Bar Pri Sosedu

I think that it is almost obligatory for every shopping center to have at least one bar, where you can relax after an exhausting shopping day. Bar 'Pri Sosedu' is one of them, and it is situated in the Mercator shopping centre in Tolmin. Well, people call it shopping centre, but in reality, it is just a big hall with three different stores. I guess it still counts as a shopping centre after all, since everybody is calling it this way.

How to get there?

Since Mercator is the one and only shopping centre in Tolmin, it is pretty  easy to get there. And if you get lost, everybody will be able to tell you the directions. Again, the directions depend on which city you are coming from. But do not worry, there are only two possibilities:

If you are coming from Nova Gorica, Kobarid or other towns and cities in that direction, you have to follow the directions for Tolmin. There will be a roundabout a few kilometers outside the city, where you have to take the exit for Tolmin. Then, you will drive over a bridge with river Soča below (you might even spot some people kayaking there, because this section is very popular), and just before the road sign that indicates the beginning of the Tolmin, there is another roundabout. Here, you have to take the third exit. You will then drive past a long building, and, at the end of it, you have to turn right. Right after the turn, you will already see Mercator, and you have to turn left to get to the parking space. The bar Pri Sosedu is situated on the right side of the entry.

The other possible direction is from Ljubljana, Idrija, Most na Soči and other towns. Coming from this direction, you have to drive through Tolmin until you reach the roundabout at the end of the city. Here, you have to take the first exit, and drive past the long building that I have mentioned in the previous group of directions. Again, at the end of the building, turn right, and then left to the parking space.

Ambient and staff

The name 'Pri Sosedu' means 'at the neighbour', which indicates the friendly enviroment of this place. The bar itself is nothing special, at least not in terms of decoration. There is a terrace outside, which is much bigger than the interior part, and there, you will find comfortable sofas and chairs. The tables are a bit low, so when you are ready to sip your drink, you will have to get in a really unconfortable pose. In summer, there are some of those big umbrellas for shade outside, and you will not feel the heat even in the strongest sun. In winter, they put blankets and portable heatersoutside.

The part inside consists of the 'ice cream part' (I did not know how else to name it), where you can choose ice creams, the bar and the part with tables and chairs. Sadly, you can only have ice cream in summer, other months you will have to buy it in the Mercator grocery store, if you wish to have it.

The bar is quite big, compared to the whole size of the place, and there are also some bar chairs in front of it, where you can have a drink. Well, personally, I prefer to sit at the table, but sitting at the bar seems to be popular at bar Pri Sosedu.

It happened to me three times so far, when I went to pay form y drinks at the bar, that a group of men there paid for my drinks. Of course I tried to refuse, but they seem to know the staff that is working at the bar, so the waitress did not listen to me. Hey, nobody would complain about a free drink, right?

The part where you can sit, consists of ten tables in total, and four chairs at each one of them. I have never seen this bar more than a half full, so you will never have to wait  for a drink. I think the reason is because people just stop here for a quick drink before going shopping (or before going home after shopping).

The staff is mostly friendly, but not very talkative. They mostly employ young students, and sometimes, they seem very bored, like they would rather be at home sleeping. I understand that people can have a bad day from time to time, but this should not happen several months in a row, at least not at work. Sometimes, when I ask for the bill when I finish my drink, the waitress looks at me like I ask for the biggest favour ever. So, if you like a friendly service when going to a bar, I think I would recommend you to avoid the bar Pri Sosedu. But occassionally, I am lucky and the waiters are friendly and they would even like to chat from time to time.

As I have said before, this bar is nothing special in terms of decoration. The interior part consists mostly of the dark wood, which makes the place obviously pretty dark. Sometimes, even when the sun is shining, it is dark enough that you can not read a newspaper. You cannot even read the menu, to be honest.

The wall decoration consists of some pictures and paintings, all of them are said to be from a local artist, and if you particularly like one of them, you can buy it. But since the bar was opened, there are always same pictures there, so I guess that either people do not like the pictures enough to buy them, or they are just too expensive. Or maybe nobody knows they are for sale.

Drinks and snacks

There is a thing that you simply have to try when visiting bar Pri Sosedu – their teas. Here, you will not get tea in a filter bag, but the real tea, which is quite rare in Tolmin. You can choose from a lot of different flavours, and my favourite are definitely fruit teas. But their collection is so big that I did not have a chance to try all the teas that I would like, even if I stop there at least once a week, when shopping for groceries.

Last time, I was there with a couple of friends, and I took some pictures for you, so you can see how the tea is served. You get a tray (of course, there are pictures, related to tea, on it), a cup, a plate (where you can put the remainings of the tea) and a kettle. Usually, the amount of water in a kettle is enough for two full cups of tea.

You can also buy all the teas that they serve. Well, in theory, because in reality, they do not have all the teas listed available. You can simply tell the waiter (or waitress), which tea you would like and what amount, and you will get it in a nice box. But they are expensive. Really expensive. But they could be a nice gift to someone, who loves to drink tea.

Besides tea, bar Pri Sosedu offers all other common drinks, although it might take some time for a new kind of drink to arrive to this place. For example, Cockta Rossa, Schwepes Mojito and Cockta Black Tonic all took several months to be served at bar Pri Sosedu, as opposed to most other bars, who started to serve right after the drink was made known to public.

Besides all kinds of drinks, bar Pri sosedu also offers some snacks. There is not a fixed menu for them, and they are not always home made, but they are delicious, and this is all that matters. They usually offer different criossants, which are still warm when you start eating them, the typical slovenian 'kremšnite' (you have to try them if you are a fan of sweet desserts) and also raw cakes. However, the choice of the raw cakes is not very big, and they are expensive (four Euros and a half per piece). I cannot tell how good they are, because I have not tried them yet, but I saw a lot of people ordering them.

Prices

As you should expect in any other bar in Tolmin, the prices at bar Pri Sosedu are not high. Well, expect the raw cakes, which piece costs 4,5 €, as I have already mentioned. But, for example, croissants only costs eighty Cents, which is below average.

All kinds of tea cost one Euro and twenty Cents, which is really not much, especially if you consider that you can fill two cups with one ordered tea.

A bottle of water costs one Euro, a small beer one Euro and a half and a glass of wine one Euro and twety cents.

Conclusion

This bar is quite a nice place to restfor a few minutes before or after shopping. Although the staff should work on their better behaviour, this definitely should not stop you from having a drink at bar Pri Sosedu. After all, nobody (and nothing) is ever perfect.