Belgrade in brief
ZAPLET
Address: Kajmakčalanska 2; Phone: (011) 24-04-142;
How can we describe a restaurant where everything is simply - perfect? Is it enough to say that the owner and head chef are two people with one soul? And that the owner is so dedicated to his restaurant and every detail that guests are always looking for a table more, regardless of the time of day? This is the story of one gourmet expedition which took place on a lazy, rainy autumn day, about one month before this Guide was published. The time is three in the afternoon and the restaurant is full to the brim with businesspeople, middle-aged friends, couples, the young, the beautiful and the famous - in short, people who like to eat well. Here and there, the toned down and clean design symbolizes current events, like the rolled newspapers set above light bulbs instead of lampshades (Global Financial Crisis), red lights inspiring the seductiveness of each bite, or maybe you'll visit during Pork Week - baby pork will be on the menu. Waiting on the table is a bowl with unpeeled garlic set in quality olive oil. The bread basket is full of buns and our favorites, breadsticks.
The menu is quite unusual, resembling a work in progress of the possible menu on which the owner and chef have doodled and added sentences and hopes...Some dishes are always on the menu, some tend to disappear and some have spectacular comebacks. Experimenting is the key word here, but that's what "Zaplet's" guests like and appreciate. We started with the warm moscardini (baby octopus), warm hunter's salami, baked potatoes and eggplant, topped with a red pepper dressing similar to ajvar - an unusual and unbelievably tasty appetizer. For the main course, we had the baked beefsteak with porcini, a masterpiece of taste, served with homemade French fries. The second main course hides a fusion of tastes: deep-fried gnocchi, tender turkey, salsa tomatoes, olives and crumbled goat cheese on top. If you scoop up a bit of all the ingredients, the taste is superb; but if you forget the goat cheese, you'll notice that everything else is unsalted. Let us add that the espresso is excellent, especially along with a dessert called zli jezik and lavender panacotta topped with baked apricots. We leave it up to you to discover all the other divine specialties on offer. Prices are only relatively high, in accordance with the top experience, from the service to the quality of food.
