Kornat (Zadar, Croatia) 08/2018

By now we have eaten at dozens of Croatian restaurants. The food has always been fresh and varied from haute cuisine to generally reasonable home cooking. Venues have been characterised by their simplicity. Many have had incredibly beautiful views from sea side or port side settings. Some have had elegant crockery and glassware and some food has been served with extreme attention to detail and presentation. What has been absent, so far, has been a truly attractive and elegant venue. Kornat is the exception. From the large white clothed tables,

to the comfortable chairs, the solid cutlery and the fine Rona glassware, the uniformed waiters, the bar showing silent Charlie Chaplin movies on a wide screen 

to the art nouveau decor including the attractive glass ceiling 

and the Klimpt toilet decoration 

it speaks everywhere of thoughtful good taste.

They have terrace dining but we were fortunate to get a table opposite the bar. Actually we were fortunate to get a table at all. If you want to go, to be safe, make a reservation.. 

The emphasis of the menu is on fish. We didn't know what to order so, to make it easier for us the waiter brought out a tray of fresh fish. The lobster was still alive and walking off the platter!

Sandra chose a Grouper, the red fish at the front.

The meal started with an amuse bouche of chick pea and olive. 

I chose muscles for an appetiser. 

Most of their fish are offered by weight - x Kuna /100 gm. The mussels were 15 Kuna, about A$3.50 per 100gm. Sandra had a selection of raw seafood.

The cooked fish (baked or grilled) was brought whole to the table 

and then boned by the waiter and served.

The most popular side dish here is Swiss Chard, with or without potato. I chose the Konat thick, rich fish soup. 

We finished the meal with a dessert, initially we were encouraged to take a mille fleur 

which fell apart on presentation and we asked instead for chocolate cake. 

Our young waiter, a son of the proprietor, kindly replaced it without charge. 

So what about the food? The raw fish platter was extremely fresh and helped by the small piles of spicy wasabi. The muscles had not been bearded properly and, despite being tasty, were unpleasant to eat. The grouper was a bit dry and the only sauce available was olive oil. This turned out well as there was no bitterness in the oil they gave us. The soup was rich and delicious with enough fish in it. The langoustine, or what ever it was, was hard to eat but worth the effort. It was fantastic, sweet and moist.

We didn't taste the mille fleur but the chocolate cake was also excellent.

With coffee and three glasses of wine and water the bill came to approximately A$250.

Score 16.5/20

Aurora (Korčula - Croatia) 08/2018

Konoba in a Croatian restaurant name can only be used if the restaurant offers a certain amount of local dishes on it's menu. It appears frequently in all the small towns we visited. Korčula is a mini Dubrovnik. It is a walled city but the walls are low and lined with restaurants. 
A seat at the edge of the wall gives gorgeous views 

over the Adriatic sea. Other seats 

across the road offer a different view.

The restaurants also have inside dining but, unless it was raining, few would take up that option.

A miniature olive tree, about 30 cm. tall,

decorated our table. We began our meal with a tuna tatrtare

and a Dalmatian selection

made up of white anchovy, octopus, some cold cuts, tomatoes, edible succulents and flowers. Not very exciting and certainly not a dish I would order again.

Bread is offered with olive oil and sweet balsamic vinegar, but butter is available on request.

Seafood risotto

was dominated by the liberal use of saffron.

Beef cheek with foie gras was really something special.

The fresh foie gras was excellent while the tasty beef cheek had been slow cooked for hours so it was very tender and almost falling apart. It also sat on a bed of truffled mashed potato. A super dish. 

Score:14.25 /20

ZOI (Split-Croatia) 08/2017

Our local tour guide had heard good things about this restaurant and it was extremely convenient for us to go there. Their web site has been constructed by a polished wordsmith who says all the right things about the place, it's history and the food and the menu, although a little on the expensive side looked excellent.

The Michelin people have visited and said nice things about the atmosphere and the scenery with which we certainly agree,. The terrace hugs the wall of Diocletian's palace with ever changing scenes from the street and docks below.

 Service was pleasant and efficient and our comments, reported to the chef, resulted in a 10% discounted bill. All the waitstaff, dressed in black,  have a belt and bag, similar to what we see worn by carpenters.

We wanted something a bit different and settled on a crab bisque

and a marinated tongue for a start. This was quite a small bowl and the volume of soup was further reduced by the slice of bread and cheese floating in it. The bisque was made from salty chicken stock and made more salty with the caviar on top of it. The tongue appetiser was excellent.                                  
Bread 

was served with a raw green olive oil and balsamic vinegar. On request grated butter, which also came with the foie gras, was supplied.
 
Foie gras terrine with cumquat glaze and rhabarbara, turned out to be pretty but lacking in taste of the liver. It felt and tasted like a smooth butter

 Tongue, (marinated for 30 days and cooked for 26 hours) was also a pretty presentation with beetroot and cheese stuffed dates pistachio powder, daikon and quinoa.

 Flavours were fine and they had excellently prepared the tongue.
Cutlery is an attractive  shiny gold colour.

 Sandra was right out of luck. A marine plankton seafood risotto, featuring  squid, octopus and Grana Padano shreds, was barely populated with seafood and rather salty.. She was very disappointed.

My lamb chops, marinated in lavender honey and balsamic vinegar with roast peppers, lentils, chips, morel mushrooms, broad beans and roasted peppers were tender and tasted great.

They offer a extensive wine list (84 wines) with a reasonable range available by the glass. 

Comments: Michelin didn't mention the food which was patchy, occasionally lacking taste and unbalanced in regard to what was on the plate. 

The bill came to about A$170

Score:14 /20