Summer Garden Kaneo - Ohrid, Macedonia

The Summer Garden Kaneo restaurant (Letna Bavca Kaneo) in Ohrid, Macedonia has a beautiful setting on Kaneo Beach on Lake Ohrid, right below the beautiful Church of St. John the Theologian. It has its own dock on the lake, a great view of the church and, fortunately, a plastic barrier between some of the seating and the lake in times of inclement weather which we experienced while we were there. 

Lake Ohrid

The best part of the restaurant is its setting. We watched a young man jump off the cliff below the church into the water and the turbulent lake water in the wind, all the while warm and protected from the elements. 

Church of St. John the Theologian from the restaurant.

We were able to get behind this plastic barrier when it got a little windy and rainy.

Judy ordered trout, from the lake, which came with French fries and slices of cucumber. The trout was breaded and pan fried and was quite good. It just seemed right to be eating trout in this spot on the edge of the lake. But what was unique about her meal was what I believe was a white onion stuffed with mashed garlic. It was unlike anything I've ever eaten before. The garlic was soft and had a very strong flavor and a pungent after-bite that almost hurt, it was so strong. I suspect it was very good spread on the trout - I only tasted it plain. 

garlic-stuffed onion

I ordered a shopska salad (tomato, pepper, cucumber and feta cheese), fish soup, breaded and fried green olives and we shared some fried cheese. The fish soup was bland, but warm, and a nice complement to the stormy and cool weather. The shopska salad, one of many I had on our trip, was good. The fried olives were a disappointment. The breading was crusty and stiff, without much flavor, and the olives within were also kind of hard. However, the fried cheese was very good. I suspect it was a locally made feta. It had the salty feta bite and some crispness from the frying which was a nice addition. We later had some fried yellow cheese in Berat, Albania which was a big disappointment. In comparison, it was very mild and a poor cousin, by comparison. 

shopska salad

fish soup

fried olives

fried cheese

What stood out for me about this nice mid-afternoon diversion, was the garlic-stuffed onion, the fried cheese and the non-rushed relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant on the shore of this beautiful lake, shared with my sweetheart. This will remain one of my fond memories of our Balkans trip.