Strelec is a Michelin one-star rated restaurant in Ljubljana, which slotted in neatly into my travel plans.

A bit more difficult to find on the site as the entrance is not visible from the main castle courtyard, but I found it eventually and got seated with a late seating. I’ve gone for a middle ground 7 course tasting menu, with the wine pairing.


Amuse bouche, first round. There was salmon tartare with cream on top, liver pate coated to look like a cherry, and the last one I don’t remember.

Second amuse bouche, which completely left my memory as to what was in it.

First course, roe tartar wrapped in leaves, foie gras foam

Cauliflower, with egg yolk, brown butter, breadcrumbs and truffles

Onion, with cheese and yeast

Veal main, with eggplant, pine nuts, olives and smoked marrow

First desert, with rhubarb, youghurt and elderflower

Peach, rosemary and honey in the second dessert

And lastly petit fours with, among others, melon jelly, chocolate truffle.

The menu was 115, the accompanying wine selection 60, and I paid a couple extra for an aperitif of sparkling wine.
All in all a good experience and an appropriate value. The food was very good (I think I have missed the pictures of both mains, one of which I grabbed from the restaurant socials) and certainly worth the Michelin award. Wine pairing also, great selection that paired well. I was happy to see that all of them were Slovenian, showcasing the variety this little thought of wine producing country can supply.
What was not so great was service. Some mistakes were made, with service recovery which was made with good effort but not effectively. Coupled with the fact that I was seated at 20:30 (and not as the last diner) and would not get my last course until about 11pm, when rest of the castle around was long deserted, this is something the restaurant should look at. According to maitre d’hotel I discussed the service with, they are stretched quite a bit with the restaurant management trying to extract as much value from the season as they can, to a detrimental effect.