Apple, rosehip, goat milk, and beeswax made a fine dessert combination.
Our Hiša Franko review begins with an autumn lunch in the Soča Valley, where Ana Roš’s tasting menu moved from cave-aged Tolminc cheese and river trout to roebuck, wild herbs, and a memorable take on jota. The meal gave us a close look at the kitchen’s imagination, as well as a few small things we would change. These are the dishes we ate, not the restaurant’s current menu.
Hiša Franko has since earned three Michelin stars, first awarded in 2023. The distinction adds context to this older visit, though our opinion rests on what arrived at our table: precise cooking, unusually coherent flavors, thoughtful service, and a dining room whose warmth did not quite match the food. Below, we also separate our historical bill from the restaurant’s current booking information.
Is Hiša Franko worth booking?
Best for: Diners who enjoy a long, imaginative tasting menu shaped by local ingredients.
Contents
Hiša Franko’s dining room looks toward wooded hills and the valley, which made the setting an important part of our lunch. From our table, we watched the mountain peaks catch the last light of the day. After sunset, the fireplace became the room’s quiet focal point.
The staff were friendly and attentive, stepping in when we needed help without interrupting the meal. We found the room peaceful, though it lacked a little of the homely character we had hoped for in such a setting. The view alone could not supply that warmth.
We had arranged a tour of the wine and cheese cellars before lunch, and it gave us a useful introduction to ingredients that would appear later on the menu. If a cellar visit matters to you, ask when booking; our tour reflects that particular visit and is not a standing promise.
The wine cellar held a broad collection of natural wines from Slovenia and beyond. Valter Kramar’s interest in these bottles came through clearly in the tour and in the way the restaurant treated wine as part of the meal, rather than an afterthought.
Next door, the cheese cellar showed how differently the same local Tolminc can develop with time and environment. We saw cheeses aged for various periods, including one matured underground. Its earthy aroma returned later in a raviolo and on the cheese plate, where the strongest piece worked better for us as a seasoning than as a cheese to eat alone.
At our late-autumn lunch, Hiša Franko served a long seasonal tasting menu instead of à la carte dishes. Roš drew on the surrounding landscape without making every course a literal portrait of it. The restaurant still offers a single tasting menu today, though the dishes described below belong to our earlier visit.
Allow time to settle in. The succession of small bites, larger plates, cheese, and desserts was part of the pleasure.
Our first bite brought together shredded cauliflower, smoked cave-aged cheese, trout roe, and a crisp rye tartlet. The cauliflower’s sweetness and the cheese’s nutty depth held the center, while the roe and pastry kept the bite lively.
Edible flowers gave this small green taco its color. Inside were wild herbs, hazelnut miso, elderflower marinade, and a yeast emulsion; the plantago shell added a welcome crunch before the greener flavors took over.
One of our favorite plates reworked a baked potato. Its shell was made from hay, salt, and egg whites, with double-fermented ricotta, smoked chocolate, and chamomile served alongside. The familiar potato took an unexpected turn without losing its comforting center.
We found grassy, sweet, and sour notes in the combination, with the chocolate bringing a hint of chestnut. The fermented ricotta softened the sharper edges and gave the dish a rich finish.
A light fried choux pastry concealed lamb brain pâté and preserved berries. It had the richness we expected from the filling, balanced by the fruit, while the pastry avoided the heaviness that can spoil a fried bite.
Nataša Đurić’s spelt and molasses sourdough arrived with cultured butter and bee pollen. The crust cracked pleasantly, and the bread earned attention on its own instead of merely carrying us between courses.
The first part of this surf-and-turf pairing combined mortadella consommé, scallop sashimi, a cherry tomato filled with mortadella cubes, and a little tarragon oil. Sweetness and soft textures linked ingredients that sounded unlikely together on paper.
Then came cuttlefish prepared like bacon on a fried bread cube filled with mortadella mayonnaise. The playful imitation made sense once we tasted it; the marine ingredient and the cured-meat flavors met in a surprisingly tidy bite.
The roebuck sashimi was delicate enough to give way almost at once. Grated fresh chestnut added texture, while fermented plum paste and an umeboshi marinade brought a sharper, deeper flavor.
A roebuck broth with juniper oil extended the course, followed by an oyster that introduced one last savory turn. We liked how the components changed the dish in stages without burying the venison.
Pituralka, a small late-harvest pear, was slow-cooked in pear juice and butter. Goose liver pâté, chestnut, sage, and coffee yogurt sat alongside it. We mixed the components as suggested and found a generous range of sweet, savory, and earthy flavors.
The raviolo was cooked just right and filled with Tolminc aged underground. Artichokes, black truffle, and black trumpet mushrooms surrounded it; a cheese-rind broth carried a slight acidity. It recalled the cellar tour more clearly than any explanation could.
We ate a little chard-wrapped mixture of lamb and crab with our hands, alternating bites with sunchoke chips and lamb soup. A poached egg yolk, sunchoke cream, and fish roe rounded out the course without making its gentle flavors disappear.
The trout had moist flesh beneath a crisp corn crust. Porcini gravy made with buttermilk gave it depth, while a lightly dressed winter salad kept the plate from becoming too rich.
Brown-butter roasted pumpkin was paired with apple salad, sea urchin, béarnaise, and shrimp. Edible flowers partly concealed the shrimp. We liked the warm, rounded flavor and the way the seafood shifted the dish away from an expected pumpkin course.
Roš’s interpretation of jota retained the traditional turnip, potato, and beans, then changed the conversation with smoked trout, a tender sausage made from pig’s snout, and crisp kale. It was recognizably rooted in the old stew, with a lighter and more playful structure.
For the roebuck fillet, beetroot and young pinecones supplied sweet and pickled notes. Horseradish ricotta brought a welcome edge, so the final savory course still had energy after a long sequence of plates.
The cheese course led us naturally toward dessert. After touring the cellar, we wanted to taste how maturation had changed the same local cheese across several samples.
Four pieces showed a progression of aging. Comparing them side by side was more interesting than a conventional mixed cheese plate, especially after we had seen where some of them matured.
The flavors became nuttier and more forceful with age. The final, double-fermented Tolminc from the underground pit was too strong for us as a standalone piece, though its porcini-like aroma was remarkable. That distinction matters: we admired the ingredient more in the cooked dishes.
An apple croissant with rosehip cream and caramelized goat milk was followed by apple ice cream and beeswax crème anglaise. We loved the combination and wished the ice cream portion had been a little larger.
Our Kobarid štrukelj traded the traditional filling for apple and parsnip, with walnuts and caramelized pork rinds above. It kept the spirit of a festive local sweet while finding room for savory detail.
Preserved lemon sorbet, bergamot curd, buttermilk reduction, and verbena oil closed the lunch with a salty, bright finish. It refreshed us; our only complaint was how quickly the small serving disappeared.
Hiša Franko gave us a meal with an unusually clear sense of place. The cellar tour, the treatment of Tolminc, the trout, and the imaginative jota stayed with us long after the more theatrical touches faded. We would recommend it to diners who enjoy a long tasting menu and are happy to let the kitchen lead. Ana Roš’s JAZ bistro in Ljubljana is a different, more casual way to explore her cooking.
We would have welcomed a warmer dining room and a more generous finish to the desserts. Those reservations are real, even with a 9.5/10 score. The strength of the savory cooking and the care across the meal made it one of our most memorable lunches in Slovenia.
Our autumn tasting menu cost €150 per person at the time, with €10 extra for the cheese plate; wine pairing was around €80 per person. These are historical figures. In September 2026, Hiša Franko lists its Euphorest lunch or dinner menu at €335 per person, with beverages priced separately. Check the restaurant’s booking page before committing, as menus and prices can change.
| Detail | Information checked in September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Restaurant | Hiša Franko, Ana Roš |
| Address | Staro selo 1, 5222 Kobarid, Slovenia |
| Category | Seasonal tasting menu; three Michelin stars in the 2026 guide |
| Price guide | €335 per person for the 2026 menu, excluding beverages; check the booking page for changes |
| Opening hours | Wednesday–Sunday, lunch 12:00–16:00 and dinner 19:00–23:00; closed Monday and Tuesday |
| Dress code | Casual elegant; avoid sportswear, flip-flops, and shorts for men |
| Phone | +386 5 389 4120 |
| Website | Hiša Franko official website |
For us, the strength of the savory menu, the cellar visit, and the close connection to local ingredients justified a special trip. Our 9.5/10 score reflects our earlier meal. The 2026 tasting menu is €335 per person before drinks, so decide based on your budget and appetite for a long tasting menu.
The restaurant lists its Euphorest lunch and dinner menu at €335 per person, excluding drinks. Listed wine pairings are €190 and a nonalcoholic pairing is €135. Confirm the price when booking.
The restaurant calls it casual elegant and asks guests to avoid sportswear, flip-flops, shorts for men, and overly informal clothing.
There is no à la carte option. Hiša Franko says it can accommodate a vegetarian menu with advance notice, ideally at least one week before the visit; it does not offer a vegan menu.
Allow approximately three hours for lunch or dinner. Dining is by reservation only; book through the restaurant’s official website.
Melaka is easy to remember through red colonial buildings, ornate temples and plates of Nyonya…
Dining in a castle has carried a certain prestige for centuries. Once, such tables were…
Afternoon tea has a way of making a simple wardrobe decision feel unnecessarily complicated. There…
Could Otočec Castle be the most romantic hotel in Slovenia? The first view certainly makes…
Editor’s Note: Updated September 2026. This review describes our spring meal at JAZ; dishes may…
Editor’s Note: Updated September 2026. This review records our earlier lunch; current practical details were…