favourite ways to be referenced) because I asked for clarification about the sign that clearly stated they were open for another 45 minutes. He then stormed off, waving his arms and clearly upset because we know how to tell time?!?! As I reread this, I am at a loss as to why he was so clearly upset with us. He said something about being in the kitchen all day; perhaps this is where management should keep him as he is certainly not suited for front of house. Also, posting a sign that states hours of operation and than not following those hours is...