Bratislava: Great food, but poor service

Just my experience with a rude waiter


After my girlfriend and I walked from Bratislava's Main station to the Presidential Palace, then walked through the Michael's Gate to the Main Square, we arrived at the Hviezdoslav Square, and that's when we really got hungry. So we decided to find a restaurant around there. The first restaurant we saw was Slovenská reštaurácia (Slovakian restaurant), but it seemed very fancy and the prices were pretty high, so we skipped that one and walked on.

Slovenská reštaurácia from the outside.

Next to Slovenská reštaurácia is Café and Restaurant Verne, where we decided to have our lunch. It looked cozy and small and the prices were reasonable. They had wooden tables and chairs placed on the sidewalk of the Hveizdoslav square. There was also an interior part, but we just sat outside. We put our small cam and the DSLR on the table and started to check the menu. It was in Slovak and in English, so it was easy to find out what they had, but with my Slovenian I could understand most of the menus they served. Since I wanted to try the famous Slovak dish Bryndzové halušky and just have coffee, we had to choose something for my girlfriend. They mostly served some modern West European food. Since my girlfriend wanted to try something new, we went for chicken cutlet covered with tomatoes and mozzarella.

Everything seemed fine, but then... we were waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Now and then waiters passed by, but nothing happened. We felt like we were invisible. Must have been like 10min, before we saw the waiter near enough, so that my girlfriend, who was almost starving, turned her head and called him by using a hand gesture. The guy (who looked like a rickety student with long hair and a tattoo on his leg, wearing sneakers and an apron over his shorts) would not bother me at all, had he not given my girlfriend a weird look, as if she was rude by waving him over. Helo? Isn't waving the waiter over like the ultimate hand gesture acceptable everywhere? Maybe everywhere but in Bratislava? I mean, what can we do? Tsk him over? And we were waiting like 10min to get our order... =.= what would you do?

This is how the tables look like.

I haven't noticed his weird look, but my girlfriend was a bit shocked and told me: "The waiter just looked at me as if he was a bit annoyed. Did I do anything wrong? Is he unfriendly, because I'm Asian?" I replied: "No, maybe he is moody or stressed, I'm sure it's not, because you're Asian."

So the guy comes over after a minute and already looks a bit annoyed. No smile, he doesn't even welcome us, he just stands there silently. So I ask: Do you speak English? He looks at me and then mumbles something like: "Yes, and you?"

What? Did he just reply "Yes, and you?" O.o Was that supposed to be funny or something? "Yes, and you?" Is this the Slovakian humor? Sorry, if I did not laugh at your sarcastic reply, but I was starving and annoyed with the poor service. Seriously, I never came across such an unfriendly waiter, not in Ljubljana and not in Macau. Bratislava tops my list of the cities with the most unfriendly people I've ever met. I guess I should've paid 50eur for a meal in Bratislava to get some friendliness along with it? I don't know, but I'd love to be enlightened about that, because except some young girls at the main station, who helped us with the directions of the luggage storage service, we only encountered rude or annoyed Slovakians that day.

We ordered drinks first, I had a latte, my girl had tea. It was both very good. And we weren't served by that rude waiter, a girl brought us the drinks and the food and at least she smiled. I think.

My latte and my girlfriend's blueberry tea.

And after some 10min of waiting, I finally got the famous Slovakian national dish: Bryndzové halušky! It's a simple dish made of potato dumplings, sheep's cheese and bacon.

Brindzové halušky: Simple but soooo yummy!

I would go to Bratislava just to try this dish again.

My girlfriend's dish wasn't bad either: A chicken cutlet covered with pieces of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and with fried potatoes and vegetables. It was very yummy and also very fulling. We had no complaints about the food, it was superb.

And we also ordered pancakes with walnut filling for dessert: Tasty as well.

When we finished our food, we had to wait again for the waiter to pass by. I spotted him drinking beer at one of the tables and chatting with some friends. Nice. When he finally came around the corner, I asked for the bill and of course he didn't smile or anything, just went inside. When he came back, he passed me the bill and said: "Here you go, buddy." O.o

. . .

What can I say more? Of course he didn't say thanks or anything. That would be too much for mr. Hereyougobuddy. It would probably trigger a gag reflex in his throat and I surely would not wanna see that. I couldn't be happier to leave that place. But there was some comfort: The food only cost us only around 15€ and I mean all together, drinks, main dish and the dessert. I'd probably pay 3 times more in Vienna. And the food was yummy and abundant. So I guess we were lucky after all. Here are some reviews of the Verne restaurant and I guess I wasn't the only one, who experienced poor service there.

After the food, we left Hviezdoslav Square and moved on to the New Bridge and the Bratislava castle. More about that the next time.

Hviezdoslav Square.

Did you ever experience poor service or a rude waiter? Share your experience.

Hviezdoslav Square <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> New Bridge

[Keep in mind, that I'm only sharing my personal experience here]
[Bratislava map][Slovakia is not Slovenia][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Cumil and Hviezdoslav Square

From Main Square to Hviezdoslav square

When you leave the Main Square, you encounter another quirky street statue named Schöne Náci. This was actually a real person (schöne German for beautiful, Náci short for Ignac Lamar) from the early 20th century, a mentally ill man, who walked around Bratislava and greeted people in his velvet frock and by courteously bowing to them and using the phrase Küss die Hand (I kiss your hand) in Slovakian, German and Hungarian (source). Another famous street statue is Cumil (The Watcher), a statue of a man looking out of the gutter and with his own street sign nearby that says "Man at work" (in English mind you!). I wonder what is his work, since all he does is observing the passers-by :-) Cumil is probably the most famous street statue in Bratislava and there are usually tons of tourists taking photos near the statue. I had only few seconds to snap a photo of him without someone squatting nearby.

On the way to Hviezdoslav Square.

The famous Cumil. Is he trying to peep under girls' skirts? :-P

Asian family trying to take photos near the real Cumil. There is also a fake Cumil, who wants money, if you want to take a photo with him. Now tell me, why in the world would I want to pay to take a photo of a real person dressing up as Cumil, if I have the real Cumil 2m away for free? Somehow I felt his business idea is flawed. And I only saw crowds of people taking pics around the real Cumil, not the fake one... sheesh... funny Slovakian.

This is one of the biggest squares in Bratislava: Hviezdoslavovo námestie.

The beautiful building of the Slovak National Theatre is here as well.

Hviezdoslav: A famous Slovak poet, writer and translator (1849-1921).

The Hviezdoslav Square is very long and full of trees, it's almost like a park. There are many restaurants on the right side, where we had our lunch. Later we went straight up to the New Bridge and the Bratislava castle.

But before we went to the castle, we went to a Slovakian restaurant to try the famous Bryndzové halušky. And that was an experience to remember. Wait for my next post, which will be about the food.

Main Square <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Shocking experience

Related: [Bratislava map][Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Main Square

Bratislava's lovely square at the heart of the old town

One of Bratislava's landmarks: The Old Town Hall.

The Main Square (or Hlavné námestie) is a lovely little square at the very central part of Bratislava's historic center. The square is full of historic buildings like the Old Town Hall (Stará radnica). The gothic tower with the yellow facade dates in the 13. century, but the whole Town Hall consists of several buildings, which were completed at different times (15th, 18th and 20th century (source)). There are also few embassies located nearby, such as the Greek, Japanese and French embassy. The famous Roland Palace in Jugendstil (or Palác Uhorskej eskontnej a zmenárenskej banky) from 1911 is located here as well and stands out as one of the taller and more notable buildings (source). The famous Roland Fountain from 1572 (or Maximiliánova fontána) can also be found on the main square and it's a very popular meeting point for locals nowadays and in the past (source). The square was that day full of tourists and they also have many street vendors selling souvenirs and greeting cards here. We bought some.

The souvenir shops at the main square (overpriced like in any city).

The Old Town Hall's main tower.

Old houses at the Main Square.

The building at the center (yellow facade) is the Roland Palace.

The Roland Fountain (or Maximilian Fountain) in front of the Roland Palace on the left.

Statue of Maximilian II above the fountain.

Bratislava is also full of interesting street statues such as the Napoleon's soldier.

Ps: That girl looks cute, doesn't she? ^_^

After walking around the Main Square and taking tons of pics, we left for the Hviezdoslav Square, where we had a very "interesting" encounter with a Slovakian waiter. Stay tuned.

Michael's Gate <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Hviezdoslav Square

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][Photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Michael's Gate

From Hurban Square to Michael's Gate

Bratislava's old town is my favorite part of the city, even more interesting than the castle. I really enjoyed walking around the old streets and discovering hidden treasures like churches and palaces. Most parts of the historic city are very well preserved and restored. The lanes are clean and the paving is new. Some buildings are being renovated currently, most notably the famous St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava's main church. Even though the part around the main railway station was dirty and ran down, the old center was totally the opposite of that. I think Bratislava is worth a visit only for the old part. Let me tour you around the historic center of this city:

✰ Hubran Square

This is the first square you see upon entering the old town. It's also a huge intersection with many tram tracks and electrified lines for trolleybuses.

Leading to the eastern side of the old center.

Leading to the western side of the old center and to the castle.

A prominent sight on the Hurban Square is the Baroque Trinity Church (or Trinitársky kostol), which was built between 1717-1727. It's easy to spot and to remember, because it has three tops and two towers (source).

✰ Michael's Gate

There was a gate at this part of Bratislava already end of 14th century and stood here until 1534, when it was completely removed. The current building with a church like tower (51m tall) was completed in 1758 and named Michael's Gate (or Michalská brána). A statue of St. Michael was added in relation to a St. Michael's church uptown and that's where the gate got its name (source). Michael's gate is one of the landmarks of Bratislava.

The onion shaped top of Michael's gate.

Street vendors near the Michael's Gate.

A wine shop.

The top of Michael's Gate with the clock and the observatory.

Michael's Gate closeup.

This is what you see when you walk through Michael's Gate.

Many fancy restaurants, mostly occupied by tourists.

The southern facade of Michael's Gate.

Michael's Gate from afar.

This street leads to the Main Square of Bratislava.

After walking around the northern part of Bratislava's old center, we went to the central part and arrived at the famous Main Square. More about that in my next post. Stay tuned.

Presidential Palace <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Main Square

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Bratislava's historic center

This is my overview of Bratislava's historic center with addition of the food experience and the New Bridge, which is seen from there. Enjoy reading my posts:

1 Michael's Gate
2 Main Square

3 Hviezdoslav Square

4 Great food, but poor service

5 New Bridge/Nový Most
6 St. Martin's Cathedral
7 Bratislava Castle

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels]
[Bratislava Map][Photo by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Main Station and Presidential Palace

From the main station to the presidential palace

Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia (which is not Slovenia) is a small Central European city located near Vienna, the capital of Austria. I advised my girlfriend to fly from Taipei to Vienna, because I think VIA is the best airport in this area (and close enough to Slovenia) and I thought we could spare a day and pay a visit to the nearby Bratislava, which is only 65km away from Vienna.

Bratislava (370.000 inhabitants) is small compared to Vienna (1.7 million inhabitants), but still bigger than Ljubljana (280.000 inhabitants), the capital of my home country Slovenia. My girlfriend and I took the train from Vienna (Südbahnhof Ostbahn) at 13.25 and arrived in Bratislava's Main Station (Hlavná Stanica) about one hour later. Prior to our trip, I had made a map for our tour (click on the map (via GoogleMaps) on the left to enlarge to 1360×1460) which was very helpful, so I'm sharing it here, it may be helpful to you, too. Bratislava's central part is small enough to be explored by foot, but best is you reserve an afternoon to see the historic center, the castle and try some of the local food. That's what we did and let me show you what we saw during our Bratislava adventure. This is part 1: Main Station, Štefánikova road, Presidential palace.

✰ Bratislava Main Station (Hlavná Stanica)

Bratislava's main railway station looks awful. I seriously expected more than what we saw and even, when I had fears, it may look bad, I have not thought it looks that bad. It's certainly not worthy of a capital city of a young aspiring European country, that wants to be seen as modern and developed (I could say the same for Ljubljana's main station, but at least we're currently building one of the most modern stations in southern Central Europe). When it comes to Bratislava's Hlavná Stanica, the first thing you notice it's small, old and not very clean. The inside is "ok" (partly), but the outside is really a shame. And I say that because some parts of Bratislava are really beautiful (wait for my next post about the historic center) and it would only make sense that visitors, who come to this city by the train, get a good first impression upon their arrival.

The inside of the station is full of shops with overpriced food and drinks. The girls at that "Hostels Information" counter were helpful (and the only friendly people we encountered that day in Bratislava!). They told us where we can get our luggage stored.

Úschovňa batožín or the luggage storage service at the Hlavná Stanica is where we stored our luggage (we paid 3.50eur) and left for the city center. The man, who took our bags, wasn't friendly, but at least the price was cheap. There's also a toilet nearby, but my girlfriend said it was dirty.

In front of the main station's building are many obscure people.

I wonder, who was the architect of this masterpiece building.

The buses drop people off here. And many taxis are also in the area.

This is the way to the center.

People paste ads on every pillar here.

A pity I can't go to the Red Army Chorus concert, looks promising.

Šancová road leads out of the center. Nice modern building on the left.

Pražská road, leading to northern Bratislava (out of the historic center, which lays in the southern part). On top of the hill is the famous 200m tall Kamzík TV Tower, one of Bratislava's landmark buildings. See the big gorenje ads on the facades of the buildings on the left? Gorenje is one of the few Slovenian companies, that's known around some parts of Europe. They are producing home appliances and is currently one of the 8th largest manufacturers in Europe in this field. Don't you feel proud, when you see a company from your home country being successful in another country? Well, if you're from a tiny country like Slovenia, you do.

✰ Štefánikova road

This is a long road that leads to the Presidential Palace of the president of Slovakia, as well as to the historic center. Nothing special to see here, you just have to walk like 10min to come to the famous palace.

You'll only see cars rushing by on the Štefánikova road.

Pozor! Padá omietka! sounds similar in Slovenian. We say Pozor! Pada omet. And it means be careful, the facade is falling off. This trash can caught my attention. Someone managed to tuck in an old umbrella between the pillar and the can: Amazing.

There was also a weird uncle walking in front of us, when we walked along Štefánikova. He had a big cross on a necklace hanging down from his chest to his tummy. And the cross had a small blue light at the center. He just smiled, when he passed by. There were also a lot of graffiti in this area. Bratislava in general is full of graffiti (unfortunately Ljubljana, too, but not Vienna), which is a pity, because it makes the city look bad.

✰ Presidential palace (Prezidentský Palác)

This is a park behind the presidential palace. People read books here or rest.

The Presidential Palace of Slovakia is also called Grassalkovich Palace, after a Hungarian count, for whom it was built in 1760. We walked around the park a little, took some photos and returned to the Štefánikova road.

Štefánikova road again.

The front side of the Presidential Palace of Slovakia.

✰ Hodž square

Modern Tatracentrum, a building of the Tatra Bank.

Slovakian auntie taking a nap near the Presidential palace.

My girl on Hodž square near the Presidential palace.

There's a huge intersection on the Hodž square (Hodžovo námestie).

We've seen the Bratislava castle for the first time from here.

And then we left for Bratislava's beautiful historic center, where we also had the pleasure to meet a very rude Slovakian waiter. This and much more in the part 2 of our Bratislava trip. Stay tuned...

Go on my Bratislava Tour NEXT: Michael's Gate

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][All photos by MKL, 2010]