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Dine at Konoba Opat

Kornati Islands

You’re sailing on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The water is blue. You are admiring the amazing view, it’s a day to remember. However something is missing, what is it?

What’s missing is, Konoba Opat. If you’ll be sailing near the Kornati Islands, you simply must make a stop at Konoba Opat. It will be an experience that will make your sailing adventure complete. I promise. I chartered a boat for the week, and we stopped in to enjoy a meal and a few drinks.

As you near the shore, you’ll see that Konoba Opat which is owned by the Božikov family, have made a very welcoming place for you to berth. There is enough space to berth more than 20 boats & electricity and water connections are available. We docked, and bounded into the Konoba Opat not expecting anything more than the usual Dalmatian Konoba experience. However, what we got was something so great it’s made my top 5 places to eat.

As I took my seat my eyes were drawn out to the bay. It was difficult to look anywhere else.

The view from your seat is of the Adriatic and her surrounding islands. It’s clear that the Božikov family designed your experience with that breathtaking view in mind.

Once you have sat down, you don’t need to do anything else. Not even read a menu. Your waiter greets you as any good waiter should, and then will walk you through what is on offer that day. There isn’t any frozen squid to be found in this kitchen, they’ll only serve you fresh fish caught by local fishermen. This is the standout for me, any restaurant that is prepared to change the menu daily and rely on the daily catch rates very highly in my book. Plus it adds weight to an already wonderful experience. Wouldn’t you agree?

The food

I wanted to order everything. And I almost did. I dined there with 3 other friends of mine and we were hungry and excited to taste what the waiter made sound so delicious.

Our Waiter suggested the following;

6 Entrées / Appetizers, plus a main meal

Fresh grilled Lobster

The Fish Pate,

Anchovy fillet

Tuna Carpaccio

John Dory Carpaccio with truffle

Marinated Tuna with local herbs and capers

Grilled Scorpion fish with grilled vegetables

Order over, we enjoyed a few glasses of local home made wine. Here in Croatia home made wine is known as Domaci Vino – and I always recommend you try it, it’s always great value for money.

As we looked over at the open style kitchen. For me, there is something wonderful about watching a chef and his team work their magic with my food. That and it seems like the food arrives so much faster.

The food all sounded so great when we ordered and were weren’t disappointed when it arrived at the table. It was simply presented and had me salivating as it arrived on the table. When we tasted the food, it was magnificent.

There were 5 blokes sitting around a table ooh-ing and ahh-ing like we’d never done before. The two standouts for me were the John Dory Carpaccio with truffle and the grilled Scorpion fish. The John Dory was super fresh and the hint of tartufo complimented the fish so well. The Scorpion fish was grilled to perfection.

Our meal was served with the bread that is freshly baked on site each day. Given our vast food selections that filled our bellies, it was a shame that we couldn’t dig into more of that perfectly baked bread

What to drink?

If you love your wine, you’re at the right place as there is a diverse wine list at Opat, which you won’t see too often in Croatia. We decided to go with the house white which turned out to be a good table wine. Following this we rounded off the perfect meal with a few rakijas (Croatian Grappa).

On the day we were dining it was not at capacity, which was great. Opat has seats for around 100 guests, which means you have loads of room, but not so much that you lose that intimate feeling you get at a family run restaurant.

After you’ve eaten, you may not be ready to leave, or maybe you arrived but are not hungry? That’s okay, because you can head into a separate bar area, where you can sit back and relax with a cocktail or three. Opat, also has a small store onsite, which is handy for picking up last minute bits and bobs for your onward journey.

Konoba Opat ticks all of the boxes. Really, I mean all of them. Food, wine, service and the view! It’s got to be one of the best places I have eaten.

Ever. I am a great believer that if you have a quality product you should cook it simply. You cannot get seafood any fresher than Opat. In fact while we were there 2 local fisherman were unloading there catch for the restaurant. My only regret about visiting Konoba Opat, is not bringing my wife along, she would simply love it. I guess that makes it a great reason to go back, sooner rather than later.

Where is Konoba Opat?







Konoba Opat

T. +385 914732550

www.opat-kornati.com

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