Category: Serbia

The building at the rear is the former central railway station, closed in 2018 for the creation of the enormous Belgrade Waterfront project (more on which later). The subtle little monument that was unveiled in January 2021, in what was a traffic island and car park, is of Stefan Nemanja (1114ish – 1199) who is seen as the founder of Serbia. The Waterfront project is controversial, but it has certainly seen the modernisation and improvement of certain areas of the city, this is rather a pleasant place to sit now.

Some people thought that it was a bit much, but President Aleksandar Vučić said at the opening that attempts to remove it (although I’m not sure many people would seriously think it would be removed) would fail as it represented “the anchor of the whole Serbian nation”. A Government press release said at the time:

“Vučić pointed out that today’s ceremony is not just an act of unveiling the monument, but an act of taking care of oneself and one’s identity. To stand here means repentance for all the years during which we forgot about him, but also the awareness that we have finally discovered the root from Serbia was created, stated Vučić.”

It’s an intricate design, the whole monument was designed by the Russian sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov.

This is meant to represent a Byzantine helmet, although some commentators thought that it was more akin to a Kinder chocolate egg. I like it though, looking at photos of what this area used to look like, it feels like a focal point now. The 75 ton monument isn’t exactly subtle, but there’s sometimes a place for slight excess….. What they do with the former railway station is more interesting, it would have made a rather lovely national railway museum, but it appears now to be the new home of the Historical Museum of Serbia.

After my disappointment with the Docker Brewery, I decided to just go to a bar nearby to have justified to myself the walk out here. And I was surprised and delighted, there was a friendly staff member who greeted me immediately and explained they were just tidying up so excuse the mess, although it all looked fine to me. I checked if I wanted to sit outside, which I didn’t, before offering me a range of tables inside. I opted for the one nearest to the beer…..

The staff member kindly explained the concept of the bar, which effectively was self-service where you bought a card and then used that to pour your own beer.

After I got muddled up, the staff member came to fix the problem, although in retrospect it really is all very easy and it was my user error. I rather liked that you could pour any amount you wanted, as that enabled me to try six beers for just under £7. Untappd (my account is at https://untappd.com/user/julwhite for anyone bored enough to wade through it) is once again my friend here, it neatly lists the six beers that I tried here.

There were around 24 beers to choose from, along with another section which had ciders and wines on.

In summary,

(i) Hope, from Dogma Brewery. This was a juicy, hoppy and hazy beer, I noted nearly as good as Verdant.

(ii) BrrKaaa from Kabinet Brewery. This was light, hoppy and quaffable.

(iii) Cherry Kiss from Docker Brewery. This was a gentle beer with lots of cherry, but also almond, so it made it like a bakewell.

(iv) Wild Crow Exotic Gose 3 from Crow Brewery. This was a clever beer with a whole range of fruit flavours, the gooseberry added tartness and there was a softer fruit that I couldn’t identify as I’m not a fruit expert….

(v) Lollihop from Zebrew. A punchy and full bodied beer with lingering flavours.

(vi) Memento Mori from 3bir. There was a lot of kick to this, a full bodied stout with chocolate and coffee flavour.

The whole set-up was comfortable and very on-trend, especially with the engaging staff member who was keen to help at all stages. The beer selection was broad, covering plenty of beer styles, and although there was Guinness and a Brewdog beer, most were local beers and so they were all new to me.

This ended up being one of the best bars that I’ve visited this year, not just because of the innovative concept, but also because of the engaging service and comfortable atmosphere. There was some background music going, but that didn’t intrude into the atmosphere of the venue. It wasn’t the bar that I had initially intended to visit, but I’m glad it was the one that I ended up visiting. All really very lovely.

Well, this was all highly sub-optimal and one of the strangest encounters I’ve had when travelling. It was a bit of a walk out to this craft beer bar which is listed as a verified venue on Untappd and which I had anticipated on being a very positive experience.

This all looked promising and there were several other groups in despite it being the afternoon, it’s clearly a popular location. Anyway, with my choices made, the server said that the venue wasn’t serving beer. I can only think that I was perhaps meant to serve the beer myself, as there is a sign mentioning this, but then I can’t quite understand why they’ve got a bar set-up. And when I was sitting outside I watched a couple go in and then come out two minutes later looking confused and walking off, so I have no idea. It was all beyond me whatever was happening……

Slightly unsure what to do at this news, I looked at the weekend menu and thought it looked all on-trend and interesting, although I was there on a weekday and so it wasn’t appropriate to my visit. Slightly saddened as I had walked a long way to get there, I sat outside using the venue’s wi-fi and bemoaned the situation to Nathan by message. I decided that I’d just find a nearby bar and as it happened there was another one just opposite, so with not a great deal of positivity I went there. And that venue was Draft Bar and just as I felt the afternoon wasn’t going in my favour, I discovered one of the best bars I’ve been to. I’m confident that this bar is probably brilliant (the reviews are testament to that), but I ended up being pleased with how events turned out. More of which in the next post….

This whole complex of eateries and drinkeries seemed on-trend and exciting, with the Asian inspired Zendwich looking particularly well reviewed. The service was welcoming, whilst the staff member was conversational and pro-actively explained the menu concept. They had some outside tables, but it was raining and so I didn’t fancy those (and I don’t like sitting outside anyway, it’s full of insects and heat). Inside there were two tables downstairs and there were two people sitting at one of them, so the staff member suggested that I could go upstairs if I wanted.

It was a bit bare, but I liked it. There are numerous venues which operate from the site, which is the former BIP brewery, which went bust in 2015, although they stopped brewing at this site in 1989.

The authorities were going to demolish it all and redevelop the site, but it has evolved into something that I think is more exciting. And it has saved them spending a fortune on restoring it.

The beer was the Hoptopod from Dogma Brewery, a clean and hoppy little number. I was merrily engaged with scrolling endlessly through my phone and I realised that 35 minutes later that my food hadn’t arrived. I decided that if it didn’t arrive within five minutes I’d better go and chase the matter up, but just at that moment the staff member comes up full of apologies and mentions that he’s forgotten to put the order through. I mean, he did only have one order to put through, but I was in no rush and I liked the place, so this wasn’t a problem.

My chicken katsu, which I accept isn’t the most Serbian of dishes, was excellent with the sauce being full of flavour and the potatoes and carrots (which I’m not sure are staples of Japanese cuisine) were soft and actually tasty. The chicken was tender, but crispy on the exterior, with a depth of taste to the sauce. The rice was perfectly cooked and it was suitably filling, so all very agreeable.

Despite the long wait for food, I was here for just over an hour and that worked out well as it had stopped raining by the time I left. I liked the friendliness of the service, with an effort made to provide tasty food and a selection of craft beers. Asian style craft beer restaurants are high on my list of favourite food and drink combinations. Definitely recommended.

After all that walking, I felt that it was necessary to get a quick beer. I had a look at the Untappd Verified venues and this one was nearby and it looked like it had a decent selection of craft beers. It’s the venue in the centre of the photo, I would have likely walked by it if I hadn’t of known that it was here.

The beer list is neatly presented on the wall and there was a friendly welcome, although I thought the staff member thought I was lost rather than looking for a beer.

I started with the Hop Charger from Axiom Brewery, a very hoppy beer, although that isn’t unexpected given the name. It had quite a bitter kick, but the fruitiness lingered. I’m not keen on these little glasses, they don’t seem entirely functional to me.

The environment, there was wi-fi and there were places to charge devices for anyone who needed them. There is food served, but I think they just go and acquire it from premises a couple of doors down. But, that seems like a practical solution.

The prices were reasonable (well, by UK standards) and it was a welcoming venue, so I went for a can of Danube Fruit Stew from 3bir, as that sounded like a suitable local beer to get. It’s a fruited sour, which is one of my favourite beer types, and it wasn’t thick or lumpy, but was smooth, suitably tart and with lingering blackcurrant flavours. And it was obviously very healthy with all that fruit in it.

A suitably positive experience for my first beer in Serbia.

Located within the Belgrade Fortress, this is the not inconsiderable Victor monument which stands where the Rivers Danube and Sava meet. Incidentally, I thought that the statue leaning was more evidence simply of my photographic prowess, but it is genuinely leaning which is sub-optimal for the city engineers. Like many things in the city, there were lots of arguments about this monument and where it was going to go. Designed by Ivan Meštrović, it’s not of any one particular person, it instead represents some sort of mythical being who has won the war and is now leading the city into peace. The monument wasn’t meant to be placed here (it was instead meant to be at Terazije which is in the city centre), but there were arguments that the lack of clothing meant it wasn’t suitable in case ladies looked at it, so it’s been moved out here.

As a quick timeline, the idea for such a moment came in 1913 following the Serbian victory in the First Balkan War when the Ottomans were defeated. The Hercules type statue was designed, but then World War One broke out and that caused somewhat of a delay, even when the conflict was over. Eventually, the monument was delivered to the city in 1923 and it was then put in a shed for four years whilst the authorities worked out where to put it. Bored of argument, a final decision was made in 1927 and this is where the monument was plonked down.

There he is, defending Belgrade. The monument is cracked and the whole lot has had to be repaired several times to stop it falling down, but it looks quite majestic today.

And that’s the view that he’s looking out onto. Some have suggested he isn’t guarding the city, but simply after all of the arguments the authorities wanted it looking away from the city centre so they didn’t have to look at him. Either which way, it’s quite an impressive monument.