Must Visit Dubrovnik Restaurants and Bars
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Restaurants
Konoba Rasica, Lapad– Dinner off the beaten track
Panorama Restaurant – High above Dubrovnik
Mamma Mia – Pizza in Lapad
Bars
Konoba Rasica, Lapad Bay Ivanska ul. 1, 20000
This hidden spot is situated at the top of the hill on Ivanjska 1, Dubrovnik 20000, Croatia – if you are heading down to Lapad Bay, it’s on the left side of the street, set back off of the road. It’s across from Nemo restaurant which is directly on the road on the right side. We happened by this place and were pleasantly surprised.
I love trying to find local places, especially in a touristy area. From the outside it didn’t look like much – all you can see from the road is a patio covered in beer branded umbrellas. But once you approach you see the full restaurant and it’s pretty impressive.
The interior is very well decorated, with light wood floors, dark wood tables, complete with delicate white linens hanging over the open windows. The space is open and airy.
The food was surprisingly good! We weren’t expecting too much as there were no reviews online, no website and had only about 1/2 of what was listed on the menu.
I ordered a Caesar salad to start, which was meal-sized, served with tender grilled chicken and lightly dressed – it was really, really good.
We also ordered grilled chicken as a main and grilled pork… everything was seasoned well and grilled to perfection. I can’t say much about presentation though. This is a simple restaurant. No fanfare, or inspired platting here. Just good, basic food. We had plenty left over to take home with us for lunch the next day.
If you are in Lapad, consider straying from the promenade and have a meal here, you won’t regret it.
Visit their Facebook page HERE
Panorama: High Above Dubrovnik
Great meal at the top of the world. Well at the top of Dubrovnik at least. We took the cable car up to the summit to get a view of the whole walled city and its surroundings. We wanted to eat at Panorama, the restaurant overlooking the city, but we couldn’t get a reservation. The kind woman on the phone said to stop by, as there were often cancellations.
Well, we did just that. We arrived at the cable car at 5:30 pm, hoping to get on a car by 6:30. We had stopped by the day prior, and the wait was around an hour to an hour and a half. We abandoned our plan and decided to try again the next evening. Shockingly there was no line and we arrived at the top by 5:45. Things worked out very well, being that we were so early they had a table for us. There is an outside and inside seating area. Since we didn’t have a reservation the only option was to sit inside. It was a bit cold with the air conditioning but the views were amazing.
Our friend Karen was visiting so we did a few touristy things with her… this being one of them. It was actually a great experience and a great meal. We ordered the giant prawns, a steak, and a whole fish… all very good.
We enjoyed the amazing view while we dined, then we wandered around the mountain and fortress, and descended after the sunset, above twinkling city lights.
I highly recommend a trip to the top, and if you can swing it a beautiful dinner at Panorama.
To see their website click HERE
Mamma Mia: Pizza In Lapad Bay
What can I say? Sometimes you just want a pizza, and luckily for us all… every country seems to have an abundance of pizza places. In the past, I haven’t been that big of a pizza person, but travel has changed me, and now I am coming around to its charms. This will not be an epic post about pizza or its charms, just wanted to share a good place to grab a pie if you are seeking simple pleasures.
Of course, we did a search for the best pizza in Lapad, and Mamma Mia came up in that search.
We stopped in w/o a reservation and they seated us right away.
There are two sizes of pizza, large and jumbo. We had to see what the jumbo was about so we ordered one cheese pizza to which we added black olives and hot peppers.
The pizza did not disappoint. First of all, it was JUMBO – a huge huge pie arrived, piping hot to our table.
Good sauce, good quality cheese and toppings – and good dough – not too thin, not too thick.
Mamma Mia gets a thumbs up. If you are in Lapad, stop by, it’s at the far end of the promenade by the traffic circle.
If you want to check out their website click HERE
Hit The Bars
Skar Tasting Room In Gruz
What a great find! On one of my daily walks to the fish market, I passed by Skar tasting room with my friend Karen who was visiting. I was running late so I couldn’t stop in – but I made it a point to write it down to return another day.
I am so glad I did. Both Dave and I fell for this place. The owners live above the tasting room. The building was handed down to them by their grandfather who used to build ships in the building, directly across from the waterfront. The owners told us a bit of history about the building and the new business. I love the history of spaces, I love when their stories are handed down, and I love getting to be part of the history that is currently happening and will be retold later. The owners had enlarged and laminated several old photos of the space and the neighborhood from generations past and had them on display to share with their customers. We flipped through the photos and spent time tasting their amazing wines. They only had one red and one white (they do produce a rose but since the season was so busy they had run out). Both wines were great, but being red wine people we settled there. They also offer local cheese and meat plates, but we were on our way to dinner, so we didn’t sample any.
The space is small, only one room which is cozy and well appointed, with multiple places to enjoy yourself. It has a very homey and welcoming spirit to it. We also got to check out the wine storage room in the back. Photos below.
After a fun evening of chatting with the owner, his wife, and his cousin – and meeting some super nice people from England we headed out with a case of red wine, and a bottle of homemade sage spirits.
I couldn’t recommend stopping by Skar more highly. It is situated in Gruz on the only road that takes you around the bay.
To visit their website click HERE
D’vino- Our Favorite Spot in Dubrovnik Old City
We found this place early on, and kept coming back week after week. Amazing staff (shout out to Nada), super fun owner (Sasha), great atmosphere – dimly lit room with a few bar seats and comfortable indoor and outdoor table seating, and great wines. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah… they play great music. All of these things combine to make this place just about perfect.
If you are walking into the city from the Pile Gate, walk down the main street for 2 blocks and you’ll see this view on your left – Glam Craft Beer Bar, and D’vino Wine Bar on the same block – a little something for everyone.
We spent many a night drinking wine and eating beautifully crafted cheese plates. We came to learn that the owner had set up the D’vino Games- in conjunction with the summer Olympics.
These games were not feats of athleticism, or ability – oh no. They were more like the games from your childhood, all in good fun with the proceeds going to charity.
We happened in on the night of the great UNO match. I hadn’t played since I was a kid and a few other people had never played, so we tried out a practice round to make sure we were all on the same page with the rules.
Then the real game commenced. Around and around we went, everyone, trying to be the first with no cards in their hand…. and I WON>
I know it was a small victory – but I walked away with a gold medal around my neck, some fun awards ceremony photos and tons of wonderful memories.
I hope to one day return and spend more time with my new friends at D’vino – pictured above with me are Sasha (silver medalist) and Nada ( Bronze).
To visit their website click HERE
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