Mostar · Herzegovina

Timber &
Stone Tavern

Where the Neretva carved its path through limestone, our ancestors built with what the land offered — timber and stone. We cook as they cooked. We gather as they gathered.

Neretva Valley  ·  Old Town Mostar
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Our Roots

Before the empires,
before the bridge keepers,
there was the land.

"Vi ćete biti kako ja, a ja ne mogu biti kako vi."
— You will become as I am, but I can never again be as you are.
STEĆAK EPITAPH, RADIMLJA

Long before the Ottoman minarets rose above the Neretva, the land between Hum Hill and Velež Mountain sustained a people who built their identity from stone and timber. The medieval Bosnian Kingdom — from Ban Kulin’s charter of 1189 to the fall of Bobovac in 1463 — forged a culture shaped not by conquest, but by the terrain itself.

Timber & Stone Tavern is not a themed experience. There are no costumes here. What you will find is sač fire and clay pots, meat slow-cooked as the Bosnian miners knew it, rakija poured from earthenware, and bread broken at long timber tables — because this is how Herzegovina fed itself for centuries.

The stećci — those massive limestone tombstones scattered across our hills — carry carvings of hunts, dances, grapevines, and feasts. Evidence of a people who celebrated life around a table. We simply continue what they started.

1189
Ban Kulin’s Charter — the first trade agreement, sealed with Ragusa
1377
Tvrtko I crowned King — Bosnia at its peak of power
1463
Fall of the Kingdom — but the land remembers
Timber & Stone Tavern interior — stone walls, oak tables, candlelight
The Table

What the land provides

No written menu existed in medieval Bosnia. The table was set by the season, the harvest, and the fire. We honour that spirit — our kitchen speaks the language of the valley.

Traditional Bosnian feast spread at Timber & Stone Tavern
From the Hearth
Ispod Sača · Under the Bell
Lamb Under Sač
Whole shoulder, slow-roasted with potatoes, rosemary, and wild garlic beneath the iron dome and ember
Veal Ispod Peke
Tender neck, root vegetables, and mountain herbs — sealed under the bell with nothing but time and fire
Beef Short Ribs
Slow-cooked beef short ribs with potato mash and honey-glazed carrots
From the Land
Selo · The Village Table
Bosanski Lonac
Traditional Bosnian highland stew — layered veal and seasonal vegetables, simmered for hours in a clay pot over open flame
Mezze Board
Assortment of Herzegovinian cheeses, spicy kulen sausage, and warm rustic bread
Spinach Pastry
Handmade flaky filo layered with spinach and fresh cheese from the highland pastures
Japrak & Dolma
Beef mince and rice with spices, rolled in collard greens and stuffed peppers, served with potato mash and cream
From the Season
Sezona · What the Valley Gives
Imam Bayildi
Baked aubergine with chicken, seasonal vegetables, and oven-baked potatoes
Hunters Shakshuka
Mediterranean eggs in tomato salsa with herbs and spices, served with rustic bread
Tufahija
Whole apple, poached in honey water, stuffed with walnuts and dressed with fresh cream — a Bosnian sweet ritual
The Cellar

Rakija, wine,
and the spirit of
the Neretva

Rakija distillation in these hills has roots stretching back centuries — plum, grape, honey-infused. And the Herzegovinian sun grows Žilavka and Blatina grapes on terraces overlooking the same river we sit beside tonight.

  • Šljivovica Aged plum brandy, distilled in the highland villages
  • Lozovača Grape rakija from Herzegovinian vineyards
  • Medovača Grape rakija from Herzegovinian vineyards, infused with honey
  • Žilavka Indigenous white wine — crisp, mineral, the taste of limestone
  • Blatina Indigenous red — soft tannins, dark fruit, warmed by the valley sun
The Tradition

Medovača

Herzegovinian grape rakija, slow-infused with wildflower honey from the slopes of Velež. The result is smooth, golden, and gently sweet — a drink that bridges the old vineyard traditions with the beekeeping heritage of these hills. Best served cool, unhurried, after a long meal.

Timber & Stone branded drinking horn with medieval Bosnian engravings

Drink from the Horn

Ask your host for a Timber & Stone drinking horn — hand-engraved with medieval Bosnian stećak motifs. The way warriors and nobles drank, now yours at the table.

The Space

Built from what the land offered

Wrought iron chandelier at Timber & Stone Tavern

Stone & Timber

Local limestone walls and reclaimed oak beams. The materials are not decorative choices — they are the Herzegovinian building tradition itself, unchanged for centuries.

The Armoury Walls

Real axes, swords, and medieval weaponry line the walls alongside portraits of Queen Katarina Kosača and King Tvrtko I. Hand-forged wrought iron chandeliers hang overhead, and deep red curtains frame the room — a hall fit for a Bosnian court.

Long Tables

In medieval Bosnia, feasting was communal. We seat strangers together at long oak tables. The food is served family-style, in the earthenware it was cooked in.

"A se leži… na svojoj zemlji na plemenitoj."
Here lies… on his own noble land.
Inscription from a stećak tombstone of Knez Batić, vassal to King Tvrtko I
Visit

Find us where
the river bends

Timber & Stone sits in the old quarter of Mostar, in the shadow of Hum Hill, where the Neretva curves beneath the ancient limestone cliffs. Come hungry. Come unhurried. The fire is always lit.

Reserve a Table
Guests dining inside Timber & Stone Tavern beneath chandeliers and medieval decor
Hours
Tuesday — Sunday
12:00 — 23:00
Location
Old Town, Mostar
Herzegovina, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Contact
(+387) 61 209 388
info@timberstonetavernmostar.com
A Note
Sač dishes require eight hours. Plan accordingly, or better yet — don’t plan at all.