Dva Jelena

Dva Jelena — 'The Two Deer' — opened in 1832 and has served the Skadarlija quarter ever since. It is the oldest working kafana in Belgrade and the one most locals name first when asked. The room is exactly what you hope for: wooden benches, oil lamps on tables, framed sepia photographs of a century of guests, a tiled stove in the corner.

The menu is the traditional Serbian repertoire, cooked seriously. Karađorđeva šnicla; sarma; grilled pork neck from the ražanj; smoked catfish from the Danube; the city's best ajvar. Portions are generous, prices are reasonable, and the kitchen has been making the same dishes for long enough to have stopped taking them lightly.

From 8pm on weekends a small tamburitza band — three or four musicians — plays between the tables, working through the Serbian old-city songbook. Tables sing along; the effect is exactly as unapologetic as that description sounds. For birthdays, the room will carry a cake to your table with the band playing.

Rakija service is the thing to get right: ask for the house šljivovica (plum brandy) from the small-production Šumadija list. A shot arrives with the menu, another with dessert, and a third — house custom — when you ask for the bill.

Dva Jelena is the Belgrade birthday. The tamburitza band will come to your table on cue. The kafana pacing gives a group two or three hours of plum-brandy hospitality. The room's 190-year history turns the evening into something that feels bigger than a dinner. And the price — even with the whole table on rakija — is a fraction of what the equivalent night would cost anywhere else in Europe.