Gostilna Galeb – Piran (Slovénie) en

A family tavern ( gostilna= pub/tavern) that saves us from all the tourist traps along the sea coast, and that I’m happy to share with you.
Here, the cooking is home style and cheap, we feel like we’re in an Italian trattoria. To not sell you lies, the greeting was cheery but a little old school as well, and finally, some will think the food is too simple, but I for one like simplicity.

For lot of Slovenians, Piran is the prettiest city on the sea coast. It indeed is charming. You have to park a bit on the outskirts, and finish by foot.
The shore is full of touristy restaurants that also sometimes get reserved for weddings. Needless to say it doesn’t sound great.
To grab a drink, we’d recommend Café Teater: magnificent view, it’s the spot to sit down and enjoy free WiFi.                                            To grab something to eat, here’s a tavern I’m happy to share with you.
As we were walking towards the end of the dock, we walked by the diving club, 3 diving instructors were drinking there after a hard day’s work.
I asked them which restaurant they would recommend that wasn’t a tourist trap, they told me about this tavern that was 30 meters away, but in a hollow, so, difficult to find.
The tavern exists since 1983.

So, there’s a family vibe to the place, at first I was a little ticked off that the boss refused to serve my meat with a bit of potatoes and a bit of salad, it was one or the other.
In the end things brightened up, especially when the son arrived ( I think it was the son) to serve, much better.
While we were eating, the son came out with his arms full of calamari with parsley and olive oil for the three companions we met beforehand.
On Trip Advisor, you can read enthusiastic comments, and some point out that the service isn’t always that friendly.

Just before entering the restaurant, I crossed paths with two young people that lived in front of the restaurant, and asked them what they thought of the place, they said they liked it, and recommended the meat with onions: Pleskavica.
When you’re in Piran, you come for the fish, but having already had fish at lunch, there was no harm in trying a traditional meat dish.
We start with a glass of red wine from the region, the Primorska ( the coastline), a  Refošk, lots of tannin.

Main

Pleskavica
Also called the “hamburger of the Balkans” Pleskavica has the particularity of mixing several meats toghether ( veal, beef, pork), but I’ll let the  spécialist talk.

Dessert
Crêpes with plum jam
The Slovenian person with me though this was pretty ordinary ( homemade plum jam), as for me, I really liked it!

I rarely show the bill, but when it’s this incredible, it would be sad to keep it to myself.
For me, it’s the perfect place to stop at at the end of the dock, to have something local to eat, fresh and in authentic settings; authentic in this case means a little harsh on the edges, but it worked out really well in the end anyhow.