Dining Out In Split, Croatia, Where The Seafood Is Superb

Forbes

13-05-2025

The al fresco verandah at Dvor in Split
Every time I return to a Mediterranean country and eat seafood I am always amazed how so many of those same species swimming in American waters are so inferior in taste and texture. (By the same token, many American species, from lobsters to bluefish are superior to their Mediterranean counterparts.)
It has a great deal to do with the water, the saltiness, the temperature and what the fish eat. Pristine, glass-clear waters are not ideal because they lack plankton and other fish nourishment. And it should be noted that nearly all the branzino, both here and in Europe, is, alas, farm raised.
I was reminded of all this on a recent trip to Croatia, whose Dalmatian waters still teem with excellent seafood and whose restaurants have daily access to superb examples of dorade, skate, red mullet, corvina, amberjack and much more, along with fat shrimp and langoustines. Most restaurants that specialize in seafood proudly display the day's catch on ice just inside the entrance.
In the seaside city of Split I dined exceptionally well at a number of restaurants whose seafood was nonpareil. In my last column here I noted the fine meal I had at Konoba Nikola in nearby Strobreč, but there are many within the city well worth seeking out.
Seafood tartare at Door
Not that you'd have to search for the 11-year-old Dvor (Put Furita 4) , because every local knows of it as perhaps Split's finest and most creative restaurant. Down a few steep, rocky, tricky steps, the glassed-in dining room is adjacent to an al fresco verandah overlooking the water. Inside it is a handsome space, the tables judiciously set apart from one another, topped with good linens and a pot of flowers. The waitstaff is cordial and quite eager to tell you about the day's specials and to point you to the screed of Croatian wines on the list.
Lovely presentation of appetizers at Dover.
My guest and I left ourselves in the hands of Chef Hrvoje Zirojević, and soon, well-paced dishes came to the table. First was a carpaccio of pristine sea bass with saline olives, tangy orange and sweet sun-dried tomatoes, then 'canelon' of tuna tagliatelle with pistachios and chicory. Lightly cooked and very tender squid took on sweetness from caramelized onions and a reduction of wine, then followed cold slices of tuna with Croatian foie gras, a cream of peas crunchy pistachios and a touch of caviar.
Risottos, like this one at Dvor, are very popular dishes in Croatia.
Risottos are very popular in Croatia and Dvor's offers a few: We loved the one with smoked seafood of mussels and prawns accompanied by a surprisingly good cream cheese ice cream.
Dvor's desserts are beautifully crafted on premises.
Having shown his talent for seafood, the chef sent out velvety, succulent pork belly confit with pickled fennel and carrots in a rich demi-glace. There was a delicate millefeuille of potatoes and a dash of horseradish cream.
For dessert we shared a kind if gianduia of chocolate, hazelnuts, marzipan and coffee, as well as a spring time strawberry with vanilla elderflower, and a lovely 'brezzy' of mango, vanilla, coconut and lime.
Our bill for all this, plus wine and tax, came to 213.
Kadena is a 30-year-old classic seafood restaurant Split
A meal at close to the same level and certainly of the same quality was one I enjoyed at Kadena (Ul. Ivana pl. Zacja 4), now celebrating its 30th year in business, in a residential neighborhood Split, It is quite elegant, with a long dining room flanked by another. I wouldn't use the word 'serenade' for the bossa nova music a lone saxophonist attempted nearby, but he tat least he took frequent sufficient.
Kadena serves the Croatian favorite seafood stew called gregada.
Kadena's menu is long, again focused on the seafood you see when you enter, which that night offered scorpionfish, John Dory, dorade, mullet, bream and shellfish. Among the cold starters are raw items like a shrimp and scallop tartare with balsamic vinegar; a tuna ceviche with chilis, apple and capers; and a scampi carpaccio in lustrous olive oil.
Saffron ravioli was plumped up with sweet blue crab and leeks, while risotto was enriched with various seafood and cooked in Prosecco sparkling wine.
Delicate desserts of color and local ingredients are the mark of Kadena.
We opted for what amounts to a national dish in Dalmatia called gregada, a steaming stew thick with fish and shellfish (for two people). There are meat dishes here, too, including simple rack of lamb with vegetables and a beef Wellington I did not try.
Desserts are pan-European with items like tiramisù and a Basque cake with berries, but the paradižot is a signature Dalmatian dessert similar to baked Alaska, with fluffy poached egg white meringue, a petit biscuit and vanilla cream.
Dinner for two at Kadena with wine and tax should run about €200.