Photos: Maistra d.d.

Rovinj’s gastro offer has become a compelling motive for gourmets to visit the destination, all the more so because Rovinj has been chosen by the Michelin team not only to be the first town in Croatia to hold a Michelin star, but also to be the only one with two Michelin-starred restaurants. Last year, additionally, some new exciting places were placed on the gourmet map of Rovinj, enriching it and bringing to it new experiences and flavours.

This is a list of our top five restaurants in Rovinj that you should not miss this winter.

Cap Aureo

Its location on the top floor of the Grand Park Hotel is also the reason why this restaurant is well worth a visit: its large glass walls offer stunning views of the picturesque old town and the sea. What makes this restaurant stand out from any other is that it offers dishes with vegetables as their chief ingredients, and that is why it presents itself as a vegetable loving space. Here, for example, you can try caramelised cauliflower simmered with goat cheese, with yeast and autumn truffles, or an artichoke tart with goat feta cheese, red mullet and red mullet powder. The menu consists of 20 courses, based on seasonal and local ingredients as well as the love for this region, which is why some dishes, because of the specific microclimate, are adapted and changed almost every third week.

Agli Amici

Last year, the Scarello family, which has been running the Agli Amici restaurant in Godia, Udine, for generations, opened a restaurant in Rovinj, located on the Lungomare Plaza promenade between the Grand Park and the marina. This restaurant, which has already received its first Michelin star, can be described as a unique, sophisticated and elegant place, with a scenic terrace that offers a direct view of the sea. Here the kitchen speaks the language of the regions of Istria and Friuli-Venezia-Julia, suffusing the three tasting menus created by chef Emanuele Scarello – Godia, Istria and Rovinj – the three directions that convey the same gourmet guiding principle of the Agli Amici restaurant: sustainability, passion and exploration.

Kantinon

This is one of the places in Rovinj that is popular with all gourmets and lovers of tradition – both Croatians and tourists – who are in search of local dishes and local atmosphere. The konoba (tavern) attracts its guests with its quality and a menu whose originality is in traditional dishes that cannot be ordered anywhere else in the city. The seating area on the outdoor terrace overlooks Rovinj’s most prominent landmark, the Church of St. Euphemia, and the fishing port full of fishing boats.