Food Shopping

Although supermarkets are improving and more are opening up all the time, most people still tend to shop using a mixture of supermarkets, green markets and local shops. Seasonal fruit and vegetables are generally of better quality and cheaper at the green markets.

Supermarkets - Grocery stores are usually open from 6:30am - 8pm/ 9pm on workdays; they close slightly earlier on Saturdays and are open until 1pm or 3pm on Sundays. Larger supermarkets are open until 9pm or 10pm everyday except Sunday (when they close around 2pm). Shopping malls and city centre shops are usually open until 10pm everyday.   Some supermarkets are now 24/7.

Large supermarkets mostly get their meat on Tuesdays, and fish Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Below is a list of some of the larger supermarkets. 

 Idea. Omladinskih brigada 100, New Belgrade.  Take Geneks exit off the highway.  After exiting, turn left at lights.  Idea is 500m down this road on your right.

A large, clean supermarket with groceries, clothes, housewares etc.   Frozen fish counter selling fillets, fish fingers, fish shapes etc. by the kilo.

Small, free, soft play area, - parent supervision required.  Looking a bit worn in places but serviceable.  Up to age 5.

A smaller branch is in the basement of Ušce Shopping Centre.

Another large branch is near Merkur, Partizanske Avijacije, New Belgrade – a Turbo Limac kids store is also above this branch.

Rodic, Roda MegaMarket shopping centre.  Next door to Idea (see above). 

This is the largest supermarket and is one of the cheapest, but the fruit and vegetable section is often of poor quality.  Good domestic and international wine selection.  Stocks the Lumpi brand of children’s snacks.  Get your car washed as you shop at the car wash in the basement car park.  At the weekend you get a discount on your bill.

Mercator Bulevar Umetnosti 4, New Belgrade.  Open 9:00-21:00, Sun 9:00-19:00.

Recently updated and upgraded.  The supermarket has clothes, housewares, toys and groceries.  It is more expensive than some others but has some harder to find ingredients.  It is in a shopping mall with many other stores including shoes, toys, sporting goods, gifts and with a small play area for kids and a couple of cafes.  www.mercator.rs

Mercator Premium -  Beogradjanka, Masarikova 5, (at the junction of Kralja Milana & Resavska, down the escalator). There is a parking garage across the street.  This is a new smaller store in the city, but it stocks some harder to find ingredients.

Metro which has three locations near Belgrade, one in Pancevo (Zrenaninska Put 11M) and the other on the road to Novi Sad (Autoput za Novi Sad 120). The third location is near Banovo Brdo in Vidikovac (Ibarski put 20).

A membership card is required to shop at this store, similar to Costco in the U.S.  The selection includes groceries, clothing, shoes, housewares and even garden furniture and play equipment.  Good quality meat, including New Zealand lamb, and good fish counter with excellent fresh salmon.  They only accept cash. Open Monday – Saturday 6:00 – 21:00, Sunday 9:00 – 19:00.

Super Vero, Greek company, a good place to find some harder to find ingredients.

Vojvode Stepe, Voždovac – new store with underground parking and café & play area upstairs.

Milutina Milankovića 86a, New Belgrade.

The centre has a small indoor soft play area for kids & an outdoor play area. It also has a small café where you can get sandwiches, pastries and drinks. 

City branch is found under the Zira Centre, Nikodima Milasa 2 - corner Cvijiceva st.. Voždovac branch - Mis Irbijeve  –corner with Vojislava Ilić

Tempo – a supermarket chain with several stores in Belgrade.  Check the website for your nearest store and opening hours etc.  www.tempocentar.com  There is a large one at the exit immediately after the Novi Sad exit of the motorway, and another new one just past Ada Ciganlija on the main road.  Good selection of goods and good frozen food section. A good bet to get lower prices on bulk purchases of drinks and other staples.  At the weekend you get a 10% discount on your bill.

Maxi –the majority of smaller convenience stores; small stores vary in quality, but all are good for basics.  The store at Pink TV roundabout is of good quality with good meat and fish counters.

SuperMaxi – found in Delta City shopping centre Jurjia Gagarina, New Belgrade,

Maxi Exclusive’s are found on Kralja Milana and Cika Ljubina (behind Trg Republic).

Online shopping  http://www.shop.maxi.rs/index.php

Only in serbian, but it's navigable with a basic grasp of the language of shopping or judicious use of google translate. If you order before 12:00, your items will be delivered on the same day between 2:00-5:00 p.m. You can use a credit card, but delivery personnel are not able to process PDV tax forms. There is a minimum order of 4,500 dinars. 

Green Markets

Serbians are rightly proud of the quality of their fresh fruit and vegetables.  Availability is seasonal.  When in season prices are low and flavour is high.

Most are minimal/shut on Mondays. Open 06.00 – 17.00 in summer and 08.00-16.00 in winter.  Fridays & Saturdays are the best stocked days.  They are the best places to buy vegetables, fruits and flowers (except on the coldest winter days – beware the frozen eggs).  Around these markets you will also find many butchers, fish shops, bakeries and small grocery shops. 

Banjica Pijaca, Crnotravska 10/1, Vozdovac

Medium sized green market with a good range of fruit, vegetables and clothing stalls, as well as a health food shop.  Stall selling organic eggs.

Directions:  From pink TV go down Neznanog junaka past the military hospital (VMA).  Pass the turning for Čačac (Puzzle play castle on corner), take the next right at the traffic lights, and then take the first right.  The market is on the right hand side of this street– parking at end of street.  Park where you can on the street.

Banovo Brdo, Pozeska 41

A green market, convenient to those living in Banovo Brdo, located just behind Grill Uno on Pozeska between the Hipodrom and the JugoPetrol station in Banovo Brdo.

Kalenića Pijaca, Maksima Gorkog, Vračar

The largest and most extensive green market in Belgrade.  An excellent place for fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and fish and especially well supplied on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Also to be found are household goods, local cheeses, olive oil, herbs and home-made jams, as well as ducks, geese and turkeys. Flowers are sold in bulk at cheap prices, early in the morning, between 07.00 and 08.00h.  Biospajz, a well-recommended health food shop, is also located at this market.  Also try fishmongers Gora Prom and Ribrnica Kalenic (Tel: 0655477-347 or 063477347) situated behind Biospajz in the fish sector.  They get salmon on Wednesdays (around 2pm) and most other fish on Thursdays.  For smoked/dry meat use a stand inside the Kalenic market (where cheeses are, right from the entrance, market side).  Chicken & local cheese is located inside and upstairs at the back of the market by the eggs.

Senjak Market, Koste Glavinića

A handy little market for Senjak residents, located at the bottom of the hill, Vase Pelagica.  Prices slightly higher than other markets.  An excellent butcher and health food shop is located opposite the market and a good sized Maxi, Hleb & Kifle and Lilly are just down the road.

Vidikovac Market.  Near Garden Center and Vidikovac McDonald’s. 

Large selection, especially nice plants, reasonable prices.  Also to be found separately are honey, jams, household products, lighting, clothing, etc.

Zeleni Venac Pijaca, Narodnog Fronta (below Moskva Hotel)

This fruit and vegetable market is open until late afternoon.  Also stocks eggs, honey, clothing, household products, pasta, and flowers, as well as small butcher shops and local cheese shops.

Ilije Garašanina, behind Tašmajden Park

Bajlonijeva Pijaca  Džordža Vašingtona, at the end of Skardarlja. If you see a man walking around selling bread from a basket – buy some – it comes from a tiny bakery behind the market and it is excellent.

Voždovac , Jove Ilica 72

Zemun Market Masarikov trg 17, Zemun

An excellent fruit and vegetable market with produce being brought into town and sold direct from the countryside rather than via a middleman.  Also to be found separately are honey, jams, household products, lighting, clothing, etc, in the second part of the market.

Here you can buy home made butter, at one of the kiosks on the river side of the market  (in serbian "puter" or “maslac”).  Good smoked meat is situated in cheese section, his stand is beside the outside water tap (he always wears white butchers coat). He also has the most amazing paprika in pavlaka.  Free range eggs are also available at the market.

Butchers – kasapnica, mesara

Most butchers shops and supermarkets sell a good range of meats and charcuterie, though lamb can be difficult to obtain when out of season.  Many of the cuts of meat are different to those available in other countries.  It is also worth noting that it is often sensible to eat meat within one or two days of purchase, or freeze it.  It may well turn bad quicker than you are expecting especially during the hot summer months.

The following butchers have been used by members of the international community recently:-

Butik Mesa “Uzelac”, Beogradskog Bataljona, Banovo Brdo.  Tel: 011/355-8289

They have lovely cuts of meat and will grill them for you (at no extra cost) if you call ahead or while you wait.  Very good chicken livers or chicken breast wrapped in bacon which are excellent for cocktail party hors d’oevres.

Konstancia  tel: 011/3231-863, 3230-776

Good for venison, wild boar and suchlike, which should be ordered a few days in advance. 

Mama Dana, located at Kalenića market, along the outside wall, with a white frontage.

Maxi supermarkets have been mentioned as selling good meat.

Mesara Cubura, Kalenićeva 4

Mesara Uno, Sarajevska 12 - located on the street behind the American Embassy.  Tel. 011/265 9273.  Has great beef fillet that you can order if you need it.

Perper  Located at the end of Bulevar Avnoj in New Belgrade.  First class beef, veal, pork and mince. Also offers a large range of delicatessen products like prosciutto, salami and sausages, as well as a good fruit and vegetable shop outlet opposite. There is a popular restaurant outside belonging to the shop and they are open 7 days a week.

Mesara Tamo Daleko opposite the market in Senjak.  Tel. 011/369 3230

If you ask they often have steaks and lamb in stock, but you can pre-order. They will also grill items for you at no extra cost.

Halal Butchers Maksima Gorkog 50, Vračar

www.turkovic.rs/

Coffee

Cafe and Factory, Nevesinjska 21,

Sells good coffee beans and they'll grind them to either espresso or filter grind for you.

Przionica 59 Dobracina, in Dorcol deep NW side near the Danube end.

3 shops down from Holesterol restaurant (same side)

Delis

Salumeria All Italiania, Stur Menatti

Svetozara Markovica br 62, Beograd    tel : 011/3641-2778
They have some really good hams and cheeses which are especially difficult to find in Belgrade. It's quite difficult to park.

“As you know, the French are quite fussy about cheese and lots of the French community buy theirs here! “  - French expat

Vegetarian / Organic Food

If you are vegetarian a useful word to know is "posno" which is food that can be eaten during an orthodox fast (post). It cannot contain meat or meat products (including lard) but can contain fish. If you can find non-fish posno then it will be vegetarian but not for vegans.

See a previous expat inhabitants experiences of being vegetarian in Belgrade:  http://livinginbelgrade.com/blog.php?id=173

Health food stores Zdrava hrana  have ranges of dry goods.  And the larger supermakets have a small selection of organic products in the healthfood section.  DM stores have a selection of organic food.  Larger Maxi stores are now selling a limited range of organic vegetables.

Mali Kalenic stores are like a little fruit and vegetable shop, there is one near Kalenic Market, and they have some organic produce.  

Kalenic Market - There's a stall that often sells organic fruits and vegetables (including organic pumpkins around halloween) towards the flower side of the market, but they aren't always there.  More likely on Fridays and the weekends.  

Organic Vegetable Home Delivery

Gordana Iliskovic  Tel: 063/654 858, or e-mail organskahranapaketici@gmail.com or giliskovic@hotmail.com

For a home delivery of organic fruit and vegetables.  Order weekly online with a minimum order of 1000 din.  This company also has a shop in the Senjak market, but is only open at the weekends.

www.organskafarmalaf.rs

Free Range Eggs – if you prefer not to have eggs from intensively farmed chickens, it is best to go to the markets and find a vendor with a small amount of eggs for sale, marked domaci (domestic) they are more likely to be free range, but you need to ask to be sure.

Takeaway food - online

www.donesi.com

You can order food online for home delivery. There are loads of restaurants to choose from, pizza, pancake, Chinese, Japanese etc. It is in English too.

Foods & Products – names & recommendations

Bread

The best bread is from a shop called Hleb & Kifle, ХЛEБ & КИФЛE a huge selection of delicious breads & pastries.  Branches throughout Belgrade.

Roggenart, . Krajla Petra, Vojvode Steppe (Voždovac), Svetozara Markovica 22 (near the Russian Embassy) Maksima Gorkog (opposite the park), Vracar – this is an Austrian bread shop.  Excellent chocolate torte & organic bread. Some have started to sell ice cream as well.

Bacon – streaky bacon is occasionally available in a flat red pack in the chilled meat sections of supermarkets.  Alternatively slanini sold unsliced is good for cooking with in dishes.  Back bacon (much loved by the British), is not available. The word “pancetta” is often used on packets of bacon.

Baking Powder – Prašak za pecivo available in small sachets.

Corn flour – Gustin by Dr Oetker from most supermarkets.

Cosmetics & Sanitary Items – it is worth bringing supplies of your favourite cosmetic brands with you, as they may not be available in Serbia.  Applicator tampons are not available.

Flour – there are two types of white flour, T-400 is for general cooking, T-500 is a finer flour.  No self-raising flour is available.

Double Cream – Buy the green Halta tetrapak.  This is vegetable fat but it behaves in the same way as double cream when you cook with it. 

Single cream – buy UHT slatka pavlaka in the yoghurt section, good for cooking and pouring, or for cooking Room Culinair, longer life in a small green tetrapak in the chill section.

Frozen fruit – Buy frozen raspberries and blackberries out of season.  These are great quality.  Strawberries aren’t very good unless you blend them.  Too squishy when they defrost.

Frozen vegetables  – the best brand is Frikom (especially for the peas which are not great otherwise).

Greek Yoghurt – buy Milleram 22% , or real Greek yoghurt from Super Vero.

Porridge oats – buy the Blue paper packet (500 g) from "Hahne". You can find these in Mercator or Idea and they are located together with bio/ organic foods or in health food shops.

Rehydration liquid for children – Use the Hipp Ors 200 bez glutena (without gluten)  It is an orange liquid and can be bought from most major supermarkets.

Washing powder for sensitive skin – Frosch liquid – sold in a green bottle.  It’s not non-biological but it doesn’t seem to irritate sensitive skin.

Dairy – Serbs like their yoghurt.  Standard jogurt is a plain drinking yoghurt and is more popular than drinking milk.  Kiselo mleko  is a thicker eating yoghurt, kisele pavlaka is sour cream.  Milk is called mleko. Cream cheese is called Krem Sir. Svezi sir is a fresh soft white cheese.