Montenergan Flying Circus

I know, I know the title of this post has nothing to do with the content, but the reference has been floating around in my head for the last week, I had to use it.

We were recommended another restaurant to try called Stari Mlini (Old Mill). Which is right on the water and with an extensive garden and a stream flowing through the mill. This is a really beautiful setting and there are table everywhere so you can choose which setting you would prefer. There are tables outside under the trees, some under coverings and some inside. We chose a table right on the stream under a tree, but I did regret it after is got dark and the light on our table started attracting insects from the tree directly above the table. The view while the sun was up was amazing though and well worth it.

The staff dress in traditional outfits and are very friendly and service is prompt and our waiter showed a good knowledge of the food and was happy to recommend dishes. For my entree I ordered the Riblji Pasteta (Fish Pate). This was fresh and while it lacked the denseness of a pate and could more appropriately be described as a fish mousse due to its loose consistensy, I put this down to that fact that it was (according to the waiter) made only a few hours before. The flavour was gentle and balanced, a pleasant and clean fish taste rather than the overpowering taste you get from a trout or a salmon pate.

As seems to be the case around this area, they had the fresh fish available to view and select which fish you would like. I think this is a great way to show off produce that you are proud to have and let the costumer see that you aren't just pulling out fish that is two days old or frozen 2 months ago.


These are all priced on a weight basis so you can select a fish that is big enough for your appetite or you choose a larger fish for two people. My dad selected the Gilthead Bream. The waiter offered several different options for preparing the fish with his recommendation being steaming the fish in foil with aromatic vegetables. I always prefer fish cooked in this way as you don't lose any of the juices or flavour as it steams.

This looked good, but the aroma as the foil was opened was even better. The fish was well cooked and the vegetables, while slightly overcooked, were much better than the ones served at Galeon. My dad said this was much better than the fish at Galeon.

Mum decided on a vegetarian option, the Eggplant and cheese dish which is baked in an eartheneware pot over coals. This also smelled really good when the lid was removed at the table. The colours of this dish are bright and although the portion looks a bit small in this photo, the pot is actually quite big.

I opted for the seafood spaghetti. As you can see from the picture below, they serve much less seafood than would be standard for a marinara in Melbourne, but in my opinion, we put too much sauce on our pastas anyway. When you finish the pasta in a bowl, there shouldn't be a giant pool of sauce left on the bottom. The flavour here was just right, the pasta was ever so slightly overcooked for my taste, but some people say the way I like pasta is a little undercooked for their taste.


Parsley sprinkled over the edges of the plate again, but at least it's fresh.

For dessert I can't pass up the palacinke (crepes) which seems the be the dessert of choice in Montenegro and Serbia. This time filled with cooked apple and walnuts.

With all the variations available, I don't see myself getting tired of this versatile, simple dessert in a hurry.

This is my last post from Montenegro, the next one will be back in Serbia. After our experience on the train, we've decided to drive back over the mountains and stop somewhere overnight on the way to Novi Sad, so I'll update you then. In the meantime, please continue with your comments and emails and let anyone who might be interested know about this blog.

Montenegro Part 2

We are staying in a small town near Kotor, along the shores of the Bay of Kotor. This bay is surrounded by mountains and is not on the open ocean, therefore it is protected from severe weather, making it an ideal stopping point for yachts traveling along the coast. We have seen some amazing boats docked here for a couple of days before moving on with their travels.

Since this area is so driven by tourism, with very little farmland to speak of due to the mountains, the restaurants reflect a more international flavour with the majority offering mainly Italian food like Pizza and Pasta. Among these of course, there are better and worse varieties and the prices are considerably more expensive than in Serbia and the currency here is the Euro. In the pizza/pasta places, the prices are around 8 Euro for a pizza, or about $14 AUD. The first place we went to was along the beach and served frozen seafood on the marinara pizza and the base was quite disappointing. I chose the lasagna and that was fine.

During our walk along the shore we saw a whole group of people gathered around a small boat which was pulled up and had a net hanging over the side. It turns out that these fishermen had netted so many fish that they were unable to load them into the boat, so they brought the net in to shore and were filling up the bottom of the boat with fish. They were alive and jumping around, you can't get much fresher than that!

People were coming down and buying fish right out of the net.

The second night we went to the Old Town which is an ancient stone town built at the base of the cliff leading up to the ruins of the original Kotor, which is about a 1-2 hour walk uphill. No, I didn't go up there. The old town is a maze of very tiny alleyways and tiny shops (some as big as a bedroom) selling brand name clothes, shoes and other fashion items. Interspersed among these are courtyards with cafes and restaurants which you might walk around the town for an hour without ever realising they are there. I walked past a bar which could probably fit no more than about 10 people. There are several larger buildings in the town which are hotels with restaurants and bars and in the larger courtyards there are usually one or two larger restaurants with plenty of outside seating. We chose one of these for our dinner this night.

I had a delicious riblja corba (fish soup) to start and while we were deciding on mains, one of the waiters came around with a tray of raw fish for us to take a look at which they grill and then bring out to fillet at the table. The fish looked very fresh and while we were tempted, I decided on a pizza this day. This was better than the previous night, but not as good as I had in Sremska Mitrovica.

The next day was my mum's birthday, so I booked her in for a massage in one of the hotels in old town. Of course, I needed a massage too, so I booked myself in as well. I also had a restaurant in mind for dinner, which looked very nice and a little bit more fine dining than many of the other we had seen. The massage was very relaxing and well worth doing.

That night we headed to Restoran Galeon for dinner. It's right on the water with a gorgeous view out over the marina and the bay. It definitely looked more styish than the other restaurants we had seen and the prices were almost double, but still not more expensive than a decent restaurant in Melbourne. Main courses were around 20 Euro.

For appetisers, dad and I had Bouillabaise, a french seafood soup with a saffron broth. The plates were brought to the table with just the seafood in the bowl and the waiter poured the broth over the top. This had a fantastic flavour and some very nice seafood in it.


Mum ordered the antipasto plate, which is a good option in this region as they are well know for their prsut (prosciutto). This looked great, and the few tastes that I managed to steal were delicious.


For main course, the waiter brought out their fresh fish of the day and they all looked amazingly fresh and dad really wanted to try one, so we selected the sea bass. This is prepared for two people and priced per kilo so you can select the size that you want. They grill the fish and serve it with three dipping sauces on the side, one a delicious ailoi, one a chopped tomoato and the third was a pesto style sauce.


This fish was delicious. Very moist and well cooked, the sauces were very nice too. The vegetables were a dissapointment however as they were all boiled and uniform in taste and texture.

Mum selected the Grilled Prawns.

I didn't taste this, but since mum finished the lot and she usually doesn't eat more than one or two prawns, I'd say that's a good sign that it was great. The vegetables were as bad as those served with the fish.

Where this restaurant drops the ball in my opinion (apart from the vegetables) is in the dessert selection. They had chocolate selections and an apple crumble, but no local dishes.

Mum chose the dessert sampler which is a selection of three small desserts. This consisted of a chocolate rum-ball, chocolate icecream and a small biscuit-based chocolate cake with walnuts.


Dad chose the Apple Crumble (I would have selected this too, but there was only one serve left). This also had walnuts in it and the only compaint from dad was that it was way too big (but he managed to finish it).


And, even though I'm not a big fan of chocolate desserts, I went for the Chocolate Trilogy (their version of death by chocolate). Don't say I never do anything for all you chocolate-loving readers out there...


This is a dense chocolate tart topped with chocolate icecream and chocolate mousse. It looks very unappetising, but wasn't too bad and I'm sure chocolate fans would enjoy it.

Montenegro Part 1

Train journeys conjure up romantic images of steam engines puffing through verdant green hillsides and mountains, crossing bridges hundreds of meters high over mighty flowing rivers. This is why we decided to load our car onto a train and experience the 10 hour train journey from Belgrade in Serbia to Bar in Montenegro. This was an overnight journey, so we went for the sleeping carriage so that we could be refreshed and rested when we arrived early the next morning and enjoy the day. I was also imagining those old movies where the people in the sleeping cars come together in the restaurant car to have some nice food and chat the trip away while enjoying the view.

The first part of this process was loading the car onto the train. Before we got on the train, the car was checked for height to make sure it would fit. After the lady checking the car made a face and came up to us saying, "that's a large car, but we'll see how it goes". This didn't fill me with confidence. Nevertheless, when I got to the ramp, the guy that was there said the car should be fine, but to stay in the very center of the path down the carriage or it would damage the roof of the car. I had to drive the car onto the top level of the train and drive down 3 carriages along a very dark track which was about 2 feet wider than the car and about 15 cm taller than the car. All went smoothly and I stopped the car and got out and realised I had to walk back the way I had come, while other cars were coming forward. At one point I had to hang out of the side of the carriage to let a Mercedez get past, but managed to get out safely.

Our carriage was almost at the front of the train, so we headed all the way forward and climbed onto the train. To say that our cabin was cramped would be an understatement. The room was the size of a small bathroom with 2 sets of bunk beds, each barely the width of a towel and a gap between them only large enough for one person to stand between them. Basically if you wanted to be in the cabin, you had to be lying on the bed. I thought this would be ok as I would find the restaurant or bar area and spend most of the trip there when I wasn't sleeping. You can probably guess what happened....there was no restaurant or bar. Not even a kiosk from which to buy water or junk food. The toilets were not pleasant and the first one I went into - not long after the train left - had no paper.

I resigned myself to sleeping through the whole trip, but this proved very difficult. Firstly the beds are so tiny you can't get comfortable and then part of the way into the trip we realised the heating was on. This on a hot summer day and on a train where people sleep in their clothes. We had the door and the window both open and the cabin was still as hot as a sauna. Eventually I got out of bed as I couldn't stand the heat anymore and went and stood in the corridor with my head out the open window and noticed several other people doing the same thing. It turns out that the whole carriage was being heated, not just our room, so I decided to find the conductor and get him to turn it off. After looking everywhere, we couldn't find him and after about 20 minutes a conductor from one of the other cars was walking past and told us that our conductor was asleep in the last cabin and went to wake him up. After complaining to him, he told me the whole train was heated (which I knew wasn't true as I had walked through several cars trying to find him), but eventually went and turned it off. I asked him for some bottled water (which the other conductor had told me he could provide) and he told me he had none, then about 5 minutes later came and brought some to us. The mind boggles. I did manage to grab a few minutes sleep here and there, totaling maybe a few hours. When the sun finally came up, the views were spectacular, steep hills and deep gorges, long tunnels and glistening lakes. If I wasn't so sore and tired I would have enjoyed it more, but it is amazing country.

When we arrived, it was a simple matter of driving the car down the ramp, loading up and onto the road. As we drove along the coast, I began to realise why so many people from all over Europe come here to spend their holidays. The water looks amazing and the mountains seem to rise straight out of the water, with ancient ruins and monastaries and small villages perched in seemingly impossible locations. Walking into our apartment and looking out the windows was a revelation. Our front door is literally 5 meters from the water. Here are the photos.

The view from our kitchen windows:


The view from the balcony:



And finally, the view from my shower....yes, my shower has it's own window.