Istria is Croatia’s gourmet paradise and the restaurants and konobas/trattorias in our list have had a major role in making it into what it is today. Almost all of the listed restaurants are rather upscale places, except for some of the konobas/trattorias, but the price-quality ratio is probably better than you are used to from fine dining places in other parts of Europe. Restaurants in Croatia usually don’t make it into guides such as the Michelin, but the Austrian edition of the Gault & Millau restaurant guide has Istria and Kvarner on the radar and all the places listed here have made it into the guide in 2015. Listed below are the best 26 restaurants of the regions of Istria and Kvarner. As a rule, the more tourists come to a place, the fewer are the really good restaurants there. This probably has to do something with people having to try harder for their guests there
Many of the restaurants listed are not significantly more expensive than the tourist traps at the promenades of many of the coastal towns. You can recognise those by how they are competing with the next door restaurant by offering even bigger photos with even more chips and cevapcici on the plate. We are also bringing the list as an inspiration for you to visit the places off the beaten track, such as Momjan, Brtonigla, Buzet and Buje for their breath-taking views and the olive orchards and tasting places, vineries and distilleries located there, Livade for its forest and truffles, or beautiful Kastav with the legendary Kukuriku restaurant in the Kvarner region.
As for booking a table in advance, this is inevitable at places such as the Batelina in Banjole (don’t miss the Anthony Bourdain video with Croatia’s Star-Chef David Skoko from minute 12 to 18), but if you don’t get seated at one place, just try the other, as Istria is the peninsula of the short routes and within the hour you can reach any other spot of the peninsula. For this reason we have grouped the restaurants by region. As for the Batelina, don’t bother in August at all, David is gone camping then.
The Best Restaurants of Istria
Northwestern Istria
Konoba Buščina, Umag, Buščina 18, Sv. Marija na Krasu, traditional regional cuisine
Mare e Monti, Umag, Naselje Stella Maris 9A, surf&turf
Damir & Ornella, Novigrad, Zidine 5, top fish restaurant, reservation recommended, phone:+385 52 758 134
Marina, Novigrad, Sv. Antona 38, fish restaurant, phone: +385 98 969 0492
Pepenero, Novigrad, Porporela bb, great 7-course fish menu
Čok, Novigrad, Sv. Antona 2, fish and more
Morgan, Brtonigla, Bračanija 1, best place for meat in Istria
San Rocco, Brtonigla, Srednja ulica 2, slow-food pioneers
Zigante, Livade, Livade 7, the restaurant of Croatia’s truffle king
Stari podrum, Momjan, Most 52, traditional Istrian
Stari kaštel, Buje, Kaštel 85 , traditional Istrian
Toklarija, Buzet, Sovinjsko polje 11, traditional Istrian
West Istria (Poreč, Rovinj, Bale)
Sveti Nikola, Poreč, Obala M. Tita 23, fine dining in central Poreč
Monte, Rovinj, Montalbano75, tasting menus, phone: +385 52 830 203
Wine vault, Rovinj, A. Smareglia bb, French-Mediterranean cuisine, Hotel Monte Mulini
Mediterraneo, Rovinj, A. Smareglia bb, Hotel Monte Mulini
Stancija Meneghetti, Bale, Stancija Meneghetti 1, romantic and special
La Grisa, Bale, La Grisa 23, affordable, romantic, local
South Istria
Batelina, Banjole, Čimulje 25, trendiest place of the peninsula, phone: +385 52 573 767
Milan, Pula, Stoja 4, the classic
The Best Restaurants of the Kvarner Region
Johnson, Mošćenička Draga, Majčevo 29b, fish - original, natural, simple; one of the top restaurants of the country
Kukuriku, Kastav, Trg Lokvina 3, gourmet and wine mecca
Draga di Lovrana, Lovranska Draga, spectacular setting, fish and scampi caught with own boats
Bevanda, Opatija, Zert 8, one of the best Croatian restaurants since forever, Chef Andrej Barbieri is a celebrity
Laurus, Opatija, Nova cesta 12A, tasting menus, wonderful view
Tu Tamo, Mošćenice, Mošćenice 50, reinterpreted tradition, wonderful view
Amongst the many good restaurants and konobas of the Istria and Kvarner region which didn’t make it to the list, we’d mention Vodnjanka in Pula, Alla Beccaccia in Valbandon (both in the South), Ćakula in Poreč and the Cantinion and Puntulina (the photo beneath the headline) in Rovinj (all in the West). Oh, and the Puli Pineta in Žminj, Martin Peškador in Trget...
Photos: Petr Blaha, Wolfgang Neuhuber, Heinz Henninger, Istrien7, Pepenero, Bevanda, Draga di Lovrana, San Rocco, Zigante
