Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, is one for the foodies. At the best places to eat in Novi Sad, you can indulge in traditional Vojvodina fare, modern Serbian cuisine, and Balkan street food.
Novi Sad | Serbia
In Novi Sad, a feast is just around the corner. After all, the city is studded with some of the finest eateries in the country! We spent three glorious days in Novi Sad, eating our way through endless Vojvodina fare from dawn to dusk. Our days started with breakfast, sausages and sandwiches alongside cups of strong coffee, that powered us on our walks through the historic city. Midday we stopped for a snack: a plate of cevapi or some burek, both classic Balkan street foods. Some more wandering followed it, some sightseeing and souvenir shopping, and then it was time for lunch.
Lunch, as it is in Serbia, is a slow affair that stretches for hours. At lunch, one feasts on meat, the heart of a Serbian meal, with sides of vegetables and bread or rice. Meat in Serbia is excellent, and the Serbs are not afraid of spices! Pork is the meat of choice and platters of roasted meat adorn tables at restaurants. The mouth-watering fragrance of meat roasting on the spit is everywhere at lunchtime! Don’t like meat? Don’t fret for Novi Sad is built on the Danube and fresh fish, including catfish, are popular in Novi Sad. Have them fried or have them stewed in a paprika-laced soup, it is your choice!
Lunch gave way to drinks and we sat on the swings outside the bars on Zmaj Jovina downing beers and local wines, then heading to one of the many poslastičarnicas, or gelaterias, to cool ourselves with a sweet treat. Afternoon gave way to evening, and as evening slipped to night, we slipped into traditional tavernas for a night of more food and music. If the night feels too young, the city is throbbing with pubs such as Škripa where you can meet locals over drinks.
One can argue that there are other things to do in Novi Sad besides eating like a glutton and they would be right but in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, the food is so delicious and locals are so passionate about their cuisine that you cannot not indulge in a feast. In this city, you are spoilt for choice but here are some of the best places to eat in Novi Sad.
CAN I FIND VEGAN FOOD IN NOVI SAD? Serbs aren’t big on veganism and traditional Serbian cuisine lacks meat-free options but with the influx of tourism and the rise of veganism, vegan restaurants are opening up in cities across Serbia. If you are looking for meat-free options, and there aren’t any on the menu except for salads, ask for fasting food. For followers of the Serbian Orthodox Church, fasting involves abstaining from animal products including dairy, amongst other things, during certain religious periods. Note that some fish and seafood are exempt, so make sure to be clear when ordering.
In Serbia, fasting food is described using the terms “posno” or “posni“, so look for these terms on the menu or ask your server. For example, burek usually contains meat and cheese but a “posno” burek may contain potatoes, mushrooms, or leeks instead. We visited during a fasting period, and almost all places had one or two posno items on the menu.
In our post, vegan restaurants in Novi Sad are marked by 🌿.
Best Places to Eat in Novi Sad
We are listing the best places to eat in Novi Sad, so that you can head straight to the table without spending a long time pouring over guidebooks.
Sokace
Perhaps my favourite restaurant among all the restaurants we ate at in Serbia is this gem from Novi Sad called Sokace. Sokace serves traditional Serbian food, so expect all the must-try dishes in Serbia such as roštilj (barbecue), sarma, pork medallions, and punjene paprike. The decor was all dark wood and dated wallpapers reminiscent of a bygone era. Framed photographs adorned the walls and a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling. An eclectic collection of antiques and an opulent red velvet sofa complemented the style. It was totally up our alley! We visited Sokace on our first night in Serbia and we barely had any understanding of Serbian food. The staff was friendly and they patiently recommended dishes from the menu. We ordered roasted pork that came with deliciously roasted potatoes, chicken liver skewers, and a vegetarian punjene paprike which was the highlight. Long, red peppers were stuffed with rice cooked in a silky smooth sweet and tart tomato sauce and seasoned generously with paprika and herbs. For dessert, we ordered the tufahije which was nothing like we had tasted before. The apple, stuffed with nuts, arrived cold with a cream dollop, and we relished the refreshing dessert slowly. Like most traditional Serbian restaurants, Sokace has live music in the evenings. Outdoor tables are available, too, should you visit on a hot summer evening.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Sokace serves vegetarian and vegan versions of a few traditional Serbian dishes such as punjene paprike and sarma.
Fish & Zeleniš
Another favourite restaurant from our 7 days in Serbia trip was Fish & Zeleniš, a Novi Sad institution known for its superior fish dishes. The menu is seafood-forward: locally sourced Serbia produce cooked in Istrian style. We ordered prawns wrapped in kataifi, octopus carpaccio, and sea bream, and waited in anticipation while we admired the decor: a smorgasbord of framed pictures, a lot of which had coastal and marine themes, adorned the walls. The tables were laid with paper printed with fish-themed designs and quotes in Cyrillic. We munched on the fantastic kataifi-wrapped prawns, then dug into the octopus carpaccio, which seasoned with Greek olive oil and lemon, was melt-in-the-mouth. The skin on the sea bream was cooked to perfection and we spent a long time savouring it before ordering some bermet, the local Serbian dessert wine said to have been served aboard the Titanic.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Sadly, there’s not a lot of options for vegans and vegetarians at Fish & Zeleniš except for the salads.
Restoran Kafanica
Complete with checked tablecloths, Restoran Kafanica is your traditional Serbia taverna and one of the best places to eat in Novi Sad. The owner is the most wonderful person, gentle and friendly, who patiently recommended dishes from the menu. We sat near the kitchen, in an orange and teal room in a building that looked very old, and watched the chef expertly dish out orders. The menu is small but they only cook 3 or 4 hot meals from the menu each day but everything is cooked fresh and to order. We ordered the sarma, one of Serbia’s most loved dishes, and a baked apple to share. The sarma was, to put it simply, chef’s kiss! One sip of the savoury broth and we felt like it could heal anything. As if our exhaustion was washed away instantly! The meat, cooked to perfection, was wrapped delicately in tender cabbage leaves. It was a combination we had heard of countless times but never tasted and now that we have, we can’t seem to stop thinking about it. It warmed our souls, it brought us joy. It was so good we decided to leave a bite to eat after dessert which was another version of tufahije, straight out of the oven and topped with buttery chocolate sauce. For some reason, the chocolate reminded us of eating at restaurants on Kolkata’s Park Street. The only sad bit was that we had had a long day and our appetite had taken a hit and we couldn’t order all the amazing items that we wanted to. If we had another day in Novi Sad, we would go back to Kafanica and request the chef to cook us a meal that brought them joy.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: The best thing about Kafanica is that they accommodate dietary restrictions. Ask politely and you may get something made to your liking! If you have stricter requirements, I recommend giving them a call the day before to check if they can accommodate your request.
Rekalibracija Veganski 🌿
One of the few vegan places in Novi Sad is Rekalibracija Veganski, a hole-in-the-wall stall near Futoshka Pijaca. They make awesome, and hefty, vegan burgers with flavourful tofu and homemade condiments. They make their wholemeal bread too! I pondered a while, trying to choose between the burgers and the seitan hotdog but finally went for the burger which was delicious and filling and came with grilled tofu, lettuce, tomatoes, and vegan paprika-lashed mayo. They also do vegan bolognese and tortilla wraps.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: All items on the menu are vegan.
Tetak Sandwiches
Index sandwiches are a type of sandwich local to Novi Sad. They are basically a sub stuffed with meat, salad, cheese, and sauces of your choice, and grilled. Tetak Sandwiches and Mirjana Index are two popular outlets. We didn’t get the time to try an index sandwich– we found out about this local classic later on– but instead got a pleskavica at Tetak and it was really, really good!
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Vegetarian options are available.
Trčika
The food at Trčika is nothing to drive home about but its location is. This cute cafe, also known as the tram cafe, is housed inside a vintage tram that once rattled up and down the streets of Novi Sad. Take your seat at a window or at the bar and sip your coffee under the shiny wooden ceilings and walls adorned with vintage photos of Novi Sad. We sat there for what seemed like a long time, people-watching and escaping the hot afternoon sun.
Perec
Perec does excellent sandwiches, and if you know us, you know how much we adore a good sandwich. We tried two sandwiches and a baked item. Everything is made fresh and there is always a queue at Perec.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Vegetarian and vegan options are limited. I tried the vegan sandwich and compared to other items on the menu, it was dry and tasteless.
Chocolato Cafe
We gave in and joined the long queue snaking out of this ice cream parlour after ignoring it for two whole days and it was worth it! Luscious mounds of gelato in a variety of flavours made choosing a single flavour a tough task but we persevered and picked the crème brûlée flavour ice cream and it was absolutely smashing!
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Vegan gelato is available at Chocolato Cafe.
Carda Aqua Doria
One of the best places to eat in Novi Sad is Carda Aqua Doria. Located on the banks of the Danube, this upscale modern restaurant specialises in fish. We ordered the catfish soup, roasted mushrooms, and bacon-wrapped chicken and soon regretted it because the portions were huge! The servers had failed to inform us that the soup would come in a cauldron and not in a bowl as is typical for us, foreigners! So we sat and ate for what seemed like hours till we could eat no more: the catfish was flavourful and the soup, Hungarian-style and spiced generously with paprika, was delicious! Around us, locals and tourists were revelling in roštilj platters piled with barbecued meat, succulent sausages, and fried catfish. Rakija and conversations flowed freely. To tell you the truth, we were already a bit drunk from all the wine we had tasted at Sremski Karlovci that afternoon; had we paid attention to the tables around us, as we usually do, we probably would have ordered more thoughtfully.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Vegetarian and vegan options are very limited and I had to make do with some excellent oyster mushrooms. They do have quite an extensive salad menu though!
Kuća Kobasice
We went there on the recommendations of a redditor who said they ate at Kuća Kobasice every day on their trip to Novi Sad because the sausages were delish, and they were right, for the kobasice, or sausages, at this eatery are excellent! We went early and it was already busy, and we had seen it the night before and it was busy then too. The chef was busy prepping a large order when we arrived and the shop was filled with the smokey and greasy smell of sausage shops. We placed our order, a traditional pork and beef kobasice, and waited our turn. A group of men walked in, picked up the large order, and left and soon it was our turn. The sausage, grill marks dark and shiny, was placed in a hot dog roll, a smattering of salads and sauces were added, and we were on our way, Aninda delightfully sinking his teeth in the meaty goodness.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Not this place, nope.
Sweet & Green
A salad bar that grows its own salad greens in hydroponic beds inside the shop? Of course, I will give it a try! At Sweet & Green, you can build your own salad bowl with ingredients at the bar. I chose quinoa, a mix of salad greens, pickled onions, tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, and prawns. The ingredients were fresh and the bowl was massive and very filling. They have some salad bowls with set ingredients on the menu that you can choose from. If salads are not your thing, they also serve vegan soups.
VEGANS & VEGETARIANS: Of course! Sweet & Green is one of the best places to eat in Novi Sad for vegans.
Novi Sad Restaurant Recommendations
So many wonderful places to eat in Novi Sad, so little time. These are some of the places that were recommended to us but we couldn’t fit them in our itinerary.
Veliki
Velike was recommended to us as one of the best places to eat in Novi Sad but we simply could not accommodate it in our itinerary. Expect traditional Serbian fare and a buffet breakfast.
Ananda Vegan Restaurant 🌿
If you are looking for vegan food in Novi Sad, don’t miss Ananda. They have an Indian-influenced set meal menu that changes every day. See their website for the latest menu.
Project 72
We are sad that we couldn’t accommodate Project 72, one of the best places to eat in Novi Sad, in our itinerary. Expect a modern take on Serbian cuisine and dishes such as pasta with truffles from Fruska Gora and slow-cooked veal tongue featured on an ever-changing menu.
Plava Frajla
One of Novi Sad’s most popular restaurants is Plava Frajla where you can try Serbian classics such as podvarak, prebenac, sarma, and smoked pork neck.
Like it? Pin it!
What are your favourite places to eat in Novi Sad?
Leave a Reply