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ReStAuRANtS
Zlatka Grgura Ninskog 2, Skradin, tel. (+385-) 098
905 39 09. If Skradin’s culinary traditions leave you cold (or simply out of pocket) you can always opt for Zlatka’s trusty and inexpensive range of substantial salads and pizzas (including at least one vegetarian option), served up in a neat and bright dining room or on a terrace fringed by fragrant rosemary bushes. The family-recipe pašticada (Dalmatian stewed beef with prunes) is also well worth trying. Q May - October 31 Open 09:00 - 24:00. November - April 30 Open 15:00 - 24:00. (35 - 85kn). NGBX Zlatne školjke Grgura Ninskog 9, Skradin, tel. (+38522) 771 022, zlatneskoljke@inet.hr, w w w.zlatneskoljke.com. A cosy restaurant set back slightly from the seafront, the Golden Seashell shelters in a timber-beamed dining room decked out with pictures of local beauty spots. A high-quality menu brims with seafood pasta, fresh fish and shellfish, alongside traditional local dishes such as the slow-cooked, veal-based skradinski risotto. Be sure to leave room for the owner’s own-recipe skradinska torta. QOpen 12:00 - 23:00. (80 - 200kn). PAGB
Islands Aldura Sunčana obala bb, Zlarin, tel. (+385-22) 55 36
28/(+385-) 091 505 59 94. Facing the ferry jetty, Aldura is the obvious last port of call for coffee when you are waiting for the Šibenik-Vodice boat to come steaming round the headland. It is also a fine restaurant, serving up seafood pastas, grilled chops and fresh fish in an atmospheric old building that preserves plenty of its original stone and timber. Q May - October 30 Open 12:00 - 23:00. November - April 30 Caffe bar Open 08:00 - 22:00 Restaurant Open by prior arrangement. (45 - 140kn). NB Dalmata Obala II 68, Krapanj, tel. (+385-) 095 906 14 07. This is a traditional island tavern with a menu covering a customary selection of simple grilled-meat dishes alongside a broader range of seafood. Main courses range from inexpensive options like breaded hake fillet (pohani oslić) to finger-licking, push-the-boat-out delicacies like scampi and lobster. Choose between the small and cosy interior with large, curiously-shaped seashells hanging from the timberbeamed ceiling, or wooden-bench seating a canopied terrace overlooking the sea shore. Q April - September 30 Open 12:00 - 23:00. (50 - 80kn). NGBX Fešta Uvala Golubovac, Otok Žut - Kornati, tel. (+38522) 64 31 90/(+385-) 099 347 35 19, kresimir. mudronja@zut.hr, www.zut.hr. In the ACI marina on the island of Žut, this restaurant run by the Mudronja family mixes the standard repertoire of main-course fish and lobster with innovative starters such as conger-eel pate and various fish
Šibenik In Your Pocket
carpaccios. Home-baked bread and a well-stocked wine cellar provide two more incentives to visit. The restaurant also has a small shop selling groceries and other supplies to yachtsfolk. Q March 15 - November 11 Open 08:00 - 23:00. (100 - 700kn). NGBX Four lions Zlarinska obala 15, Zlarin, tel. (+385-22) 55 36 21, four.lions@hi.t-com.hr, www.4lionszlarin.com. Attached to Zlarin’s only hotel is this big dining area spread beneath a canopy with a fishing boat hanging from the ceiling. Expect a respectable menu of meat and fish, with plenty that’s freshly-caught it functions as a café too, with chairs and tables right by the waterside. QOpen 11:00 - 23:00. (40 - 90kn). NGBX Kapelica Obala 45, Krapanj, tel. (+385-) 098 87 00 93. Traditional food in an old green-shuttered house in an alleyway just off the shore, to the left of the ferry landing. The interior features lots of homely red brick, and an open hearth for grilling and baking traditional fish dishes. The big list of desserts includes a lot more than the usual pancake fare. Q June - October Open 11:00 - 24:00. (40 - 80kn). NGBX Mačkova lula Zapadna obala 5, Kaprije, tel. (+385-22) 44 98 41/(+385-) 095 908 78 77, lula.mackova@gmail. com. What a fabulous name: “The Tomcat’s Tobacco Pipe”. This place is worth visiting for that alone, but the food here is so good that you have to book days in advance and climb over piles of yachties using crampons and icepicks. Want fresh, fresh fish? Want veggies grown in “Auntie Marija’s” back garden? Then get on the blower, baby, and get thee to the island of Kaprije. Q April - November Open 12:30 - 23:00. (80 - 150kn). NGBX Opat Luke 47, Uvala Opat - Kornati, tel. (+385-) 091 473 25 50, www.opat-kornati.com. Located in a stone house above the shore in Kornat island’s Opat bay, this is another well-known port of call among the yachting fraternity, and you might have to call early in the day if you want to reserve a table for the evening. Expect the best in traditional Adriatic fare seafood, with shellfish, risottos featuring whatever seafood has been caught that day, and baked-fish mains. Q April 20 - October 15 Open 12:00 - 24:00. (90 - 250kn). NGBX Žut ACI Marina Žut, Žut Island, Kornati National Park, tel. (+385-) 091 473 51 55, romano.milutin@gmail.com, www.restoran-zut.com.hr. Also in Žut’s ACI marina, Žut offers outdoor seating under a canopy bordered by shrubs and cacti. Oven-baked fish, octopus baked under a peka, or grilled Kornati lamb alongside the usual fish and lobster are among the specialities. Q April - October 31 Open 08:00 24:00. (80 - 110kn). AGB
sibenik.inyourpocket.com
Maraština Maraština is an old Dalmatian wine sort which can be found al on g m os t par ts of t h e Croatian coast and is common on the Dalmatian mainland. It is a late bloomer so sunshine and warmth are the key ingredients for its growth. It has a yellow or golden/yellow colour, with a discreet and pleasant aroma. At the 6th Wine Festival recently held in Skradin, Maraština took out all the major awards in the white wine category. Winemakers Dragutin Dobrović from Pirovac and Ivica Džapo from Oklaj received awards for the best white bottled and corked wines. In a country renowned for its diversity of culinary culture, the Šibenik region offers a wealth of gastronomic attractions. As well as the best of Adriatic cuisine, there is a profusion of distinctive local delicacies too. Fish and shellfish The waters of the Adriatic are packed with all manner of fish. Fine white fish such as John Dory (kovač), Sea Bass (brancin) or Sea Bream (orada) is usually grilled and served whole (complete with head, tail, skin and bones) - using knives, forks, fingers and teeth to prize away all of the white meat is an essential part of the experience. Fish on restaurant menus is usually priced by the kilogramme - a fish that weighs about 300g-400g is usually sufficient for one person. Many restaurants do however serve individually-priced fish fillets,
sibenik.inyourpocket.com
aware that foreign visitors often find the whole fish-ordering process a bit confusing. The standard accompaniment for fish is mangold (blitva), a green vegetable full of healthy minerals. Cheaper varieties of fish such as anchovies (srdele or inćun) are often marinated in oil and serve as excellent snacks or as an accompaniment to a round of drinks. Squid (lignje) is one of the most popular items on local restaurant menus, served grilled or fried in breadcrumbs. The Šibenik-Skradin area in particular is famous for its shellfish, and if you are crossing the bridge over the river Krka you will see bobbing floats on the surface of the water marking the oyster beds. Due to the Krka’s clear waters the local mullet (cipalj) has a more delicate taste than elsewhere in the Adriatic and is a common feature of restaurant menus as a result. Moving only slightly upstream, the Krka is also famous for its freshwater trout. Another real delicacy of the Skradin-Krka area is the eel (jegulja, known locally as bižot), which is lighter in texture and taste than the more fatty eels found in the Neretva delta further south. Roast meats The maquis-covered hinterland of central Dalmatia provides ideal grazing land for sheep, which can be seen nibbling away on grasses and herbs on the plateau between Šibenik and Knin. Roast lamb on a spit is a popular local dish, and roadside restaurants on the main out-of-town routes frequently entice travellers to pull over by roasting a whole animal in the yard outside. Roast lamb is served by weight with on-the-bone cuts frequently included in each portion - so don’t be too shy to use your hands. Lamb is usually served with several shoots of spring onion. The other traditional way of preparing local lamb and veal is under a bell-shaped metal lid known as a peka. The method requires a big open hearth, with a log fire to generate the heat.
Summer 2011
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