Where to eat in Croatia

La Štruk

A tiny courtyard place on the steps below the cathedral that serves strukli and almost nothing else - the fastest way to understand what Zagreb actually eats.

Picked because it does one dish and does it properly: strukli, the Zagorje cheese pastry that is the city's signature, baked and boiled, savoury and sweet.

Mali Bar

A small, deliberately informal room on Vlaska, built around sharing plates and a wine list rather than a conventional three-course menu.

Picked as the small-plates room for a longer evening, the one address on this list built for sharing rather than for a starter-main format.

Nokturno

A busy, inexpensive place on the steps between the cathedral and Tkalciceva, doing pizza, pasta and grilled meat at prices the surrounding terraces do not match.

Picked as the cheap, reliable table right in the middle of the tourist stretch, where most neighbours charge twice as much for the same plate.

Restoran Boban

A vaulted brick cellar just off Ban Jelacic square, serving Italian-leaning pasta and Croatian mains under the street-level cafe.

Picked for the brick cellar a minute from the main square and for pasta done properly in a city where most central kitchens play it safe.

Stari Fijaker 900

An old-school restaurant just off the Upper Town approach, serving continental Croatian home cooking rather than the Adriatic dishes most menus default to.

Picked as the plain, old-fashioned room for the dishes Zagreb households actually cook: bean stew, boiled beef, strukli - the opposite of a coastal seafood menu.

Vinodol

A long-running city-centre restaurant with a covered courtyard, best known for meat baked under the peka bell and for a menu that stays firmly Croatian.

Picked for the covered courtyard and for veal and lamb cooked under the peka bell, the dish most visitors want to try once and rarely find done well in a city centre.

D16 Coffee

A specialty coffee bar and local roaster in the heart of Diocletian's Palace: house-roasted single-origin beans, well-made espresso and flat whites. Small and characterful, with fast WiFi - a reliable step up from tourist coffee.

Opening hours: daily, daytime (please confirm)

Picked as Split's benchmark specialty café - local roasters serving carefully made espresso in the heart of Diocletian's Palace, a step up from the standard tourist coffee.

Konoba Fetivi

A small, family-run konoba in the Varoš quarter, a short walk from the Riva: simple, market-fresh Dalmatian seafood - grilled fish, brudet and black risotto. A long-standing Michelin Bib Gourmand pick; book ahead, as it fills up fast.

Opening hours: Tue-Sun ~15:00-23:30; closed Mon (please confirm)

Picked for honest, market-fresh Dalmatian seafood in the old fishermen's quarter - a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick that locals still trust.

Konoba Korta

A traditional konoba tucked into a courtyard of Diocletian's Palace: Dalmatian classics - pašticada, peka, black risotto and grilled Adriatic seafood - served within UNESCO-listed walls a few steps from the Cathedral.

Opening hours: daily, lunch to late (please confirm)

Picked for traditional Dalmatian cooking inside the walls of Diocletian's Palace - a rare combination of a UNESCO-courtyard setting and fair, honest plates.

Konoba Dubrava

A hillside konoba in Bosanka, known for peka under the bell and a terrace looking over the coast.

Picked for the hill konoba experience above the city, with peka and views instead of Stradun prices.

Lokanda Peskarija

A harbour-side tavern under the city walls, known for fish stews, grilled catch and a terrace above the old port.

Picked for the old-port setting and straightforward seafood stews right where the fishing boats tie up.

Nishta

A compact vegetarian restaurant on steep Prijeko, useful when your table wants plant-based plates in a seafood city.

Picked as the reliable vegetarian option inside the walls when everyone else defaults to grilled fish.

Pantarul

A Lapad restaurant doing modern Croatian plates with market produce, quieter and more inventive than the Old Town grills.

Picked for thoughtful modern Croatian cooking away from the wall crowds, in a neighbourhood locals actually eat in.

Proto

A landmark seafood house on Široka, grilling whole fish and shellfish since the nineteenth century in a room that feels unchanged.

Picked for one of the oldest seafood addresses in the Old Town, still grilling whole Adriatic fish the straightforward Dalmatian way.

Taj Mahal

A long-running Bosnian canteen in the Old Town, serving cevapi, pies and hearty plates at student-friendly prices.

Picked as the budget, filling Bosnian counterweight to all that grilled fish - cevapi and burek when you want a cheap hot meal.