My spouse and I
dined at Gostilna In Vinoteka Sokol (Sokol Restaurant and Winery) for lunch on
a Saturday afternoon in early September 2016. The restaurant is open for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner Mondays through Saturdays from 7:00 am until 11:00
pm, and on Sundays from 10:00 am until 11:00 pm. You can reserve a table via
telephone or email.
Gostilna Sokol is
located in historic Old Town on pedestrian-only Cyril Methodius Square (Ciril-Metodov
trg) between the old Town Hall (Magistrat) and the Cathedral (Stolnica; also
called the Church of St. Nicholas). The square is lined with numerous
famous Baroque buildings including the Cathedral and the Arch-Episcopal Palace
(Nadskofijski Dvorec). In medieval times, the square formed the lower end of
the city's main thoroughfare.
The restaurant
occupies the street level of a row of 19th century historic
buildings/houses. Look for the black bird sculpture mounted to an exterior wall
below the Sokol sign. The interior offers a large rustically decorated space
with seating on two floors; one dining room features a curved barrel ceiling
and another, a corner wood-fired brick oven. Two private rooms (one small for
10 patrons, and one larger for 80 people) are available. In addition, you can
dine al fresco at tables covered with umbrellas on a huge outdoor cobblestone
terrace. Period paintings decorate the interior walls, wait staff dressed
in national costumes, and Slovenian music lend an air of authenticity.
Gostilna Sokol serves
traditional Slovenian fare, including specialties such as mushroom soup served
in a bread bowl, game, meat, seafood, pasta, pizza, and a dessert called
Gibanica (a layered pastry dessert laded with poppy
seeds, walnuts, cottage cheese and apples). We ordered two entrees, breaded veal cutlets (telesji zrezek) and
Carniolan sausage (kranjska klobus), each of which came with our choice of side
dish; we tried the ham dumplings (tirolski cmoki) and the cheese roulade
(domasi sirovi). For two main dishes, two rounds of drinks, and Gibanica Sokol for
dessert, our bill totaled 43 Euros.
We enjoyed a
pleasant al fresco lunch at Gostilna Sokol.
