Zagreb Cuisine

When I wasn’t on a bunch of solo trips throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe, Zagreb, Croatia was our home base for a few months. I’ll be covering my overall impressions of the Croatian capital, sites to see, etc in another post. In this one, I’ll be focused on the dining highlights of our time in Zagreb.

Heritage

This tiny cafe was our most frequented spot in Zagreb and I cannot say enough nice things about it. Heritage focuses on high quality, local ingredients and has a curated menu of sandwiches, a salad, and some boards. The shop is very small with a couple of counter seats inside and three tables outside on the sidewalk.

They sell a lot of the ingredients they use as well and provide a lot of information about them and the areas that they come from. The owners of Heritage are often the ones preparing the food and there are one or two servers who are very friendly and helpful.

After a couple of visits, we settled on a regular order of two half sandwiches (Istrian pearl which was a meat sandwich with truffle spread and Slovenian bride another meat sandwich with a spicy red pepper spread) and their salad featuring local meat and cheese, walnuts, dried figs, lettuce, and tomatoes.

The prices are incredibly reasonable and they also offer delicious local wines and kombucha. The only drawback is the size of the space — in the summer, the tables fill up fast and I’d recommend going at an off time to ensure you get a seat.

Boban

This Michelin recommended restaurant is more of a special occasion spot but the prices are low enough that the occasion doesn’t need to be that special. The cuisine at Boban is Italian and features a seasonal menu. When we were there, for instance, they offered three different dishes with burrata.

All of the dishes we got were fantastic — the standouts were the burrata with pesto and tomato puree and the freshly made fettuccine with seared tuna. We, unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to try any dessert as we were too full. The service was attentive, friendly, and helpful. Reservations are highly recommended.

Noel

Noel is the highest-rated Michelin restaurant in Zagreb and one of the most expensive meals we have ever had. It was also one of the longest dining experiences of our lives which was probably necessary given the sheer quantity of courses and food we were fed.

Noel offers two different tasting menus — one that’s vegetarian and one that is not. This is the only choice one needs to make when dining, aside from drinks. The rest is left up to the impeccably choreographed kitchen and waitstaff.

We opted for the non-vegetarian option and were blown away by almost every dish. The four “main” courses were our favorite and we could not pick our top one. These dishes were: duck with raspberries and beet salad; trout with cabbage and horseradish; boar ravioli with roast boar and plum; lamb with quince and chestnuts. Each dish was beautifully presented and the waitstaff added a delicious jus to each dish upon presenting it to us.

Every single course is served on unique dishes that accentuate the colours, textures, and qualities of the food.

This four-hour meal is definitely a special occasion outing and I have my sister to thank for helping us afford this luxurious event. If you have something to celebrate in Zagreb, Noel is your place.

La Štruk

This is probably one of the more unique places we went in Zagreb. La Štruck specializes in one traditional Croatian dish, Štrukli, and that dish makes up the entire menu. Štrukli is a pulled pasta dish that is typically baked and can have a variety of fillings. It can be either savory or sweet and this restaurant has a variety of both on their menu.

We got the truffle and the walnut and honey. Both were delicious and quite filling. There’s outdoor dining both on the pedestrian street outside the restaurant and in the back garden. La Štruk is worth a stop while in Zagreb but more than one visit is not necessary, in my opinion.

Namaste Bistro

We sampled a fair amount of Indian food in Zagreb. Namaste Bistro was one of our favourites due to its outdoor dining location on one of the main squares and the offerings on their menu. It’s definitely a fancy version of Indian cuisine and the price reflects that. The masala dosa was fantastic. The chicken biryani was also delicious though it could’ve been spicier as it was listed as spicy on the menu. This is something that we encountered a lot in Zagreb, though — spicy food was pretty uncommon.

The paneer kati roll was good but not something I would order again and made me yearn for the version at Bollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon. The service was great and it was clear the staff cared about the restaurant and the customers.

For a more casual Indian restaurant, but that still has tasty food, I’d definitely recommend Bombay Grill.

Tips for Dining in Zagreb:

• There are a lot of food delivery services in Zagreb which, as it gets colder and outdoor dining is less appealing, is good to keep in mind. We used Wolt most often. Glovo and Bolt Food are other options. A lot of the deliveries happen via bike though some are on motorcycle or by car. Delivery fees are very low compared to the US.
• Most places do not require reservations unless they are pretty upscale.
• Breakfast is not a popular meal in Zagreb and it’s pretty difficult finding anything more than a coffee and pastry before noon. One exception to this was the “Zagreb Breakfast” at Otto & Frank which is a must try and is available all day.
• Similar to other European cities, credit cards are accepted most places but you can’t tip on your card. Make sure to carry some small bills to leave a tip. 10% is a good amount assuming the service was at least decent.
• A lot of places are closed on Sundays so plan a bit in advance if you are going to be eating out on a Sunday.
• There are a lot of really great grocery stores in Zagreb and they are everywhere. It can be a lot of fun to shop and cook in this Balkan city. Our favorites were the mostly-organic Bio & Bio, the speciality mini-market Špeceraj, and Garden. There are also amazing produce markets throughout the city, most famously the Dolac Market, which is a must-do experience as well.