Gundulić, Gundulićeva Poljana 8

Ivan Gundulić was a 17th Century poet from Dubrovnik. His work was largely themed on Slav victories over the Turks, proper blood and thunder epics apparently. In memoriam he has his own square and his own restaurant. The Dalmatian cost is heavily influenced by Italian culture and pasta dishes are on every menu. With the exception of their beautiful black risotto, the pasta isn’t up to much except at Gundulić itself. Their pasta is freshly made spaghetti and tagatelli with local seafood options and delicately executed cream, wine or tomato based sauces. Unfortunately they only do their pasta in the evening, lunch is, as always, a fish sandwich! After that head to the beach!

Kaminice, Gundulićeva Poljana 8

Kaminice is in the Gundulićeva Plaza, all the tables are outside and it’s a favourite lunch stop for locals and one of the best places to go for mussels. Giant, and I mean giant, plates of fresh mussels cost a grand total of £2 served up to you by possibly the grumpiest old woman in Dubrovnik but it’s worth it for the mussels and the black seafood risotto alone. Definitely no frills seafood.

Marco Polo, Lučarica 6, Dubrovnik

Plum Brandy, grappa and pear liquor are Croat, and indeed Balkan, specialties. They are usually found lurking in novelty bottles to be flogged to tourists all over the shop but strangely feature less heavily in the local restaurants.

The Marco Polo Restaurant is different, preferring to ply you with as much as possible free of charge. Dalmatians like to claim that Marco Polo himself was originally from the island of Korcula but at least six other cities scattered in the med and Adriatic also claim this, so it is best not taken too seriously. The restaurant itself is an alleyway again following Dubrovnik’s civic planning pattern and its menu’s emphasis is on the traditional. All the local favourites are in attendance including the local Dalmatian ham (far superior than its Italian counterpart due to the smoking process apparently) and the cheese-in-oil concoction which I’m assured is excellent but is a bit too much for me. The service was excellent and unobtrusive from the owners, a husband and wife team.

Their deserts come recommended by the various guide books, and me, and have a strangely German theme, here’s the strudel.

The Excelsior, Frana Supila 12, 2000, Dubrovnik

The Excelsior is one of the most established hotels on the Dalmatian coastline and the most expensive. It‘s a rather imposing building of concrete blockwork and smoked glass, shades of 70s old Soviet style architecture is not to everyone’s taste but it gives the Excelsior a certain gravitas. The Excelsior is to be taken seriously it says firmly.

Strangely it’s flagship restaurant, The Zagreb, doesn’t have a very good reputation so I gave it a miss. However, The terrace Bar is worth a visit, the vast expanse of open air tables, marble and strategic planting make it an ideal place to sit and watch the sun set over the old town by the waters edge.

Alcohol is surprisingly cheap given the setting and peanuts come free.

Buža, Off Od Magnrite

Buža is a hidden outdoor bar perched high on the cliff face. The folk behind the British licensing and health and safety legislation would be utterly horrified, but stuff them, it’s a fantastic place to sit.

It’s a challenge to find it, you have to venture down a dark alleyway, though a narrow medieval door way and climb down the rocks. Once you get there it is as peaceful as you like. Beware though, the rock pools below attract the mosquitoes as dusk falls, so come prepared and bring some cream although they don’t seem to be prevalent in Croatia, these ones are vicious.

Labirint, Svetog Dominika 2, Dubrovnik

If the Pučić Palace is the old money headline grabbing restaurant in Dubrovnik, then Lairint is the nouveau riche option. If benefits from a prime location just inside the old town walls by their main entrance i.e. everyone who walks into the old town walks past Lairint, there is no avoiding it (their marketing literature, flyers and such like are full of flowery descriptions of unavoidable views, unavoidable nightclub and unavoidable signature dishes etc. I think they meant un-missable and something got lost in translation). The name is appropriate, it is best described as a medieval “complex” and is arranged, rather fussily, over three levels again, as with everything in Dubrovnik, carved out of the rock face. Dining rooms, terraces and night club all lurk in the maze. Unlike the Pučić Palace, the service is not good, they tend to practise a combination of ignoring you or forgetting about you. That said, unlike some fellow tourists, we managed to get a table. As promised the view over the sea, sun setting on the town and coast line is stunning (or should that be unavoidable), just don’t look down into the boat repair yard and next door’s bins below.

Starters of local fish pate and melba toasts come complimentary which is a nice touch. Main courses are arranged in a multiple choice fashion on the menu which is a bit like being in school: choose A) for pepper sauce or B) for red wine sauce etc. Far too officious. I opted for some langoustines in champagne and to be honest the Gradska Kavana take on this version is streets ahead and about a third cheaper.

Strangely though there appears to be three grades of waiter; those in red waistcoats, those in black t-shirts and those with stripy comedy French t-shirts and head scarves in a pirate type fashion. Now what’s all that about then?

The Pučić Palace, Od Puca, Dubrovnik

The Pučić Palace is the only 5-star Hotel within the walls of the old town and has a long held reputation with celebs and diplomats alike. I can only imagine what the rooms look like at hundreds of pounds per night! It boasts a street level, silver service restaurant with a seafood based menu strangely named “Atlantic”. It also houses the Rožonda wine bar much hyped in the guide books as the place to be seen, but in reality it is actually rather small and disappointing. Wine by the glass comes beer-fashion from a tap which is unnerving. Still, it made a great venue to watch the dramatic Australia vs Croatia match because the Stradun is only yards away and on that night it was jam packed with thousands of Ozzies and Croats glued to a giant screen.

The real star in their portfolio is the terrace restaurant Define with its Turkish influenced menu and impeccable service.

The waiter was brave enough to correct my choice of wine to suit our chosen menu (he was right as it happened, woe betide him if he wasn’t) of cold mezze starters and marinated monk fish skewers. Options are limited but simply executed and their portion sizing was excellent.

It’s an ideal place to sit as dusk falls enjoying the full 3 courses and coffee. Unsurprisingly it isn’t cheap but not prohibitively expensive either at £90 for two with wine.

Gradska Kavana, Pred Dvorom, Dubrovnik

People watching is a bit of a Croat national sport. Pavement cafes abound, Café Orlando is a good place to park up on the Stradun as is Bar Hemingway. At nights the action centres round Buniceva Poljana and the Troubadur Hard Jazz Café and the numerous surrounding bars and cafes.

However, Gradska Skavana, or strangely enough, the Arsenal Tavern as it’s otherwise known, is the ultimate Űber-bar and people watching spot. If it was located in Central London on the banks of the Thames there would be no change out of twenty notes for a couple of drinks and the place would be overrun with WAGS. However, thankfully, it isn’t, it is actually located right on Dubrovnik’s harbour with a huge restaurant terrace. Seafood is the obvious menu choice. If you sit there for long enough you’ll see you dinner arrive from a boat. The langoustines are served simply steamed on a bed of salad drizzled with oil. Surprisingly, a good steak can also be had.

Inside lurks a huge cavernous bar and restuarant with a nautical theme (ever-so-slightly-cheesy), fish tanks, stage and table service so you never have to move should you be of lazy disposition. Every other night there is a local band that play Croatian folk and pop and the odd serviceable western cover (hang around long enough and it ends up a bit like a wedding reception).

To the rear of the building there is another stunningly decorated bar, patisserie and terrace. This is the ultimate posing and people watching point. Elevated above ground level we managed to observe two weddings and the opening ceremony of the World Model Ship Building Championships (don’t ask). The coffee is excellent served in bone chine, glass and steel efforts with a shot glass of water. Most continental.

A Nod to Dubrovniks Fast Food Industry

Fast food in Dubrovnik centres around the concept of a fish sandwich, which is not as odd as it sounds. The fishing industry on the Dalmatian coast is in good shape, buckets of fresh catch arrive by the hour, all day, everyday and specialist seafood restaurants out number the meat serving places by at least 5 to 1. So the local fast food option is the fish sandwich, any kind of fish works: langoustines, mullet, sardines, sea bass, you name it the Croats love their fish. Said fish gets steamed and plonked between two slices of bread. Any kind of sauce or salad is simply not an option; that would be polluting the sandwich. Their bread is not unlike Turkish flat bread only not quite so soft, it’s more robust and dense and heavily salted. There is a small fish sandwich place hidden off the Stradun on Siroka worth a visit.

Ice cream is unsurprisingly everywhere given the heat, tourists and the huge Italian influences. Sladoledarna Dubrovnik is the best place to go and for the princely sum of 50p you can have yourself a large cone of dairy ice-cream, served to you by Dubrovnik’s Mr Tourist himself. He’s a local but seems to have acquired a few phrases of Irish Gaelic and an in depth knowledge of Glasgow’s sectarian divides, and that was just us, Lord knows what he says to the French.

Lastly worth a visit is the Panini shop next door to Katy O’Conners which is the Croat version of Subway. Your panini is filled with exactly what you want then melted conveyor belt style (although without any blaring trance music in the background and no one offers you a free cookie).

Pleasantly though even a walk outside the gates of the old town into the areas “out-of-bounds” to tourists reveals that this little corner of the Adriatic may as yet be untainted by McDonalds.

There is always an Irish Pub

No matter where you go in the world there is always an Irish Pub. I’ve never got to the bottom of exactly why this is, if there is the faintest possibility of tourists there will be, without fail, an Irish Pub. Dubrovnik is no exception. On the Lapad side of the town there is Becketts Irish Bar, run by two Dubliners, complete with pictures of the man himself. Fair play to them for their spirit of adventure but the pub isn’t all that exciting.

In the old town itself there are a few more enterprising outfits, one in particular originally called “The Irish Pub” and another known as “Katy O’Conners”. Katy’s O’Conners became our favourite spot for evening World Cup matches. It’s run by a relaxed gang of Croats who remember their regulars, even though they’re only regulars for a fortnight. The bar man even appears to drink their on his night off.

It is hollowed out of the rock face like most of Croatia and has a huge plasma screen, hung on the rock face, a few tables and a small bar. Their local white wine is tolerably nice and they serve the ubiquitous Lasko Pivo, Croatia’s favourite pint (or litre rather). We had a few fun nights in there bonding with Irish, Swedes and Norwegians. Footballs a great leveller after all.

Taj Mahal, Nikole Gučetiča, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is a stunningly beautiful place with a battered and bloody recent history. Inordinate amounts of money have gone into rescuing Croatia’s oh-so-lucrative costal resorts and historic towns after they were ripped apart by Yugoslavia’s traumatic disintegration. The whole whys and wherefores of what happened are an argument for another day (or week or month if you have long enough). However, for anyone who is interested, try Misha Glenny’s “The Fall of Yugoslavia” Misha Glenny or the BBC’s brilliant “The death of Yugoslavia” The Death of Yugoslavia (BBC). As good as any place to start.


Anyway back to the food, I’ve chosen to start with the Taj Mahal which is a Bosnian Restaurant. I have absolutely no frame of reference, having never set foot in either Bosnia or a Bosnian restaurant. Neither did I go with any prior ideas or assumptions about what constitutes Bosnian cuisine. This place is fantastic, trouncing many of Dubrovnik’s headline grabbing restaurants by miles. It’s little more than an alleyway in the back streets of the old town, you have to battle your way past the Pizza and Pasta joints to find it. Be prepared for not understanding the menu, which is a mix of meat cooked on skewers and large puff pastry wraps (Cevapi) which are not unlike an Eastern European Cornish Pasty (trust me on this one). I opted for a house special which was delicately cooked lamb, so very tender, encased in a lattice of puff pastry and a light but strongly herb sauce. Delicious. Mr Gorb had a “Pfjeskavice” which is grilled steak stuffed with cheese. Side orders appeared from nowhere, the foil wrapped baked potato filled with sour cream cheese is apparently a necessity, even for breakfast, everyone gets one whether you like it or not. A variety of Russian style Shopka salads seem to be the thing to have. If I ever return to Dubrovnik this is the first place I will go. Please can we have a Bosnian Restaurant in London?