Food is the gateway into a country’s culture. It’s through eating traditional cuisines that we learn about the ingredients native to the part of the world we are visiting and the history that influenced the foods popular there today. Upon seeing poppy seeds on the menu everywhere in Slovakia I learned that the countries of Central Europe are among the top producers of poppy seeds worldwide. Poppies were first brought into Slovakia in the 4th and 5th centuries. Cultivation grew in the 19th century for poppy plant oils when olive plantations in southern France were depleted. Today the little black seeds are seen throughout Slovakian cuisine, from pastry fillings to pasta dishes.
Poppyseeds aren’t the only thing Slovakia has to offer, and I greatly enjoyed the dishes I tried while I was visiting Bratislava. Everything in Bratislava was extremely affordable, being that it’s a lesser visited tourist destination than nearby Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, so I had some unbelievably cheap meals here. Like in its neighboring countries, the custom in Slovakia for tipping is 10% or round up if you receive good service, as a service charge is not included in the final bill like it is in some other parts of Europe.
Here are some of the delicious Slovakian foods I tried in Bratislava!
Zemiakové placky at Reštaurácia Pivnice u Kozla
Some of the best travel experiences are the unplanned, spontaneous ones, and that was how I found this little pub in Bratislava. I arrived into town and went to check into my hotel around noon, only to find a sign on the door that the reception was closed for the lunch hour and the doors were locked. Standing out in a misty rain with all my luggage and no concept of the city yet, I did a quick Google Maps search of restaurants nearby and landed on one called Pivnice u Kozla a 4 minute walk away. The restaurant was located in a basement with no elevator (also fun to do with all my luggage), but once I got downstairs I was in a cozy little pub that felt like it had more locals than it did tourists dining in there. I certainly got a few looks settling into a table by myself with all my bags!
I ordered homemade lemonade, which came in a whole pitcher just for me. To eat I ordered Pikantné kuracie soté v zemiakovej placke (spicy chicken in a potato pancake). Fried potato pancakes are popular throughout the entire region, but are considered to be one of Slovakia’s national dishes. The one that I had folded over and stuffed with chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce was a delight!
Bryndzové halušky (Potato Dumplings) at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant
On my first night in town I went to Bratislava Flagship Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is an absolute must for getting a taste of Slovak cuisine in a historic atmosphere. In addition to being one of the largest restaurants in Europe, the restaurant is in an old building that once served as a church, monastery, hospital, and theater. Today it houses the restaurant and an onsite brewery. You’ll definitely want to hold on to a menu while you eat, because the menu is full of extensive information on the history of the building and the traditional dishes served there.
It was here that I learned of Bryndzové halušky, another Slovak national dish that consists of potato dumplings, reminiscent of Italian gnocchi but smaller, served in a creamy bryndza sheep milk cheese sauce and topped with little cubes of bacon and bacon drippings. As I write this, it’s been a few months since this trip, and I cannot tell you how often I think about and crave this dish. I would book a flight back to Slovakia tomorrow just to eat this again if I could, because I know that if I ever tried to recreate it in my kitchen it would just never live up to what I had in Slovakia.
Štrúdľa for dessert at Bratislava Flagship Restaurant
At Bratislava Flagship I also decided to get dessert, and ordered the Štrúdľa, a house-made strudel that varies based on their daily offerings. The strudel that day had a poppy seed filling and was served with a swirling dollop of whipped cream. It was delicious – the poppy seed filling is slightly grassy and just sweet enough without being overly rich. It paired great with a Kláštorný ležiak tmavý, the restaurant’s dark lager brewed in-house.
Pressburg Bajgels
This was another unplanned gem that I discovered once I was on the ground in Bratislava. I’m not a huge breakfast person and often seek out a good spot for a coffee and a pastry, and I was intrigued by this little cafe a few minutes from my hotel with its beat up crescent shaped mascot standing invitingly at the entrance.
I was even more thrilled to learn the historical ties this place has. For a little background, “Pressburg” is the historical name of the city when it was under Habsburg rule and had a large German population – the name “Bratislava” wasn’t adopted until 1919. Pastries filled with poppy seed or walnut were traditional to Pressburg dating back to at least 1590, as there are accounting records from that year showing they were sold in the city. The modern variation of “Pressburg bajgels” were first introduced by a baker in 1785. The little cafe Pressburg Bajgel on Ventúrska in Bratislava’s Old Town still follows original recipes for these traditional treats, and serves both walnut and poppy seed bajgels in addition to a variety of other Slovakian pastries. I ordered the walnut one, still not entirely sold on the concept of poppy seed fillings, having only ever had poppy seeds on the exterior of a circular bagel as we know them in the United States. But the next day before I left to catch my train to Budapest, I decided to stop back in for another and this time ordered the poppy seed, and ended up liking it even more than the walnut – a reminder not to be hesitant to step outside your comfort zone!
Sampler platter at Slovak Pub
While out sightseeing I stopped into the Slovak Pub for lunch. Slovak Pub is owned by the same restaurant group that runs Bratislava Flagship Restaurant and has many of the same traditional Slovak dishes on the menu, served in eleven rooms each dedicated to a different era of Slovak history. It’s a hotspot for both university students and tourists and is located on Obchodná, a popular commercial corridor lined with shops and restaurants that has a tram line running along it, making it easy to get to from other parts of Old Town.
I like to try new dishes as much as I can when I travel, but my mind was still on the mouthwatering Bryndzové halušky from the night before, so I compromised and ordered a sampler platter that had both Bryndzové halušky and pirohy (pierogis). The pierogis are also filled with bryndza sheep cheese and potatoes and topped with sour cream and bacon with a sprinkle of dill.
Kofola at Slovak Pub
With my sampler platter at Slovak Pub, I ordered a kofola to drink. Kofola is soft drink company known for its Kofola cola drink popular throughout both Czechia and Slovakia. Kofola was first created in 1960 in Prague when Czechoslovakia was under communist rule, with the intention of rivaling cola drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi from the West. Even when Coca-Cola and Pepsi made their way into the Czechoslovak market, they were expensive and considered to be a drink for the elite, so kofola remained popular among the general population. Today the company has expanded to include other varieties and brands of soft drink, and remains an institution on draft in most restaurants.
Hovädzí guláš at Grand mother’s
On my second night in town, the weather was nice and I had no dinner plans, but was enticed by all of the al fresco dining along the Michalská pedestrian street. I selected Grand mother’s restaurant at random and settled in at a cozy table. I ordered hovädzí guláš s knedľou, or beef goulash, a dish that is popular throughout the region. Goulash in Slovak is prepared similarly to Czech goulash, as a thick beef stew served with bread dumplings and topped with onions. I paired it with a Bakalář Czech lager.
I went into visiting Bratislava not knowing what to expect. I had no friends who had visited before to be able to give me restaurant recommendations, and that led to some of the best unplanned food adventures. I really enjoyed my time in Bratislava, but the sentiment I wrote in my travel notes when my time there came to an end was “I don’t want to leave Slovakia. The food is too good here!”
Read more about the rest of my time in Bratislava:
C to Shining C 
Leave a comment