CLOSED: Joy of the Heart

I just had dinner here at Joy of the Heart tonight with 3 others. The restaurant entrance is on the street, with a door located a few steps down. Inside of the restaurant seats approximately 16 people. The menu is in English and Serbian.

The menu has a mix of foods, ranging from the middle east, indian and homemade variety. We had delicious samosa's fried to perfection, and Hummus with pitas as an appetizer. The Samosas I highly recommend. They are better than the ones I've even had in the US because they weren't double fried.

I had the Nitloaf "Neatloaf" with mashed potatoes and a mushroom gravy. The portion for this meal was very large, so large that I took home one of the neatloaf slices with me. The mashed potatoes were heavenly, and my husband kept stealing bites from my plate. My husband had the curried chickpeas. It was a delight to have some curried foods. The curry did not come with bread, so make sure you order some Chapati on the side - as it's not offered with the meal itself. He loved it. My brother in law had a Falafel wrap and loved it.

I plan on returning for more of that nitloaf. It was absolutely delicious!

The neat loaf is non vegan, but the restaurant does offer some vegan options.

For 4 people, two appetizers, 2 fresh juices and 2 teas the bill was close to $25. Very affordable.

Great food, great prices!
I was so happy to eat humus and falafel!
Really positive vibes and relaxing music being played.
I drank 'ruski kwas' which is really tasty- I recommend all to try this drink. They do things like 'tofu salad', 'samosas', 'Indian dal', they also do a tasty chickpea curry! -all portions are large and filling!

I definitely would recommend this place and the service is lovely here. :)

A great little happy place, with a limited but smart menu. I was there in the fall '09, had neatloaf lunch and a friend of mine went samosa. Although I've seen better samosas at higher-level Indian restaurants round the globe, and I know a place in Chicago with a somewhat tastier neatloaf, the overall impression was simply great. As I took out for the street, my tummy was happily warm. Also, the "freshly squeezed" apple juice tasted exactly so. I don't really know about the prices, not living there, they seemed quite ok with me.

Expecting that Belgrade and Serbia are still fiercely meaty, I had my vegetarian hopes low, but all turned out quite well.

The staff spoke English and was friendly, maybe not yet fully experienced but trying hard, the background music was soft, cheery and unassuming. The place has a good amount of charm, if it clicks with you.

The only (small) minus was an occasional street noise - the place is located at the very downtown, so it's a bit rowdy out there, with clanking machines and car horns. Inside, it's a quite different story.

I should be rating the place, overall, between "very good" and "excellent", but because I took it to heart, the later. Don't be scared to come to Belgrade, folks seem to be trying hard to catch up.

I enjoyed eating at Joy of the Heart. I didn't order anything outstanding, but it was all well-prepared and perfectly healthy--just what I was looking for. I had no problem getting vegan options and the price was good. The atmosphere was also quite soothing.

pretty cheap, and exactly what we were looking for. the hummus as a starter was great!

i had the macrobiotec plate, and my boyfriend had an indian curry. we got a couple of juices, strawberry and cherry, which were both great and very tasteful.

staff spoke english.

Well, Lonely Planet missed this one. You might, too, if you look for "Joy of the Heart"...it's easier to see the part of the sign that reads "Vegetarianska Gostionica". This is a Krishna restaurant with a small but eclectic list of mostly vegan selections at a far better price than Belgrade's best known vegetarian restaurant, Priroda. The staff is not fluent in English and er, not typical in terms of the service industry, but everyone is kind and attentive. The restaurant is down a few steps from the street so there is no noise...just a lot of feet going by. Exceptional food, really; big servings by veg standards.