Explore Sarajevo / Destinations / Inat Kuća
Destination · Babića Bašča · 3 min read
Inat Kuća
The Spite House. An Ottoman home ferried across the Miljacka stone by stone in 1894, now a restaurant facing the City Hall it once stood in the way of.
Address
Veliki Alifakovac 1, Sarajevo
Hours
Typically 12:00 to 23:00 daily
Price
Mains ~15–35 BAM
Getting there
Directly across the river from Vijećnica. 8 minutes' walk from Sebilj.
Time needed
1.5–2 hours
Best time
Lunch or dinner. Book ahead for the river terrace.
Coordinates
43.8586° N 18.4343° E
Navigate
A small Ottoman house with a red-tiled roof and a wide veranda stands at the southern foot of the Latin Bridge, on the bank of the Miljacka directly opposite the Vijećnica, the great Habsburg-era City Hall. The house is a restaurant. It is called Inat Kuća, the Spite House, and the name is the entire point.
The story
In 1894, the Austro-Hungarian administration of Sarajevo decided to build a grand municipal city hall on the north bank of the river, in then-fashionable pseudo-Moorish style. Several smaller buildings on the chosen site had to be cleared. Most owners took the compensation and left.
One did not.
The owner — generally remembered as Benderija — refused. He owned a modest 18th-century Ottoman house with a wooden upper storey overhanging a stone ground floor, the kind of house his grandfather had built and his father had lived in. He told the administration that he would not sell, and that if they wanted his patch of ground they could come and take it and explain themselves in court.
Several rounds of negotiation followed. Eventually he gave them his terms. They could have his land. He wanted, in return:
- A bag of gold ducats as compensation.
- The house dismantled stone by stone by the imperial administration.
- Ferried across the Miljacka to a plot of his choosing on the opposite bank.
- Rebuilt exactly as it had stood, every original element returned to its place.
After a great deal of arguing and one or two formal denials, the administration agreed. They paid the ducats. They dismantled the house. They ferried it across. They rebuilt it.
It now stands on the south bank, facing the very City Hall it once stood in the way of. The Bosnian word for the kind of stubbornness that refuses to bend even when bending is reasonable is inat. The house has carried the name ever since.
The restaurant
Since the 1990s the house has operated as Inat Kuća, a restaurant specialising in traditional Bosnian cooking. When the weather is decent the terrace opens out along the river. The view from that terrace is one of the most photographed in Sarajevo: the City Hall directly across the water, its striped Andalusian façade lit gold in the early evening.
The menu is what you would hope. Begova čorba (Bey’s soup) is the house signature: chicken, okra, root vegetables, finished with sour cream and a squeeze of lemon. Dolma is excellent (vine leaves stuffed with rice and minced lamb, simmered in tomato). Klepe — small Bosnian dumplings with garlic-yogurt sauce — is comfort food at its finest. There are several preparations of veal and lamb, simply done. The bread is house-baked. The portions are generous in the old Bosnian way.
Wine is short but well-chosen. Try the Žilavka from Herzegovina with anything light, or the Blatina with the lamb.
Practicalities
Inat Kuća sits at Veliki Alifakovac 1, directly across the Latin Bridge from the City Hall, about eight minutes’ walk from the Sebilj. Open daily from around midday to late evening. Reservations are wise, especially for the river terrace at weekend lunchtimes. Mains run 15 to 35 BAM. Expect 50 to 70 BAM per person for a full meal with a glass of wine.
It is one of the few restaurants in Sarajevo where the building is more famous than the food, and where the food is, nonetheless, very good. Few places anywhere have turned a piece of municipal history into a working business so neatly. The story is on the wall. The dolma is on the table.
Sources & further reading
Keep wandering
Nearby & related
See on the map →
Ph: Desemeus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hrid / south bank
Ashkenazi Synagogue
Sarajevo's working synagogue, built in 1902 in pseudo-Moorish style by the Austro-Hungarian administration for the Jewish community that had grown rapidly after 1878. Survived the Holocaust as a building, if not as a community. Still active. Friendly to visitors.
Open the destination
Ph: Julian Nyča · CC BY-SA 3.0
Marijin Dvor / Centar
Avaz Twist Tower
The Avaz Twist Tower is Sarajevo's tallest building (142 metres, completed 2008). A small public observation deck on the 35th floor costs around 5 BAM and gives you the full valley. Skip the café at the top. Take the view.
Open the destination
Ph: Julian Nyča · CC BY-SA 3.0
Stari Grad
Baščaršija
The 1462 Ottoman bazaar of Sarajevo, still a working bazaar. Copper workshops on Kazandžiluk, Bosnian coffee at Morića Han, and a marker in the pavement where the Ottoman city meets the Habsburg one.
Open the destination