Gostilna SOKOL, Ljubljana

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I was taken here by two lovely local VTers. We ate in the first room as you enter the place. I don't know how big it is but there seem to be several rooms and also an upstairs area.

The restaurant is located in the heart of the old town near the major attractions.

The restaurant is held in a rustic Slovenian style and the waiters are dressed accordingly. Our waiter spoke excellent English, was very friendly and efficiet. This was on a Monday evening in October 2011.

Favorite Dish: I opted for a dish of venison with sour cherry sauce and strukelji which is some kind of roulade for Euro 16.90. The meat was lovely if a bit much and I thought that 2 small slices of strukelji was not enough in comparison with the amount of meat and sauce.

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Jet-lagged and looking for a simple dining option, we settled on Sokol, the renowned "authentic" Slovenian restaurant in Ljubljana. And it brews its own beer, so how bad could it be?

Well, in truth, it was just fine, if nothing special. Our waiter seemed to enjoy playing his part in full traditional dress, even as he spoke better English than I. He relished explaining the more bizarre menu items, and seemed genuine in his efforts to convey Slovenian culture to us jet-lagged tourists. He was quite happy I decided to sample the house beer, and asked several times if I was enjoying it (I was).

Favorite Dish: Sara tried some mushroom soup in a bread bowl to start, then had some veggie risotto as a main course. I skipped the appetizer (though I did help Sara eat her "bowl") and ordered the "stag steak with porcini mushrooms" as a main course. Sara said her food was fine. As for my dish, while the venison itself was of excellent quality, the "porcini mushrooms" were really standard mushrooms in a salty gravy that tasted like it was from a can. Not altogether surprising, but just a touch disappointing.

The beer, as I mentioned earlier, was an unfiltered home-brew and served in a 1/2 liter rubber-stopper bottle. It was very good.

A very good restaurant in old town, just a few metres from Preseren Square.
Here you can find a very good service, inside a well decorated house.
In 2009 I didn't eat in this restaurant, but somebody told me they don't offer the same quality.

Favorite Dish: I liked very much the onion soup. Try it!
Grilled squids are very good, but they have specialities. Ask for them!

Gostilna Sokol is a restaurant into a two storey building. It can host up to 250 people.

On the menu there is plenty of meat and fish dishes to choose from. They serve typical Slovene food and also pizza.

The portions at Sokol's are huge.

Favorite Dish: I enjoyed very much rice with mushrooms; grilled or fried squids.

Our hostel recommended we come here and we really enjoyed it . I know its geared for tourists but the food was super. The waiters dress in tradional outfits , are very friendly and speak english. I had game meat goulash and my husband had a huge country platter. Pork chops , sausages, beef and " blood pudding" Its a good place to sample the local wine.

40euro with wine for two

If you only have the opportunity to eat a single meal while in Slovenia, well, that’s a great pity… But if you find yourself in that predicament, I’d advise you to make your way to this cavernous establishment that’s the most faithful replica of a traditional Slovene gostilna (country inn) to be found in the country’s capital – certainly to judge by its popularity among locals.

As it’s located across from the cathedral in the heart of Ljubljana’s fittingly petite Old Town, it’s also something of a fixture on the city’s tourist circuit, but at the moment, this is to its advantage, as it simply means that it offers English-language menus and service (and a free drink to holders of the Ljubljana Card.)

I found the wait staff consistently helpful and friendly. Among other things, they’re particularly helpful in suggesting the side dishes to order with some of the more unusual Slovene main courses, as well as cautioning you as to which ones are most filling, which is not readily obvious from the menu descriptions. In any case, they’ll invariably recommend you leave room for the gibanica, the multi-flavored sweet pie from Prekmurje (northern Slovenia) that is the closest thing the country has to a national dish, a suggestion I’d certainly repeat to you.

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I think was one of the best restaurants I ever visit. Nice local gostina in levels, a beat dark, with the best and friendly stuff i ever meet. The food is exallent, we ate there 3 times, but the best of all is the desert gibanica.
You must tray absolutely the socol bear and mushroom soup in a bread bowl.

Yes, everyone goes there but this time there is a good reason: good food and cheap prices. Mushroom soup for once does not taste like can, and the deer with cherry sauce was good balance between sweetness and bitterness. Home-made beer worth it. Total bill of Euro 21 for one person (me) being filled and happy in the town-center!
Only drawback is the ridiculous retro (authentic Slovenian) music - after the first laugh, it gets tyring. Fortunately, it is not too loud.

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After arriving in Ljubljana on Sunday evening, we headed out in the light rain to find some dinner, the 1st place we tried was no longer a Bosnian restaurant so we passed on eating there and we went to our 2nd choice, Gostilna Sokol. Gostilna is the name for restaurants that are like inns and usually located in rural areas or on the edge of town but this gostilna is right in the center of the city and very popular so make a reservation if you can, especially if you are going on the weekend.

We didn't have a reservation so we were "exiled" to the non smoking section with all the other tourists. The wait staff was very busy so they were punctual but not very friendly.

Favorite Dish: I ordered the pork cutlet in porcini mushroom sauce which was good but David ordered better than me, the Country Feast, one of the house specialites with fried sausage, Krvavica sausage (I think this is blood pudding), roast meat, dried pork chops, cabbage/turnips, and buckwheat mushbread dumpling which was an interesting sampler of some local dishes. We also had some onion soup which was served in a bread bowl that he really enjoyed.

Dinner for two with one drink each was 32E.

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I have not tried this restaurant before, but I will some day because my friends recommend it. It's known for its Slovene dishes. So... If you want to try a bit of the Slovene cuisine, I think, this is a good option.