Exquisite cuisine of Istria
I’ll be honest — at first, we were a bit unimpressed by the food in Istria. Perhaps we had gotten spoiled with the consistently good yet pretty cheap food in Zagreb. Or maybe the years dining in one of the great food cities in the US had gotten to us. Either way, the first few places we dined at were overpriced (compared to Zagreb) and really mediocre. I had selected places based on reviews, mostly relying on Google reviews, which is what I typically do. The places we tried were well-rated, 4.5-stars and higher. But, again, mediocre. So, I did more research and it sure did pay off.
Istria, the county that occupies the western peninsula of Croatia, is known for a lot of delicacies it produces including truffles, olives, and wine. One of our favourite places in Zagreb is a tiny cafe called Heritage and a lot of the ingredients (cured meats, cheese, truffles) for their salads and sandwiches come from Istria.
Turns out there is a type of restaurant in this region called Agroturizam which, from what I can tell, is very closely related to the farm to table movement. These are typically independent restaurants that produce a lot of the ingredients they use, make a lot of the components in-house (pasta, bread, cured meats, wine), and everything else is sourced locally. We went to two of these restaurants and were absolutely blown away by their offerings.
Agroturizam Selo MekiĊĦi was the first place we tried and it was honestly probably one of the best meals we’ve ever had. It’s located just off the “main road” on one of the routes from Rovinj to Groznjan. We visited on a Monday afternoon, right after they opened, without a reservation and the place was pretty vacant. When we left a couple hours later, it was definitely a bit busier and I’d imagine reservations would be essential on summer evenings. The majority of the seating is outdoors under olive trees and umbrellas set up for shade. There is no menu — the waiter talks through the various offerings which consist of a couple appetizers, pasta, steak, and pork — a few varieties of each. There’s wine that they produce — white and red.
We ordered the grilled sliced steak and truffle pljukanci pasta. Pljukanci is an Istrian pasta. These are thick pasta tubes that are delicious, especially when covered in truffles and cheese. The steak was grilled in an outdoor firepit, was cooked perfectly, and topped with freshly grated cheese. It was served with grilled vegetables and potatoes. For dessert, I asked the waitress for her recommendation which was the panna cotta with figs which was divine. And the topper, the meal cost $55 which included a glass of white wine, a soda, bottled water, and two cappuccinos. Everything was outstanding. The freshness and high-quality nature of the ingredients were super apparent and we were blown away. To note — this restaurant is cash only.
Our next agroturizam experience was at a lovely restaurant called Agroturizam Musizza. We were going to be making a special trip just for this meal and it was about an hour drive, so I reached out in advance and made a reservation, which they say are required. The place is both a restaurant and an inn and it is definitely off the beaten path. It is run by two sisters and I believe one of the sisters was our waitress.
We could’ve ordered the exact same meal we got at the first place but we figured we should try some different dishes. And we were not disappointed. We ordered the beef carpaccio with truffles, gnocchi with goulash, and a dish with pork and sauerkraut. The beef carpaccio was one of the best we’ve had. Same with the freshly made gnocchi. The pork dish was super unique — served in a savoury broth, there was incredibly tender pork on the bone and chunks of bacon with mild sauerkraut. The homemade bread that the meal came with was outstanding and perfect for soaking up the various sauces. We shared a litre of white wine which paired nicely with the meal. Again, the entire meal plus two cappuccinos, a side of grilled veggies, and a tiramisu for take-away was $48.
The third outstanding restaurant we encountered in Istria was not technically an agroturizam establishment. It was the best meal, by far, we had in Premantura, the town we stayed in while in Istria. The restaurant, Konoba Casa Mia, is in the center of town and reservations are necessary as they book up several days in advance. The restaurant has limited all seating to outdoors only and all of their staff wore masks the entire time. The patio was very cute with romantic lighting and greenery.
We ordered the steak which came with potatoes and grilled vegetables and the cheese ravioli in a tomato sauce with Adriatic shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and rocket. The steak was grilled perfectly and the veggies and potatoes were outstanding. The ravioli was incredible but the real standout was the shrimp — it was tender, flavorful, and just perfect. I had a cocktail, the Hugo, which was very refreshing and light (prosecco, elderflower, mint, lime, and soda water). And for dessert, we had this decadent layered treat of cookie crumbles, bananas, caramel, and whipped cream. The meal was really terrific and definitely a step above all of the other places we tried in the Premantura area. It was a bit spendier — $60 — but still very reasonable for the quality of food and overall experience.
Overall, we found that there is some superb food to be had in Istria, it just requires a bit of legwork and planning to find it. But it is 100% worth it!
