Bratislava's 300-Year-Old Brewery: Meštiansky Pivovar
I expected to wander around and arrive late at night, but thanks to a beautiful local who was obsessed with Korea, I found the hotel quickly and unpacked. The rainy, non-stop journey from Vienna was a real struggle, and I was completely drained by the time I arrived. I passed out at the hotel for an hour before waking up hungry, so I threw some clothes on and headed out for dinner.
After such a tough trip to get to Slovakia, I wanted to eat traditional Slovak food, not something like burgers. Honestly, even if I had to eat a burger, I wanted a Slovak brand, but finding a burger joint was even harder (I did find pizza, though). I asked the hotelier, and they recommended a traditional Slovak restaurant right next door. They kindly marked it on a map for me, so I headed straight there. Maybe it's just because they work in hospitality, but I get the feeling that Slovak people are generally very friendly. Between the woman I met earlier and the hotelier, it's nice to feel their curiosity rather than any discrimination toward Asians. My sample size is way too small to say for sure, but the Slovakia I've seen so far feels much warmer and more human than Austria.
I stayed at the Crowne Plaza. If you leave the hotel, turn left around the building, and walk a little bit, you'll see a place called Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar on your right. I didn't really expect it to be delicious; I only went out because I was starving. I was so exhausted and lacked any motivation, so I didn't even bring my camera. Because of that, I don't have a single photo of the restaurant itself (just a few food pictures I snapped later with my iPhone after ordering).
So, I'll make do with some photos I found online to show the location and exterior.
The place has been around "Since 1752," a history that's hard for us to even imagine. In Korea, even the oldest gukbap (soup) restaurants are maybe 50 or 80 years old, but this place is nearly 300 years old. On top of that, it's a highly skilled brewery that has even won beer competitions. I came for traditional Slovak food, but I started getting more excited about the beer.
Since it was evening, I ordered a Slovak lager for a change of pace (it's 12 degrees!), and went with a safe choice: Potato Dumplings with smoked meat.
Someone once told me that if you drink beer in Czechia or Germany, you won't be able to drink beer back in Korea, and now I understand why. It is absolutely delicious!! Slovak restaurants often operate as their own breweries, making beer in-house. And the most shocking part is that this draft beer was only 4,000 KRW!!! It almost makes the beer sold at Korean pubs feel like a scam.
Honestly, I was in such bad shape that I couldn't really judge the taste properly. It was a bit on the salty side, which made me drink more beer, so it felt more like pub grub than a proper meal. But whether as a meal or a snack, the portion was huge and the price was under 10,000 KRW, which is practically a steal. In Korea, three people could chat over this dish, have two beers each, and still have leftovers. Of course, if we drank that much of this Slovak beer, we'd be crawling home.
The sheep's milk cheese on top is also a traditional food, but... hmm, that was a bit tough to eat.
The prices are incredibly cheap compared to Korea, and the beer is so good I wanted more. But because of the high alcohol content, the room started spinning when I was only halfway through, so it's a shame I had to stop at just one glass.
It's one of the must-visit restaurants in Bratislava. Says the guy who only visited this one place.
Sure, it might have tasted extra good because I was so tired, but I still recommend it for the atmosphere and the exotic food.