Location, location, location is one of the draws at this traditional-style restaurant on the Strossmayerovo Setaliste steps midway between Trg Bana Jelacica and Gornji Grad. We went on our first night in Zagreb, so we had no real sense of how the old town was lid out. Well, Zagreb translates to 'behind a hill' and the old town if set on that hillside. We wandered around the neighborhood, climbing ever higher, until we saw from the map we had that we were clearly past the restaurant, and headed down hill--and then stumbled upon the restaurant, perched on the hillside above the downtown, with an incredible view (and the lack of a real access road made me wonder how they got food in and garbage out).
We were there early, not a soul in the restaurant, which has only five tables--they let us know that they had only two tables unaccounted for without a reservation, so we took one in the corner, with a bit of quiet and a bit of a view. The wait staff is incredibly attentive, and the meal atarted off with pate and bread that were delcious.
We took the guidebook's advice and for an appetizer ordered a truffle pasta, which was the best part of the meal--the pasta was homemade and cooked to perfection--the sauce was lightly flavored with truffles and rich enough that when it was gone I didn't crave more--I couldn't have managed to finish it.
The main meal was delicious as well. Joel had a rolled veal that was cooked in a method called 'pod pekom', which means that the dish has been put into a stone oven under a metal cover. The cook puts hot coals on the cover so that the meal is cooked slowly. The meat was incredibly tender, and had a very good flavor. I ordered the grilled stuffed calamari--which was a good sized squid that came out of the Adriatic Sea and was then stuffed with shrimp and spinach, grilled, and then sliced. The squid was tender, the grill flavor was delicious and the meal was a lovely experience. Highly recommended (but not inexpensive).
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