Where to eat

Enjoying almost forgotten flavors

Enjoy a rich Gorski Kotar feast, local specialities prepared from ingredients sourced from the highlands, venison and other local delicacies. A richness of flavour, indigenous cuisine and local beverages offer a chance of taking a moment to bring back long-lost flavours.

Restaurants, bistros and pubs

The menus in restaurants of Gorski Kotar will present and recommend you dishes prepared using ingredients specific to the area. Delicacies such as blueberry strudel, venison stew, porcini mushrooms, frogs’ legs, boar under the baking bell and trout are just a small part of our culinary offer.

Pizzerias and similar establishments

Gorski Kotar has a rich and diverse offer of pizzerias and fast-food restaurants. Here, you can try delicious venison burgers, hunting-inspired pizzas, Gorski Kotar-style baked potatoes, and more.

Gastronomy adventure in Gorski Kotar

Surprise your palate with delicacies born out of preserved rich culinary heritage, ingredients indigenous to Gorski Kotar, skills of local restaurateurs and diligence of local family-owned farms. Taste the divine fruits of the mountains and delight your gourmet palate.

Mushrooms

A variety of mushrooms can be found in Gorski Kotar almost all year round, except in winter. Some of the most sought after are morels, porcini mushrooms, milk caps, parasol mushrooms, and chanterelles. They can be prepared in different ways: as a main course or as a side dish to accompany meat or pasta. Since mushrooms can be deep frozen, pickled or dried, they are available in local restaurants and houses all year round.

Meat and fish

Gorski Kotar cuisine is based on meat. The vast wooded areas are home to a variety of animals, whose meat is used to prepare excellent specialities. A typical starter is dry-cured bear, boar or deer meat served with homemade bread and typical kripavac cheese. The main course usually includes game goulash with polenta or bread or potato dumplings. Game can also be prepared in other ways, for example boar under a peka baking lid. Fruits of the forest, such as cranberries or dry prunes, are indispensable as a side dish or flavouring. Another typical speciality is dormouse, roasted or in goulash. These animals are much sought after for their meat and fat, which has medicinal properties.

Gorski Kotar's crystal clear streams, rivers and lakes are home to a variety of fish species that are also offered on local menus. Trout is particularly popular. Fish is usually fried or grilled, but can be also used to prepare a thick fish soup. Frogs' legs in breadcrumbs are another culinary treat typical of this region. They can also be stewed and served with snails and mushrooms. Gorski Kotar cuisine is unthinkable without potatoes and sauerkraut. Once a main course but today a side dish, sauerkraut is served with different meat dishes, especially homemade garlic or blood sausage. A typical Easter speciality in Gorski Kotar is stuffed boiled pig's stomach.

Gastro Gorski kotar

A good drink and a delicious dessert

Every meal should be accompanied by a good glass of wine or some other drink. People in Gorski Kotar today still brew homemade plum, apple, pear and juniper brandy according to old recipes. Liqueurs and syrups made of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are also very popular. Finally, leavened dough stuffed with walnuts or apples, or strudel filled with berries, apples or cheese are typical desserts that are absolutely not to be missed.

Gorski kotar stuffing

Cut the bread and meat into cubes. Fry the meat briefly in fat so that it releases its aroma. Remove from the heat, let it cool, and add the sliced onions and seasoning. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the eggs and meat to the bread, stir and leave for one hour. Soak the sausage skin in water and fill 3/4 of it with the stuffing (while boiling, the skin shrinks and the stuffing increases in volume). The mixture is enough for 2 sausage skins of 75 mm. Finally, sew up the skin with a thread. Put it to boil in lukewarm water and gradually increase the temperature so that the skin does not immediately shrink. Boil for one and a half hours and occasionally pierce the skin with a needle to prevent it from bursting.

GAME GOULASH

1 kg game
1 kg onions
1 tbs. red pepper
1 tbs. canned tomatoes
100 g dry prunes
tomato purée
red wine, salt, pepper, rosemary, laurel, chives, basil

Chop the onions and cook in a little oil. Add the diced meat and simmer by occasionally covering it with water or stock. When it is half cooked, add the remaining ingredients and leave to boil until the meat is soft. Serve with bread or potato dumplings or polenta.

BLUEBERRY STRUDEL

Prepare the dough with flour, butter, salt and lukewarm water (as required) and let it rest. Roll the dough thinly and spread it out. In the meantime, boil the vanilla beans, leave them to cool down and sprinkle the dough with the water. Then sprinkle the dough with the sugar, blueberries and cinnamon. Roll them in and put the dough into a greased baking tin to bake at 190 °C for about 45 minutes. Powder with icing sugar and serve while warm.