Somewhere on half way between Coimbra and Aveiro there is a small town that is in none of the tour guides and has no particular mention even in the Portuguese tourism websites. But for real connoisseurs of local cuisines and those whose buds are activated by the smell of roasted meat, Mealhada is a capital! Each weekend (but also during the week) thousands of families literally pour into Mealhada to have the best suckling pig in the country. Idea of Portuguese people as those

Perched on a clifftop overlooking the gorgeous Plomin Bay, the old town of Plomin is often overlooked as sleepy small town next to the huge electric plant chimney. The position may be unfortunate for Plomin, but it is unfair to say this is not a splendid destination on the eastern coast of Istria. So, don’t be lazy to stop over and walk within the medieval walls of Plomin and it you get hungry to not hesitate to visit the restaurant Dorina. This place is far more than a casua

Gušt is a specific Croatian word. Stemming from the Italian “gusto”, meaning “taste”, it is far more than just a flavour of food. Gušt can be enjoying the sunshine, having a nice snack, drinking a wine in a beautiful cellar. Something like German Gemütlichkeit. By chance, in Persian language “gusht” means meat, and this is yet another evidence that our ancestors came from Iran! For instance, in Žminj gušt is also tied to meat. Not any meat, of course. In the awarded family ma

Imagine yourself driving through the lush green country, with hilltop castle ruins and small rivers, picturesque villages and old towns. Indeed, you might be anywhere in Europe, but you cannot find everywhere a lamb or suckling pig roasted on a spit. And this is what Karlovac region is very famous for. Sometimes a shock for our tourists from the northern side of the Alps, it is a scene particular for the gastronomy of Lika, Kordun, and Banija. Along the magistral ways, one ca

If you follow the road from the centre of Ajdovščina into the mountains, you will pass the Youth House and end up in front of an impressive waterfall of the river Hubelj. In the ancient times, Romans called it the Cold Water and it was the source of life in the valley. Next to this rock surface is the lowest mountaineer hut in whole Slovenia (only 210 metres above sea level) that is named exactly after the river: restaurant “At the Hubelj’s Spring” (Pri izviru Hublja). The Pi

Sremič is a hill overlooking Krško. Its green slopes are dotted with vineyards and cellars. In 1874 the family Attems, owners of Brežice Castle, built a large wooden wine press, later declared a cultural monument and probably the biggest press in Slovenia. Some hundred years afterwards a guesthouse emerged around that press and because of the three lights on the terrace, which are seen all the way to Krško, the place was called “Tri Lučke”. The wine press remains as vital par

When poet Antun Mihanović was writing a poem in 1835 that will later become the Croatian national anthem, he surely didn’t even think that in a protected nature forest of Zelenjak, where is a monument dedicated to him and his poem, will be also one of the top quality restaurants in whole Zagorje. Family Ventek runs the restaurant Zelenjak and is proud of dedication to beautifully made, eye pleasing, and traditionally authentic Zagorje foods. Immediately next to the Sutla rive

When first really cold days approach, Croats begin to prepare wonderful pork delicacies. It is called kolinje, which is a local term for pig slaughtering. We have tried it at the Mamica restaurant, one of the best restaurants in Međimurje. Its owner Mrs Sandra Nedeljko showed us how the čvarci and blood sausage are made, together with hearty lunch. Čvarci, or pork rinds, is kind of pork crisps, with fat thermally extracted from the lard. It is very popular in all Balkan count