There is a famous Latin proverb saying – Edimus, ut vivamus, non vivimus, ut edamus or in other words: “We eat to live and not live to eat”. Let’s leave the philosophy to Roman philosophers and talk a bit about where to eat in Kosice. Because often you want to have a good lunch. Today I would like to cover the options for having a decent Slovak lunch in Kosice.
First of all, a bit of food trivia:
Traditional Slovakian food is represented by such things as:
- Bryndzove halushky – potato dumplings with sheep cheese (bryndza) and roasted bacon
- Zemiakové placky – potato pancakes fried in oil with garlic and flour
- Granadír – pasta with potato
- Fried cheese – cheese fried in bread crumbs
- Schnitzel – Wiener schnitzel
- Lokse – potato pancake
Yummy, Yummy! While in Kosice, you will find those names all over the menus in restaurants.
Lunch Time!
One thing you should know about Slovakia and a lunch time, is that majority of restaurants (from cheap ones to expensive ones) have so called Denné menu (also can be called Obedové menu) which means “Daily menu” in English.
Usually Denné menu consists of:
- soup
- main course
- drink
- salad
There may be some variations though. Sometimes during the lunch time there will not be a menu but discounts for certain meals. Or the lunch menu will be only a main course + drink. That all depends on the type of the restaurant.
How to find the best (and cheapest) Lunches in Kosice?
Good people of Slovakia developed several websites where you can find information about the lunches.
One of the best is this one – https://www.zomato.com/kosice/daily-menus?page=1
Let me show you how it works.
So you have the list of the restaurants that serve Daily menus. Let’s take a look at Modena restaurant:
You can see the time period during which they serve daily menu:
And you can see what they serve and the price. In this case all the 1. 2. 3. 4. etc. options come with 3 types of Polievka (Soup).
Here you go, using this site will help you tremendously in finding the best lunch options in Kosice.
My advice for places to have lunch in Kosice
Last time I’ve been in Kosice I went to a place called Reštaurácia Gemer (Štúrova 13). It is an average Slovak restaurant/pub set in the outskirts of the Old Town. I must admit I was the only customer during the lunch time.
That’s what I’ve got for 3,40 EUR:
The food was simple and tasty with a regional flair. But I was looking for a cheap price/quality here. It is not a kind of place one would suggest to tourists as the staff doesn’t speak English and it is a bit outside of where all tourist attractions are. If you’re looking for some authentic Slovak experience for a cheap price, you can check it out.
If you look for a better restaurant to have lunch, my advice would be to look for the places situated in the Old Town (Stare mesto). You will get a nice atmosphere and much better service!
Here’s the Old Town if you wondered:
Check my other articles about Kosice:
- Getting to Kosice by bus and by train
- One Day in Kosice, Slovakia – Architectural Details
- Things to Do in Kosice: TOP 5 Must-See Sights (+Map)
Thank you for reading!
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Pavlo is an experienced travel writer published by CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, The Irish Times, Time Out, DK Eyewitness and Lonely Planet. He’s been writing about Poland for 9+ years.