When you have a region that's geographically, climatically and culturally as diverse as Kvarner, it's inevitable that these factors will result in the development of a distinctive cuisine. Kvarner is composed of islands, coast and mountains; each region has its specialities that are yet intertwined with the others. Many Kvarner Hotels also house some fantastic little restaurants especially the small family-owned establishments!
Fish and seafood varieties dominate Kvarner's coastal cuisine. Among 60 types of crab found here, the one most popular with tourists is scampi (ask about the colonies of scampi in the bay area).
In our Kvarner Restaurant Guide below we have suggested a variety of Kvarner restaurants and eateries to try during your holiday in this beautiful region. Many restaurants in Kvarner are located within the local markets and shopping districts of Kvarner, allowing you can take in some great shopping opportunities whilst sampling the local cuisine. Take a look at our Croatia Restaurant Guide for food and cuisine information across the country.
Food & Cuisine in Kvarner
Gastronomy-related events are held through the year, often linked to the harvest season. Lovran, for instance, hosts the Marunada, a chestnut festival in autumn; there's also a Festival of Cherries in June. Lovran is also famous for its asparagus. In October, Krk Island celebrates its "Days of Olives", in which hundreds of tourists participate in cultural programmes and exhibits, and restaurants go all out to promote the local cuisine in Kvarner.
Typically, a seafood menu features items like codfish in bianco, tuna spread, seafood stew and several varieties of grilled scampi. Blessed by nature, the sea here offers abundant variety: high quality white fish (grouper, hake, bass, skate), squid, ray, flying fish and octopus. If your stay in Kvarner is sufficiently long, you have a gastronomic adventure ahead of you: choose from brodetto or codfish stew, wild sea bass and giltheads, stuffed or stewed squid and frog-fish in white wine, to name just a few!
But seafood is not all there is to Kvarner's cuisine. Do try other items like kohlrabi with potatoes, manestra or stewed vegetables, boiled lamb with tomato salsa, jota (cabbage and beans with dried and smoked meat), polenta with potatoes (palenta kumpirica), pickled lamb soup, snails, bakalar, made of dried cod, bear paw cookies and burek, a pastry stuffed with cheese, apple or meat and cheese. Meat is served with truffles, which are special mushrooms picked by trained dogs and believed to be aphrodisiacs.
Salty cheese from Grobnik is a must-try; cheese from Pag with olives is a popular starter.
Savoured along with a meal are local plum and grape brandies; if it's wine that you prefer, try the indigenous vrbnička žlahtina.
Kvarner Restaurants
Around 100 leading restaurants of Croatia have been involved in a project from 2005 onwards to popularise the cuisine of "our nonica" (our grandmothers). Some of the 22 restaurants included from Kvarner are: Amfora, Bevanda, Evergreen, Le Mandra, Plavi Podrum, Villa Ariston, Mali Raj, Kvarner, Najade and Villa Astra on the Opatija Riviera, Zlatni zalaz in Supetarska Draga on the island of Rab, Moslavina in Crikvenica, Gospoja, Kanait on the island of Krk and the restaurant in Hotel Bonavia, Rijeka. Increasingly, konoba, which are local wine cellars that function as casual eateries, and small inns prefer to popularise regional cuisine.
Desserts
Some fine desserts to round off a meal are Lovran cherry-cake, skuta or honey and cottage cheese stuffed pancakes, palacinke, another pancake stacked with chocolates, walnuts or ice-cream, or fig cake (smokvenjak).
Cooking Methods
The Mediterranean flavour of Croatia's coastal cuisine comes from the influence of Illyrian, Greek and Roman cultures. Hence, olive oil is the cooking medium of choice. On the mainland, Turkish, Viennese and Hungarian flavours dominate.
Local methods of cooking, however, give Croatian food its unique identity. Grilling and roasting methods of fish, for instance, have come down the generations unchanged. What you get to taste depends on the technique and the kind of wood selected for the purpose. If you can, try seafood prepared by the gradelavange technique of Dalmatia, using olive oil, which gives fish a rather tantalising and irresistible flavour!
An important factor in the high quality of seafood dishes found here is their freshness. Many restaurant owners have their own fishing boats, and the seafood you enjoy in their eateries is invariably less than a day old. It's no wonder that even a humble sardine tastes exceptionally good. Another local practice is to display the day's catch on ice in the centre of the restaurant, where diners can select the fish of their choice.
Our local travel agency in Croatia offers some great little accommodations throughout the Kvarner Region, ask us for a homestay in Croatia!
Below is our selection of finest Opatija and Rijeka restaurants.
