What to eat in Mostar

Mostar eats by the clock. Burek comes first, warm from a bakery before the day heats up, ćevapi follow late in the morning while the grill still has no queue, and the evening belongs to fish on a terrace once the coaches have gone back to the coast. Eat in that order and the town makes sense, because each hour of the day has its own plate.

Burek is the breakfast of the Old Town, a pie of thin pastry that is sold by the slice for €2–3. A bakery near the entrance to the bazaar sells it from 7 am, so you can have one in your hand on Kujundžiluk before the first tour group arrives. Order the one with meat, and keep a napkin ready.

Buregdžinica Donja Mahala is the other name worth knowing, a shop that sells burek by the slice, although the guides give no street for it. One slice is enough to carry you through the walk to the museum in the Tara tower. If the morning will be long, buy a second one for the pocket.

Ćevapi in somun

Ćevapi arrive in somun, a soft flatbread, with raw onion and a spoon of kajmak, and a portion costs €4–8. Tima-Irma stands in the Old Town beside Kujundžiluk and takes cash only, so keep banknotes in the pocket.

The verdict on timing is easy. Go in the morning, before the first coaches pull in around 10 or 11, because by lunchtime the bazaar belongs to day trippers and the grill belongs to a queue. Choose the grill at Tima-Irma over a long sit-down lunch, and keep the sit-down meal for the evening.

Begova soup and the bazaar kitchen

Saray is an aščinica in the Old Town, a canteen of the old kind that serves begova čorba and set meals, so it suits a lunch that has to be quick. Šadrvan stands near the bridge and cooks classic Bosnian dishes, and in season it is wise to reserve a table. Sarma and japrak, the stuffed cabbage and vine leaves, belong to the same family of dishes.

Trout by the river

Hindin Han sits on the east bank, south of the bridge, and its trout costs €8–10. The terraces hang over the water in the evening, which is when the place earns its price, because the coaches are long gone and the light on the stone turns soft. It is dearer than the bazaar, so treat it as the one proper dinner of the trip and walk back across the bridge afterwards.

Sweets, coffee and Herzegovinian wine

Baklava costs €1.50–2.50 and tufahija, a poached apple filled with walnuts, costs €2.50–3.50. Hurmašice, the syrupy cakes, belong to the same shelf. The coffee is brewed in a džezva and costs €1–2 (Bosnian coffee), and it is slow by design, so order it only when there is time to sit. Herzegovina has its own wines, žilavka for white and blatina for red, and rakija is the local spirit. The table below lists the places named on this page.

Places change their menus; opening hours and closing days are not given.

2 daysThe two-day plan places each of these meals between the bridge, the museum and the minaret.Mostar in 2 days →

Where to stayStaying in the Old Town puts the bakery and the ćevapi grill a few steps from the door.Where to stay in Mostar →

Getting aroundEverything named here is reached on foot, and the page on getting around explains the rest of the town.Getting around Mostar →

When to goThe page on seasons explains which months suit a terrace by the water and which ones suit a coat.The best time to visit Mostar →

Day tripsBlagaj has cafés along the river in spring and autumn, and the day trips page tells how to get there.Day trips from Mostar →

MistakesThe mistakes page lists what goes wrong when the day is planned around the wrong hour.Mistakes everyone makes in Mostar →

Hidden gemsThe page on hidden corners covers what the bazaar and the lanes behind it keep out of sight.Mostar Beyond the Old Bridge: A Cemetery, Mosques and Houses →