“Kolarac”:http://restorankolarac.rs/en/home-2/ had been the initial choice for dinner on our first night in Belgrade. After an aborted attempt, we decided to finish where we’d hoped to start, and eat at Kolarac on our final night.
On Saturday night, the pedestrianised street where the restaurant is located, was buzzing with shoppers and strollers. It has a large outdoor area in the middle of the pavement and, as we were looking at the menu in the window, we noticed waiters weaving round pedestrians when serving food to outside tables. This was the first time we’d seen it so busy and although there were a couple of vacant tables, we didn’t fancy eating in such a noisy area.
However, we felt sitting inside would waste what was a balmy night, so when a waiter asked if we’d like to go through to the garden, we followed him. Whilst ‘garden’ was a slight misnomer as there were few plants, the large spacious outdoor area was totally peaceful as only a couple of tables were taken. Whilst there was no heating, a large awning could be pulled across presumably in bad weather.
We ordered a large Jelen beer and a sparkling water whilst looking at the menu which had mainly national specialities, with a few main course salads and fish dishes. I chose Čevapĉići, grilled meat rolls served with Serbian cream cheese, whilst Roy opted for chicken salad. We accepted the waiter’s suggestion of bread and a shopska salad. The bread was two brick-size chunks of toasted bread with lots of seeds, and the salad came first as is the custom. The chunks of firm cucumber and tomato were topped with grated Serbian white cheese and with oil and vinegar, it was simple but tasty. Roy’s main course salad was Cesar style with grilled chicken strips, lettuce, croutons and Parmesan shavings. My dish was 10 thumb-sized kebabs with potato wedges, and a scoop of salty cream cheese known as kajmak. It was a very meaty dish, but good.
We finished our mains, but the bread defeated us, and we were too full for pudding. The bill came to 2,800 Dinar or around £22 which was great value for money as we’d had a second round of drinks.
This is one of the oldest urban restaurants in Belgrade and was named after the family who owned the house. As we left, we peeked inside and found an elegant interior with high ceilings, lots of white clothed tables and napery and burgundy chairs which would look cosy on a cold day.
