As I was setting off to Bled, Slovenia, for a long weekend, I knew I definitely wanted to try out the restaurant 1906 located in hotel Triglav. It is highly rated on TripAdvisor, boasts an award-winning chef and, as I discovered in Bled, is mentioned in the local guidebooks. At the same time, the hotel package at Vila Bled where I stayed included dinner at the hotel's restaurant, which I did not see reviewed or advertised anywhere apart from a small sign by the hotel entrance and wasn't expecting much at all. So how did the two restaurants compare?
Vila Bled:
The lack of advertising (not sure if it's intentional or not) meant that there weren't many people around in the Vila Bled restaurant. In fact, on one night for a long time we were the only guests there. While feeling slightly odd, it was also definitely something different, having the whole restaurant just for us.
The decor was in style with the rest of the building, which, incidentally is the former residence of the Yugoslavian president Tito.
We had a set four-course dinner that varied every day and I have to say that every single course over the three nights we ate at Vila Bled was perfect. Well thought out, imaginative, cooked to perfection and beautifully presented. Not that I was expecting poor quality food, but it was surprising to see such care paid to a package holiday dinner.
We sampled delicacies like chicken raviollo with shrimps, corn panna cotta, polenta mousse and halophyte, broccoli cream soup and fish spoon dumplings with pistachio as well as idrija dumplings, lamb chop, vegetable ragout and cheese foam. I believe there is actually a set dinner option on the proper restaurant menu, so if in doubt on what to choose, I can highly recommend the set menu.
The service was always friendly and unobtrusive, just the way I like it. All in all, I would probably say this is the best restaurant I have ever been to.
1906 at the Hotel Triglav:
First things first - even though the local guidebook said the 1906 restaurant at the hotel Triglav was open all day long, the first time we tried to have lunch there we discovered that it was actually only open for lunch during the weekends, so we had to go and find food elsewhere. That was not the best first impression after climbing uphill from lake Bled while starving. Not sure if the opening times at 1906 change during the summer season, but it was certainly that way at the end of April.
The second time we came to 1906 on a Saturday, so it was open. We were sat in the corner by the window with a beautiful view over lake Bled, which we would have enjoyed significantly more had it not been for the queue of ants making their way back and forth on the windowsill and the wall and occasionally venturing on to the table. Not exactly what we were expecting in the restaurant of a 4-star hotel.
The food at 1906 was beautifully presented and tasty, but was it better than what we got in the non-award winning restaurant at Vila Bled? No, not really. Vila Bled was just as good if not better. Perhaps it was all the hype that raised the expectations, but we were certainly not blown away with 1906. We ordered a main each and a dessert to share, but we were also served a small amuse bouche, which it looked like we got charged for afterwards (there was 2x something on the bill in Slovenian which I am pretty sure we did not order).
So unfortunately I have to say that the restaurant 1906 at the hotel Triglav did not live to my expectations and I was glad to have dinner at Vila Bled to look forward to that night, with no insects to chase off the table. Based on this experience, I probably wouldn't return to 1906.