Many Sarajevans are not even aware of the existence of the restaurant “Žara iz duvara”, although it has been located in the capital of BiH since 2014, and in a quite prominent and attractive location, across from the Music School. The reason lies in its inconspicuous exterior; the restaurant is housed in an Austro-Hungarian building, without a prominent entrance or large signs, but its atmosphere or quality of the gastronomic is unquestionable.
The English name of the restaurant is “The Singing Nettle” and it is an allusion to the “The Stinging Nettle”, a wordplay – nettle that stings, burns.
Old Specialty
The melody of this nettle’s song consists of the gastronomic experience, based on traditional Bosnian and Herzegovinian dishes prepared from local, organic ingredients, often with nettle as one of the components, as well as other medicinal and aromatic herbs from BiH mountains and fields.
Thus, nettle was found in the vegetable soup, gluten-free bread, cheesecake, and dark chocolate cake that we tried, and it gave everything an unusual, yet pleasant taste.
I came up with the idea of visiting this restaurant because, as far as I know, it is still the only one in the Sarajevo area that offers an old BiH specialty, and only on the winter menu, and it needs to be preordered so they can acquire the ingredients.
It is bumbar (also called širden, bambur, sarma – meat wrapped in lamb tissue, mumbar in Turkey and Bulgaria, and the Scots have a similar dish called haggis), which was once far more present in this area, and is typical for the regions of Bosanska Krajina and Posavina.
The main ingredients are lamb offal (black and white liver, heart), lamb caul fat, rice, red and white onion, and spices. The mixture of rice and finely chopped offal is placed on pieces of caul fat and wrapped in it, similar to sarma or japrak, and it is then baked.
Restaurant Capacity
It was important for me to find a place where they still master the true art of making this dish. I can only say that this culinary creation by the owner Sabina Osmanović was also outstandingly successful, as was everything else we tried.
The restaurant itself is not too large. During our visit, only the ground floor was used, and there is also a mezzanine, so the total capacity is about 45 seats, very tastefully furnished in a more Central European style, but with elements of BiH tradition – embroidered handicrafts, serving in traditional dishes.
Visitors should note that payment in the restaurant is only possible with cash, and the restaurant is closed on Sundays. Parking is available in the nearby open parking lot on Dženetića Čikma Street or in the underground garage of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese.
