A guide to Na nože season 4: every restaurant and its story

Na nože season 4: sixteen restaurants, and the first time knives ran the whole way through

Season four of Na nože is the longest so far: Martin Novák worked through sixteen venues from Nitra through Banská Bystrica all the way to Košice and its surroundings. Unlike the early seasons, knife ratings are in play here, so every episode ends with a clear score from one to five knives, and this is the season that produced the very first five in the show's history. The contrast with the public is all the more interesting: on Google these restaurants score anywhere from 3.1 to 4.8, yet Martin's knife and the crowd's verdict do not always meet. Five of these sixteen venues sadly no longer operate. Here is the whole fourth season, restaurant by restaurant, and what really went on behind the kitchen doors.

Rybárska Bašta (Brasserka) (Nitra)

The season opened in Nitra in a venue that carried the proud name Rybárska bašta (Fisherman's Bastion) yet sat nowhere near water: a prison across the street, a cemetery next door, and a "plain cook" trained as a seamstress who did not like making fish. On his first visit to Rybárska Bašta Martin was served soup described as "warm unsalted water", three different dishes built on the same ketchup base, and fish that smelled of the freezer. The brightest hope was 17-year-old Simon, who had taught himself to cook from YouTube.

Martin pushed through a rebrand to the Slovak-flavoured Brasserka and built a new French-leaning menu: duck liver pâté, bouillabaisse, black cuttlefish risotto and a proper fish and chips. The biggest win was Simon's transformation: he got his own set of knives, and by the one-month return he had become a cook who did everything he was told. Rating: Martin gave 4 knives, the public on Google 4.1/5.

Bufet Jahodná (Jahodná near Dunajská Streda)

In Jahodná near Dunajská Streda Martin expected a restaurant and found a plain roadside snack bar by a petrol station, frequented mostly by construction workers. Bufet Jahodná was run by Klaudia, a single mother of three drowning in debt, and the first visit was a disaster: fried cheese in a rubbery bun, a gyros swimming in oil, and three soups on the same base of "paprika, flour, paprika, flour". In the kitchen Martin found flies, mouse droppings and cat food stored among food meant for people, and he shut the place down on the spot.

After a radical clean-up Martin did not try to turn a snack bar into a restaurant; he honestly reframed it as a decent canteen with a traditional Slovak menu. But on the one-month return everything was "back to the old ways": the flies were back, the schnitzel damp and rubbery, the mood poisoned. The restaurant no longer operates today, so there is no point recommending it. Rating: Martin gave 0 knives, the public on Google 4.2/5. The venue is now closed.

Yalla Habibi (Banská Bystrica)

On a handsome square in Banská Bystrica sits the oriental restaurant Yalla Habibi, run by two sisters from Syria, Inás and Dana. The paradox was clear: the food was excellent, yet the place was empty. The mohamara "grabbed Martin by the heart" straight away and the kibbeh had "really excellent flavours", but the wait for food ran to 40 minutes, there was no system in the kitchen, two cooks made the same dish, and nobody knew whose order was on the grill.

Martin kept the name and the spirit but brought order: a shorter menu of six traditional dishes, a proper mise en place, a visual QR menu with photos. After the reset the first starter went out in 7 minutes instead of 40, and on the return the tables were finally full. "We have customers, finally," Inás summed it up. Rating: Martin gave 4 knives for food made "with love, like a mum's", the public on Google 4.4/5.

Red Rose (Raslavice)

In Raslavice in the east Martin ran into the sprawling complex Red Rose: a restaurant, pizzeria, fast food, café, bowling alley and wedding hall all under one roof, monthly costs around 40 thousand euros, and empty in the evenings. The owner Vali, originally from Romania, was completely burnt out and had sold his house in Romania to keep the business afloat. The broth was "water" with no meat, the universal sauce tasted of MSG, and the pizza had raw, underbaked dough.

Martin left the lunch service running downstairs and turned the upper part into an evening finger-food pub with confit duck in a lokša flatbread, kale croquettes and fried dumplings. On the return, "that sad man" had become someone who could smile, but the service and atmosphere still lagged and the floor staff felt flat. That is exactly why Red Rose earned just two knives: a reward for the human turnaround and a signal it has to be better. Rating: Martin gave 2 knives, the public on Google 4.2/5.

Koliba Burger & Pizza Rica (Martin)

On the slopes below Martinské hole stood a wooden chalet with the confusing name Koliba Burger & Pizza Rica, run by a couple, Maťa and the self-taught cook Ľubo. The place did not know what it was: the menu prices were wrong, the pizza tasted "like Christmas wafers" and the burger "like a burnt sausage". The saving grace was the homemade plum dumplings, which Martin rated 8.5 out of 10, with one question hanging in the air: why make pizza in the mountains when there are dozens of pizzerias all around.

Martin scrapped the pizza and burgers, renamed the place Chalúpka and built an honest homemade menu, handing the kitchen to the experienced Majka. But within a month the restaurant closed and passed to a new owner: Maťa went back to the hospital and the Chalúpka concept did not survive. The venue no longer operates today, so there is no point recommending it. Rating: Martin gave 0 knives, a public Google rating is not available yet. The venue is now closed.

Heydučka (Bratislava)

In his home city of Bratislava Martin visited Heydučka on Heydukova Street, which felt more like a city café than a restaurant. The food was "the 1980s, for me": weak broth, papardelle "boiled to death", grilled tinned peach, and a pork tenderloin with "chimichurri" that was not chimichurri at all but a bought ready-made product. The kitchen inspection turned up cheese months past its date, dumplings almost a year old and mouldy mushrooms, and Martin closed the place on the spot.

He turned the restaurant into a cosy tapas bar with chicken liver pâté, antipasti and a real South American chimichurri salsa. The heart of the story was the head chef Frenky and his hard life, but serious health problems kept him from returning to the kitchen, and on the comeback the main courses fell apart. Martin rewarded the cleanliness and order with two knives, but Heydučka no longer operates today, so there is no point recommending it. Rating: Martin gave 2 knives, the public on Google 4.1/5. The venue is now closed.

Javorina Pub 21 (Šaca)

On the outskirts of Košice in Šaca stood Javorina Pub 21, a pub on a spot where the Javorina tavern had run for over 40 years before covid knocked its takings down to a quarter. The owner Egon copied the competition 20 metres away: pizza, kebab, hamburger. The glasses were clouded with limescale, the kebab was rubbery and reheated in a microwave, and the Tučniak pizza with its split cream base ranked among the three most disgusting things Martin had ever tasted. The harshest moment was the owner admitting he was proud of "nothing" about his food.

Martin tuned the food to match the beer: Olomouc cheese fried in beer batter, beer goulash, duck fat spread and a homemade stuffing with plums. But on the one-month return most of the advice had not stuck and the menu was back to just schnitzel and fried cheese. The venue no longer operates today, so there is no point recommending it. Rating: Martin gave 1 knife, the public on Google 4.2/5. The venue is now closed.

Veganaf (Banská Bystrica)

In the centre of Banská Bystrica, right next to the SNP Museum, Peter opened the plant-based bistro Veganaf, about which he himself said "I opened a plant-based bistro in a meat valley". Takings could be as low as 9 euros a day. The Parisian salad sat on seitan that "tasted like rubber", the hot-and-sour soup was neither hot nor sour, and the cheese burger earned its own term, "gastro-mud". Martin named the root cause: Peter had confused a food business with charity work, and was pushing meat-eaters away with the name and the quotes on the walls.

Martin wiped off the preachy slogans, added living plants and cooked a plant-based menu meant to please everyone: shimeji tempura, mushroom ragout with mashed potato, and a beluga lentil pottage. Veganaf also launched a delivery service to companies. The bistro earned the highest Google rating of the whole season, yet it still could not make it and no longer operates today, so there is no point recommending it. Rating: Martin gave 3 knives, the public on Google 4.8/5 (the highest in the season). The venue is now closed.

Zoraya (Rimavská Sobota)

In Rimavská Sobota Martin found a pleasant surprise at the restaurant Zoraya: a tasteful interior, uniformed staff, "a bit of flair". The problem was not the setting but the exhausted owner Aďa, who after seven years was carrying everything herself and could not hand responsibility to anyone. The menu had fifty dishes, the table settings were not changed between guests, and the Canadian poutine with raw potatoes became the symbol of the point that fast food does not belong in a restaurant.

Martin built a world-inspired menu adapted to the place: pulled-pork tacos, a poke bowl, glazed salmon. On the return the menu had finally broken away from burgers, but the details snagged: the prawn soup was bitter, the lamb loin overcooked, the rib still tough. Martin gave the third knife explicitly as motivation, because the food only lacked the final detail. Zoraya is still open. Rating: Martin gave 3 knives, the public on Google 3.9/5.

Koliba pod Vlkolíncom (Ružomberok)

Below the UNESCO village of Vlkolínec sits Koliba pod Vlkolíncom, a more modern chalet with a beautiful open-fire oven and a wellness area. The problem was "remote control": the owners sat in Bratislava, the cooks in Ružomberok, and the kitchen had turned into a canteen running on convenience products. The mushroom risotto was really milk rice drowned in balsamic, and the "bryndza" pierogi, in which the sheep cheese had vanished, made Martin say he would rather eat his own shoes.

Martin trimmed the lunch menu, bet on homemade local produce and a zero-waste approach, and the hero became Peťo's podpecník flatbread, "the best in the whole valley". On the return a baker, Jakub's mum, was already making homemade pierogi and buns, and the place had taken "a very big step forward". Only an undercooked sheep cheese and a too-heavy bun kept it from five, so Koliba pod Vlkolíncom got four. It is still open. Rating: Martin gave 4 knives, the public on Google 4.5/5.

Pizza Italy (Želiezovce)

In Želiezovce Martin came to the delivery pizzeria Pizza Italy, run by 23-year-old Miška, who wanted to build a real restaurant out of a twenty-square-metre room. The pizza maker dropped Martin's order on the floor on the way and served it anyway: "served off the floor, I have never eaten that before." The bottom oven did not work, the mixer had been "fixed" for four years with a toothpick wedged into it, and the owner had been spending on herself and driving an expensive car.

Martin swapped Miška's role with the pizza maker so she could feel the pressure, and added a concept that fits delivery: baked cannelloni, focaccia and Neapolitan pizza fritta. Miška sold the car, sorted out the hygiene approvals and permits and opened a new room. On the third return there were queues outside and the cannelloni were excellent, though the pizza fritta had too little filling and the focaccia was dried out. Pizza Italy is still open. Rating: Martin gave 3 knives, the public on Google 3.1/5.

Tri groše (Ľubietová)

In picturesque Ľubietová among the mountains stand Tri groše, a guesthouse and restaurant run by the married couple Lucka and Peter, whose exhaustion was spotted by their 17-year-old daughter Lula, who called Martin. The menu was "tweezer cuisine": the bread and soups excellent, but the bryndza halušky bland, the black risotto just rice with green powder, and the lamb with a pointless espuma "in the middle of Slovakia, under the mountains". The biggest Achilles heel was the wait for food, sometimes up to 60 minutes.

Martin treated the couple with rest: he took them fishing and to a dance lesson, added a grill to the terrace and pushed a sharp simplification toward honest dishes like beer-basted ribs and grilled sirloin. On the return he was won over by smoked-trout pâté, a juicy lamb skewer and a salad that finally was not just "piled-up pepper and tomato". Tri groše became the benchmark of the whole season and Martin handed them the very first five in the show's history. They are still open. Rating: Martin gave 5 knives (the first five knives in Na nože history), the public on Google 4.6/5.

Kotoľňa Pub (Rožňava)

In Rožňava in eastern Slovakia Martin rescued the venue Kotoľňa Pub. A detailed recap of this episode is still in the works, but we already know how it ended: Martin gave the place 2 knives, while guests rate it an average of 3.9/5 on Google. Kotoľňa Pub is still open, so you can drop in and judge the turnaround for yourself.

Bayer Restaurant (Košice)

In Košice Martin took on Bayer Restaurant. A detailed recap of this episode is still being added, but the result is already known: the restaurant came away with 3 knives from Martin, and the public gives it a fairly solid 4.4/5 on Google. Bayer Restaurant is still open and is one of the higher-rated venues of the season.

Hostinec u Krivého potoka (Betliar)

In Betliar near Rožňava Martin visited Hostinec u Krivého potoka. A full recap of this episode is still on the way, but we already know the score: Martin gave the place 4 knives, one of the better ratings of the season, and guests rate it an average of 4.3/5 on Google. Hostinec u Krivého potoka is still open.

Reštaurácia u Katky (Košice)

The season closed in Košice with Reštaurácia u Katky. A detailed recap of this episode is still in preparation, but we already have the final verdict: Martin gave the restaurant 4 knives, while the public on Google is more cautious and holds it at 3.7/5. Reštaurácia u Katky is still open.

Martin versus the public

Season four was the first to set Martin's knives next to the public's rating for every episode, and the picture is not black and white. The lowest knife went to Bufet Jahodná and Koliba Burger & Pizza Rica (0), the highest ever, for the first time in the show's history, to Tri groše (5), while on Google the public hands out from 3.1 at Pizza Italy up to 4.8 at Veganaf, which paradoxically no longer operates. Five of these sixteen venues have closed in the meantime, a reminder of how hard the restaurant business is even after a reset. You can find the full numbers, and the comparison of Martin's knives against the public's verdict across the seasons, on the statistics page. And you can find every restaurant from the show on our interactive map.