Spišský salaš below Spiš Castle: Spiš cooking since 1964

The salaš where Gagarin dined

Between Spiš Castle and Spišská Kapitula, at the edge of the plain below the travertine mound of Sivá brada, stands the wooden Spišský salaš. It was built in 1964 by local agricultural cooperatives — only the second salaš restaurant of its kind in Slovakia. According to the owners, on 13 July 1966 even Yuri Gagarin stopped here while on holiday in Czechoslovakia. After ups and downs, in 1998 the salaš was bought by Jaroslav Štrublík and his friends and thoroughly renovated in 1999–2000. Mr Štrublík organised Shrovetide pig-slaughter feasts, Spiš folklore festivities and Days of Traditional Culture with a pierogi-eating contest and a record: a bryndza pierogi 107 cm long. In 2021 his son and daughter-in-law took over.

Why go

• Spiš cooking. Bryndza dumplings (also with sheep cheese and smoked bacon), bryndza and potato pierogi, home-made pork from the slaughter feast, Spiš cabbage soup with mushrooms, bean soup and bryndza soup with noodles. There are also džatky, considered the most traditional dish of Spiš.
• Lamb and mutton. Mutton goulash from the kettle, Spiš roast lamb with strapačky (dumplings with cabbage), lamb paprikash.
• Cheese to take away. The salaš sells sheep cheese, bryndza, oštiepok and žinčica — the sheep products come from the dairy in Zázrivá — as well as goat cheese and cow’s-milk korbáčiky and parenica.
• For families. A playground, sheep and other animals in a paddock, a wall of horseshoes and a terrace with views. In summer there is live music at weekends.

What to taste

Start with a plate of fresh and smoked sheep cheese or bryndza soup, then bryndza dumplings or a combined plate with dumplings, pierogi and džatky, and finish with home-made cakes. With the food the hosts recommend farmhouse slivovica (52%) or Spiš borovička (40%); there is also žinčica — sour sheep’s whey.

Cheese for the road

If you want to take cheese home, a few things from the salaš labels are worth knowing. Fresh sheep cheese ("hruda") is semi-soft and full-fat, made from raw sheep’s milk with little salt; the 100% sheep bryndza is unpasteurised. Both are sold vacuum-packed: keep them at 2–6 °C and eat an opened pack within a day, so bring a cool bag. Besides sheep products there is goat cheese and yoghurt, cow’s butter, cheese "strings" and smoked "strunky".

Practical information

Address: Levočská cesta 11, 053 04 Spišské Podhradie — by the road from Levoča to Spišské Podhradie, a few hundred metres from Spišská Kapitula; parking at the salaš. An educational trail leads from the salaš over Sivá brada to Spiš Castle, so lunch is easy to combine with a walk. Hours: daily 10:00–21:00, closed 24–25 December (as of October 2026). The main hall seats 78, the "Carters’ Room" 30 and the "Shepherd’s Room" 10; larger groups should book: +421 903 648 948, +421 903 274 779, [email protected].

Nearby

• Spiš Castle — one of the largest castle ruins in Europe.
• Spišská Kapitula — St Martin’s Cathedral and the "church town".
• Sivá brada — a travertine mound with a geyser and a chapel, a few minutes’ walk.
• Levoča — St James’s Basilica with Master Paul’s altar, 12 km.

Official website: spisskysalas.sk

Photos: spisskysalas.sk.