Sensing Belgrade: Taste the city

Novels and poems, films, and TV series were made to seize this phenomenon of what Belgrade is. This series of Sensing Belgrade would be an ambitious attempt to capture all of that in five texts: Tasting Belgrade, Smelling Belgrade, Sense of Touch in Belgrade, Sensing Sounds in Belgrade, View of Belgrade. I will be glad if I trigger you to explore it by yourself.

Whenever people in Belgrade restaurants ask me if the order is to go, I always say ‘’it is to go, but I will eat here’’. Nothing goes away after a meal in Belgrade. Especially not the kilos, but what I mean is that most of the food I taste in Belgrade will stay with me in a memory form. The Balkan is "the place to be" for food lovers, and Belgrade is very specific with the serving and rituals for consuming the food.

Let’s start the day. Begin the day with pie in any local bakery. The best thing about Belgrade restaurants, bakeries, and coffee stores is that competition is so high among them, that only the best “survive”. This means, on the market, there is only refined quality when it comes to the food.

For lunch, go to any ‘'Kafana” (it is a distinct type of local bistro which primarily serves alcoholic beverages and coffee, and often also light snacks and other food). Most Kafanas feature live music performances. The concept of this social gathering places is to drink alcoholic beverages and coffee originated in Ottoman Empire, which further evolved into the contemporary Kafana.

In Kafana, start with salad and rakija, continue with BBQ/Roshtilj, or Beans/Prebranac and Cornbread/Proja if you’re vegetarian. Remember to consume slowly with huge joy, or as Belgradians calls it, ‘’Natenaane’’. Don’t forget to drink a local beer like ‘’Zajecarsko’’.

After, I recommend you to walk through the center and visit one special place called Ferdinand Knedle. Here you can find a crazy good dessert named “Knedle”. It is homemade dumplings and here you can find the best ones! Coffee with this sweet miracle is also recommended.

For the dinner, if you are a heavy eater, you can take cevapi (kebab) or snack a piece of pizza (you can find it everywhere). Or a burger in a homemade bun with a variety of sauces (this is an emergency info, this food is great when hangovered or drunk). I fell in love in Belgrade in one December morning when I took freshly baked pastry roll from a random pastry shop. It was love at first bite!

Eat pizza in Pizzagram

Francuska 35, Beograd 11000, Serbia

Have a breakfast at Hleb&Kifle

11000, Mileševska, Beograd, Serbia

Bajloni Market

Belgrade, Serbia

Rakia Bar, Belgrade

Dobračina, Beograd, Serbia

Visit any Kafana on Skadarlija district

Skadarlija, Belgrade, Serbia

Eat Knedle at Ferdinand Knedle

Gavrila Principa 58, Beograd, Serbia