Venice, Croatia

Our summer trip is finalized. We need restaurant recommendations in Venice and anything in Croatia. Thanks!

Your timing is spot-on. The New York Times ran an article yesterday proclaiming Istria, in Northern Croatia, the next big destination for foodies.

Check out the story (Istria: For Foodies, the Next Tuscany). Online access to the Times is free, but you have to sign up...

For Venezia: Slow Travel has this restaurant list, several of which I've tried and liked. I don't see anything on it with which I disagree. I most like the Dorsoduro (NYT, might require registration) area of town and enjoyed Ristorante Riviera (on Fondamenta delle Zattere near the San Basilio vaporetto). If you're a gelato lover, try the Gelateria Nico, nearby, and have a cup of gianduiotto.

Hi,

If you can arrange, sleep in Croatia and play in Venice. You will save quite a bit of money that way.

Most of my time in Croatia was spent in Zagreb. If it was me I need to please, then I went to a restaurant named Dubrovnik featuring fresh fish. You would walk in to find a display of fish available that day. You could select it, they would weigh it and cook it over a wood grill. This with boiled potatoes, sauteed spinach and green salad was quite a meal.

Another signature dish is Scampi Buzara, which I simply adore.



There are many fish restaurants of this type in Croatia, you don't necessarily have to beeline there.

Somewhere in the Zagreb region is a trout farm where you can eat fresh fish minutes after the kill. You will need to google or consult with your hotel once you are there.

My Dad's favorite food is lamb cooked on a spit, which you buy by the kilo. Our preference was for a healthy amount of skin, which had a salty crust. These types of lamb restaurants could be found in many places.

Street foods like cevapcici, which we have several threads on LTHforum chatting about Chicago offerings, are everywhere.

The first time I visited Venice was at the height of the European vacation season in August. I didn't especially like it. Years later I found myself in Venice for business just before Christmas. Loved it! I am not a coffee drinker who happened to be with people who couldn't go 100 paces without a coffee. Consequently I spent some time in coffee bars. To keep them company, I would have the local hot chocolate which was thick like pudding and very rich with chocolate.

Enjoy your visit, takes lots of pictures and report back on your food finds.

Regards,

Spent a couple of days/nights in Venice last summer. It was really hot and crowded during the day, but we enjoyed the nights there. We used a Rick Steves restaurant recommendation (which I can't recall the name of, but it was near the Ca d'Oro), and it turned out to be quite good. There's also a restaurant near the fishmarket which we had drinks at, but looked pretty good for food, too.

We stayed by the train station (at Hotel Abbazia, which was a great little place). The best thing we did was eat dinner by the touristy stuff one night (not recommended) and consumed one bottle of wine, then walked toward the train station (Ferrovia) following the signs posted up on the buildings, and stopped for more wine (and lemoncello!) along the way. It was a fantastic way to see the nooks and crannies of the city.

We stayed in a really nice hotel in Mestra, on the mainland, and then took the bus back and forth to the island. It worked out quite well.

Geo

I have to say that I didn't find the Croatian food that great. One thing to avoid if you are in the old city portion of Dubrovnik -- do not go to the restaurants that sit along the stairwells as you walk to the ground level of the old city. They are apparently notorious tourist traps that serve middling fare to the unknowing.

Hi folks,

Planning a trip and wanted to resurrect this thread.

Does anyone have any specific Venice or Lake Como restaurant suggestions?


thanks!

From the NY Times article dated 6/25/06:

Brand new to the area is L'Altra Riva (Via Regina Vecchia, 26, Carate Urio; 39-031-400-260), a modern Italian restaurant with a lakefront patio furnished with billowy white sheets, candlelit tables and plush white couches. It feels like a glossy magazine spread, but after a meal of baby artichokes with grana salad (7.50 euros) and the spaghetti nero di sepia (10 euros), you won't mind it in the least.

I ate there, it was good...its also quite beautiful b/c you're on the lake. Go when the sun sets, we did and loved the ambience.

Also -- got recommendations for a place frequented by Como locals (theater-types to be exact)...can't recall the name, but its just of the square from the church. Good solid fare.

As to gelato ... best we had was a small place on lario trieste...its just to the west of the albergo terminus (again in como proper), where we stayed. All of this is lakefront, btw.

Nice, thanks for the suggestion. Per the NY Times article, that one was on my list. Definitely will check it out now.

Hey, Ralph...

My last few trips to Venice were with a group and a significant budget, so I'm probably not the guy to ask about cheap Venetian eats (though there are plenty who would insist there's no such thing), but I did all of the restaurant planning for the upscale joints and here are some faves. This is all going back 2-5 years, so hopefully it isn't too out of date.

My personal favorite sweet spot in terms of cost vs. deliciousness was Fiaschetteria Toscana. Warm, cozy, good mix of tourists and locals, great meals and friendly staff. They do sort of a cleaner, dressed-up version of sarde in saor that uses sole instead of sardines, and I remember getting an incredible linguine al cartoccio one trip. Despite the name, it's mostly Venetian specialties that have been cleaned up and refined just a touch.

For something a little more cutting edge, Da Fiore is dynamite. Pricier, fancier, dark and dramatic, explosive food. Rooted in Venetian, but a little more freeform. This place has gotten a lot of press, and deservedly so. If you want to get a sense of the food, they've released a cookbook of the same name. They do a black risotto with lemon zest that just about made me weep.

If you really want to abuse your wallet, you can always hit Harry's Bar. It's kind of corny and commoditized, with the logo on your bellini glass, but the food really is fantastic. Dinner will make you weep. The bill will make you wail. Their fegato alla Veneziana is potentially my favorite liver dish anywhere. They slice it thin and cook it fast and hot to get just a little crisp on the edges... woo.

Considerably less abusive, though not exactly cheap is all'Angelo. We actually ended up falling into this place three times on our last trip, enjoying it a little more with every visit. Very friendly folks, considerably more casual than the others listed so far, fantastic food. Had another killer linguine al cartoccio here.

One anti-recommendation is Al Covo. This place gets tons and tons of press, and I'm absolutely mystefied as to why. Probably because it's a husband and wife team... the husband, Venetian, runs the kitchen while the wife, Texan, runs the house. People rave about the food, and I thought it was competent but unexciting. I think it's only exceptional in comparison to the marker board tourist traps that surround St. Marco, and the crowd did seem to be mostly comprised of Americans who didn't want to be challenged too much, so that may have something to do with it.

Hopefully that helps on the upper end of the spectrum, anyway.

I'm reviving this thread as I get closer to my end-of-September week in Venice. Thanks so much to all who've posted what sound like outstanding recommendations. Anyone have newer suggestions? I'm also contemplating a day trip to Bologna, so any recommendations there would be much appreciated too.

Kennyz wrote:I'm reviving this thread as I get closer to my end-of-September week in Venice. Thanks so much to all who've posted what sound like outstanding recommendations. Anyone have newer suggestions? I'm also contemplating a day trip to Bologna, so any recommendations there would be much appreciated too.

Kenny-

Will you please post back after you go? Venice (& Croatia) is on my to-go list. (Especially Croatia.) I've been to Venice several years ago, although I do not remember having any particular good food experiences. But I was in school then, the budget was really tight, and I wasn't an LTHer, so I wasn't particularly good at sorting the good food from the bad.

Have you been there before? If so, is there any particular reason why you'd return to Venice? (BTW- a side trip to Bologna sounds like there's a lot of food opportunities there.)

Years ago—obviously, waaay before I was an LTHer— Frommer (no food critic, but frequently reliable) told me to go to this particular place in Venice for the best liver and onions in town. I went, tried. But I'd done a Wrong Thing: two nights earlier I'd had fegato alla veneziana at the Münchener Ratskeller and it was fabuluously better than what I had in Venice. So be careful what you believe.

Geo

aschie30 wrote:
Kenny-

Will you please post back after you go? ...

Have you been there before? If so, is there any particular reason why you'd return to Venice? ...

aschie30,
I'll definitely post when I return. I've never been to Venice - we chose it mostly for its romance, proximity to the land where Prosecco is produced (a definite day trip), and the relatively reasonable flight price we found. My bride-to-be is a pescatarian, so being in such a seafood-focused part of Italy should serve us well too. I also hate cars, driving, etc. - preferring to explore on foot, especially while on vacation - so it will be nice to be in a completely carless city.

Talking about not using cars: you can virtually tour the city from the comfort of vaporetto #2, the water bus that circumnavigates the city. Lovely way to get around. Check it out here.

Geo

We were in Venice last fall and had a great dinner at Osteria Santa Marina. Their seafood was supposed to be particularly good. We were with another couple and just asked them to arrange a multicourse meal of whatever they chose. It was great!