Onto the Belgrade sweets, coffee, and desserts we tried! During the five weeks we spent there we primarily got our desserts from the grocery store and bakeries, and our coffee from three-in-one packets, but we also tried out a couple cafes and a creperie.
I’m going to cover them in a similar manner to my Desserts in Budapest post which has been a relatively popular post on our site. Serbia definitely has fewer tourists, but probably partly because of that, there is less written about it on the web.
Belgrade Sweets – Coffee, Desserts, & other Sweets
I’ll begin with the coffees and desserts we tried out:
Hari’s Creperie
Because they seemed fairly popular there and I hadn’t had a ton of them in my life, I decided that if I had to try only one dessert in Belgrade (in a restaurant), it would be a crepe. We first made them ourselves (about that later) but I also wanted to try one out.
It seemed the best-rated/most popular places were Hari’s Creperie and Glumac. It was getting near the end of our stay before we decided to give it a go and ultimately chose Hari’s because it was closer to us and open late (until midnight every day). I think we made our way there around 11 pm one night (I talked about the schedule we were keeping in our roundup for that time) to finally indulge.
At that point, it was tempting to get a waffle because they all looked so appealing and we both enjoy a good waffle, but I had already decided- crepe. Hari’s offers both sweet and savory crepes but we were obviously there for dessert. We decided to share one, both because of the size, and the price.
They were cash only and one item plus a small tip would take what we had left at the time (not much- we needed to go to an ATM) so it was really our only option. I read that tipping is not necessary in Serbia, but in this case, we did because we felt the service was good (and it feels not to unless we’re somewhere you’re not supposed to tip). They were quick to seat us and bring our food. They also gave us water which had not been the case everywhere.
Our crepe included chocolate, strawberries, and a cream/ yogurt. Very good. And very filling. By the end, we were glad we shared. So service, food, etc. all good. I will say that their television programming was rather unprofessional, though. I may send them a message advising them to change it.
Info:
- Address: Kraljice Marije 8, Beograd 11000, Serbia ( < kilometer from the Church of Saint Mark)
- Website: Facebook page. They also have a regular site but it’s only relevant in terms of looking at their (Greek) origins and some of what they offer. The menu and prices were a little different in Serbia.
- Cost: The crepe we ordered cost 420 Serbian Dinar which currently equates to $3.58. There were a couple slightly cheaper options and also, obviously, more expensive items. The simpler the item, the cheaper, and the more ingredients (such as multiple fruits, candies, or whatever in your crepe or on your waffle), the more it will cost.
Coffee Dream
We also wanted some coffee experiences. Vietnam really got us into trying the local coffee and with Belgrade’s heavy cafe culture (I think we saw more cafes here than anywhere else), it was almost hard not to!
At Coffee Dream, you can choose to dine in or take-away your ordered items. We did not realize this so when we went up to the counter to order, they assumed we were getting takeaway. We should have begun by sitting down at a table. Flavor options for the various types of coffees include cinnamon, choco-cookie, caramel, and even pumpkin! You can see the menu here. We think (see below) we ordered a caramel freezeri which was basically like a coffee shake. It was just what we wanted. Despite accidentally ordering the coffee to go, we first sat down and enjoyed it for a few minutes before taking off to stroll around and finish it off (we shared).
Info:
- Located: Coffee Dream is actually a chain with several locations throughout Belgrade and even throughout Serbia. Each location is a little different.
- Cost: We paid 245 ($2.24), yet online it says 275 for what we think we ordered so it’s possible we got something else. Prices may also vary slightly by day or location but in general, most are similar and you can approximate prices on the menu.
- Website: http://www.coffeedream.rs/
Cafe & Factory
Cafe & Factory was just down the street and around the corner from our Airbnb. We’d often pass it and enjoy the nice aroma drifting out. One day, we decided we’d skip our 3-in-1 packets and head over there to start our day. It was then that we found out that “cafe and factory” mean cafe AND factory. They make fresh coffee there and inside we saw people stand in line to get it freshly ground.
We thought about getting some of their ground coffee (maybe we should have) but we didn’t have a coffee machine at our Airbnb there or at our next place and still had a couple months before we’d be heading back to the US so we just ordered some coffee to enjoy in the cafe. I think we got the Latte Macchiato Caramelo and Cafe Mocha Bianca. It was something along those lines. It was as good as it looks!
Info:
- Located: There are six locations http://cafe-factory.net/ja/index.php/locations
- Cost: The total cost for both of our coffees was $3.90 (430 Serbian Dinar)
- Website: http://cafe-factory.net/ja/index.php
Ice Cream
On one of our first days in Belgrade, after Kyle got his first Pljeskavica (burger), I found myself hungry as well. The first thing we came to that suited my tastes was ice cream. I chose the coffee flavor and we headed over to the Church of Saint Mark and strolled around the park with our food.
Info:
- Located: It was somewhere between Park Manjez and the Church of Saint Mark. It looks like it might have been around Bacio Gelato but I’m not convinced that’s where I got it.
- Cost: $0.64 (70 Serbian Dinar)
- Website: not sure
There are plenty of other ice cream/gelato places that looked really delicious too, though! Just wander around and you’ll see.
Bakeries
We made nine bakery visits. Some visits involved the purchase of a single pastry and on others, we chose multiple items. I’m going to go over costs in advance for this section as I am not including every single item we purchased. We spent a total of $8.75 at bakeries. Try that in France or Switzerland! The macaron cost 100 Serbian dinar ($0.91), one of the donut visits cost 120 Serbian dinars ($1.10), and my other visits I simply listed in my finances as “bakery” or “pastry” but those visits respectively cost $0.63 (2), $0.64, $0.89, $1, $1.43, and $1.52.
Pekara Trpkovic
This is allegedly THE place to get burek in Belgrade (or so I have read). Every time we passed it there was a line out the door. Now, we did not get burek here because we did not feel like it when we visited but we did try some food. Kyle got something which was more of a savory snack and I chose the item you see above which basically tasted like fried dough soaked in honey.
Info:
- Located: We went to this location: Nemanjina 32, Beograd, Serbia, but it looks like there is another at Dimitrija Tucovića 60, Beograd, Serbia
- Website: http://pekaratrpkovic.rs/
Hleb & Kifle
This is a higher-end bakery in Serbia. We saw them throughout and tried items from a couple of them. It was actually only my second time having a macaron (the first time was in Sri Lanka) that I can remember. All scrumptious!
Info:
- Located: There are many locations throughout Serbia. You can find them on the website.
- Website: http://www.hlebikifle.rs/
German Lady Near Park Forest Zvezdara
Our first attempt at visiting Park Forest Zvezdara was not entirely successful but we did have a nice day exploring. On our way back to our place we were hungry and decided to make a stop at the bakery. Kyle knew he’d be able to find something (a burger) along the way but I needed something to help me along until we were home. The place was run by a friendly German woman. We spent a little time talking to her before we went on our way.
Info:
- Location: There is no listing online and we can’t find it recognized anywhere, but here is the location on Google maps (unmarked).
- Website: No website
Other Bakeries
There were obviously other bakeries we visited as well but I don’t remember them. Like the previous one, many have no online presence- even on google maps which makes it difficult to find them. I might remember better if they had allowed photographs but the couple times I tried to take a picture they “no photos”. Interesting to me because other people taking photos and posting them on their blog or social media is basically free advertising but maybe they want privacy or the ability to freely change items/prices, etc. Who knows. Anyway, the pastry you see above was one of my favorites from another bakery we visited a couple times. It was filled with chocolate.
Desserts We Tried at Home:
Here are the treats we got from the grocery store.
Ice Cream Cakes
When we were in the store and saw the prices on these things (like $2), we thought, it can’t possibly taste good too. THEY WERE. As you can see, we basically tried every flavor we found.
Other Ice Cream at Home
We were more focused on the ice cream cakes in terms of ice cream but we also tried a couple ice cream bars. This one was called Kapri.
Homemade Crepes
At the store, we were able to buy prepackaged crepes- similar to the way tortillas are normally packaged. We found them in a refrigerated area near produce, under the gnocchi and other pre-packaged pasta. Kyle warmed/cooked them in a pan, sometimes cooked a berry mixture, and then we added beli sir (local cheese) and/or yogurt, etc. It was one of my FAVORITE things I ate abroad period. If only I could have it now!
Candy Bars, Chocolate Boxes, and other Grocery Store Treats
There was this area in our grocery store that would have made you think Valentine’s Day was coming up, but it was just always like that!! The candy was fairly affordable too so we treated ourselves and brought back some for our families. We tried several kinds and found everything to be really good. Because we tried to give some type of candy to everyone (parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.), basically half my backpack was filled with candy on our final flight home.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal?! Well, when you add brown sugar, fruit, and possibly yogurt and/or Nutella (yes, we found Nutella there) well, it starts to taste a little like dessert!
Honorable mention: Airplane yogurt! (Plane ride from Athens to Belgrade)
This may not count as a dessert and it’s also Greek, but it was sweet! I’m mentioning it because it was such a luscious combination of cream and honey and there’s nowhere else to put it. Greek yogurt was also popular in Serbia though I couldn’t find this exact package at the store (I looked).
I’ll finish off with the way we’d normally start our day, with coffee. If you had another great dessert in Belgrade feel free to comment!
Belgrade Sweets – Coffee, Desserts & Sweets – Pin It!
