Gastro Lieb
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WHY I CHOSE THIS RESTAURANT FOR A BIRTHDAY LUNCH
The name Novak Djoković evokes excellence and discipline – qualities one naturally expects from a restaurant bearing it. Given his family’s longstanding presence in the hospitality business, I had long anticipated visiting what I assumed would be their flagship establishment.
ATMOSPHERE
Stepping in from the street, guests are greeted by a glass vitrine displaying part of Djoković’s dazzling collection of Grand Slam trophies. For tennis enthusiasts, it is a stirring sight. The gleam of the silverware alone raises expectations.
At the top of a short flight of stairs stands an over-life-sized terracotta statue of Djoković, a relic from a Shanghai ATP Finals event. Far too large for the narrow space, it dominates the entryway in a way that feels more awkward than inspiring. A very poor design decision bordering on kitsch.
The non-smoking dining room faces the rear of grey apartment blocks rising just metres away, blocking out nearly all daylight. The large windows only accentuate this bleak view. After an hour’s wait for food, the setting began to feel less like a restaurant and more like a prison yard. A few well-placed plants or curtains could easily have softened the atmosphere. By the end of lunch, I felt oddly dispirited.
SERVICE
When I asked about the soup of the day, the waiter assured me it was pumpkin potage. What arrived, however, was a different potage. Substituting one dish for another without consulting the guest, and dismissing it as “almost the same”, reveals a stunning lack of professionalism.
A word of advice to the owners (should they care): if a dish is unavailable, the waiter should return to the table, apologise, and offer an alternative. That is the bare minimum of professional courtesy a paying customer can expect.
I had been told the steaks were excellent, so that became our main order. Deep in conversation, I failed to notice that the waiter never asked how we wanted them cooked. They arrived medium-rare. This would have been acceptable, perhaps, had he thought to ask first.
We waited far too long for our meal, only for the steaks to reach the table already cooling. Why would a kitchen let a dish sit when it should be served immediately at its peak? This was annoyingly puzzling.
FOOD
The potage tasted fine. The steak did not. Served lukewarm, it was accompanied by a token drizzle of pepper sauce so meagre it vanished after two bites. The sauce itself was ordinary, leaving the meat dull and flavourless. It was, without exaggeration, the most insipid steak I have ever been served.
When I asked for a dessert recommendation, the waiter confidently urged me to try the Novak cake, the restaurant’s signature dessert. Hoping for redemption, I obliged. But the result was even more underwhelming than the meat: it was dried out, its flavour muted, its texture heavy, as if it had sat too long in the display fridge. When I finished the “Novak” cake, I realised I could not even recall its taste.
PRICE
Lunch for two, without alcohol, cost €100. To call that overpriced would be charitable. Trading shamelessly on the Djokovic name while offering mediocre food and careless service verges on absurd. It was, without doubt, my worst dining experience in Belgrade, a city otherwise brimming with superb restaurants. Even the humblest local grill serving ćevabčići or pljeskavica delivers infinitely greater satisfaction.
CONCLUSION
Elite athletes like Novak Djoković attract world-class sponsors precisely because those brands want to associate with excellence. How he allows his own name to front a restaurant so at odds with his reputation for perfection is hard to understand. Surely he loves his family, but one might expect him to insist that any business bearing his name uphold the same standards that built his legacy.
RECOMMENDATION
To visitors tempted by the illustrious name of the tennis star: give this place a wide berth. Try any of the hundreds of other restaurants in Belgrade. You will undoubtedly be better off.
