Slovak Food to Try: Dishes and Drinks for First-Time Visitors

Dishes to try first

Bryndzové halušky are potato dumplings with bryndza, a soft sheep cheese, usually topped with bacon. Strapačky are a close relative, made with sauerkraut instead of cheese. Pirohy are filled dumplings, and bryndzové pirohy use the same cheese as the filling. Lokše are pancakes made of potato dough baked directly on the stove, served with fillings that can be sweet or savoury.

If you only order one thing, order halušky. Portions are large, so share if you also want a starter.

Soups and sweets

Kapustnica is a sauerkraut soup, often with mushrooms, meat and sausage, and it is common around Christmas. Demikát is a soup with bryndza as its base. Parené buchty are steamed dumplings with fillings such as jam, plum, curd or poppy seed. Trdelník, the cake baked on a rotating spit, is sold in tourist areas, and the Bratislava crescent roll (bratislavský rožok) is a pastry filled with poppy seed or walnut.

Drinks

Kofola is a herbal cola-style soft drink that dates from Czechoslovakia in 1960 and is popular in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Borovička is a juniper spirit with a taste close to dry gin and usually around 40 percent alcohol, and the name comes from the Slovak word for juniper. Slivovica is the plum brandy you will also see. For beer see our Slovak beer guide, and for wine see wine regions of Slovakia.

How to order and pay

Look for a board outside called denné menu (daily menu). The set meal is cheaper than ordering a la carte, and soup is usually part of it. A tip of around 10 percent is normal if service was good, so check whether a service charge is already on the bill. Learn a few words before you go, see Slovak phrases for travellers.

Numbeo's average for a meal at an inexpensive restaurant was about 8 euros at the time of writing, and tourist squares cost more. See Slovakia travel cost for a wider budget.

Dietary needs

Traditional food leans on meat and dairy, but most restaurants have at least one vegetarian dish, and strapačky, pirohy and fried cheese are common meat-free choices. Check bacon and lard in anything that looks vegetarian, and ask politely in advance if you avoid gluten or dairy. Smaller village restaurants may have fewer options than city places.

Where to eat it

Bratislava has the widest choice, see Bratislava food and drink and the Old Town walking tour. In the mountains, mountain huts and Tatra resorts serve the same classics, see the High Tatras guide. Eastern towns such as Košice are good for a slower lunch away from the capital crowds.

A simple one-day tasting plan

Breakfast on a bakery pastry or a poppy seed roll, and have soup at lunch from the weekday menu. Eat halušky or pirohy as the main meal, and finish with a sweet dumpling or a lokše. In the evening, choose a pub for a snack and a local drink. This gives you most of the national flavours in a single day without spending much, and it works in any Slovak town.

Seasonal and regional notes

Kapustnica and heavy dumpling dishes suit cold weather and the Christmas season, see Bratislava Christmas markets for seasonal stalls. Sheep cheese is closely tied to the mountain pastures of central and northern Slovakia, so bryndza dishes often taste best in the Tatra region. In summer, many places add salads and lighter grilled dishes. Menus differ between restaurants, so treat this list as a guide, not a guarantee, and ask the waiter what is made fresh that day.