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2012-01-18
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It was my first time dining in a Croatian restaurant and I had no idea what to expect. Our first dish was Marco Pollo Pasta, essentially penne pasta with mushrooms, smoked chicken and a dash of cream. I personally don’t fancy penne but this was done pretty well – al dente and very tasty. The flavour of mushrooms was distinct, and the very creamy base made this pasta so good that I did not even notice the chicken’s presence. Sarma is a traditional Croatian dish that consists of sour cabbage rolls
Sarma is a traditional Croatian dish that consists of sour cabbage rolls filled with minced beef and rice cooked in a light tomato gravy. On the side was a bed of mashed potatoes with a lightly charred top that gave it an aesthetically pleasing outlook without affecting its taste. The combination of sour and savoury gravy with minced beef was perfect with the smooth and velvety mashed potatoes. It’s comfort food indeed.
When the dish of Kobase or home-made chicken sausages was served, I was nothing short of amazed! Look at the brilliant hues of colour across the spiral sausage. It was almost too pretty to be eaten. Each piece was savoury and tender, served with sautéed potatoes and roasted capsicum on the side. Growing up in Malaysia, the sausages we have will never be enough as a complete meal, but this, this will fill us to the brim and more.
If there’s one thing Dubrovnik is proud of, it’s their signature dish of Lamb Peka. In fact, it is so good that they made a video out of it! A traditional way of cooking hailing from Croatia, Peka means cooking of meat with an open fire. In this case, the lamb was prepared and marinated with plenty of herbs (think rosemary, thyme, paprika, etc) before being baked up to 3 hours in their wood fire oven covered with an iron bell, until the lamb becomes juicy and tender.
This dish requires such patience and time to cook that we had rather high expectations especially after watching the video. Fortunately, our expectations were met and even exceeded when we took a bite of the extremely tender and juicy lamb. The burst of flavours from all the herbs, the ease with which it melted in our mouth, made the wait so worth it. It’s hard to describe how good it is so you’ve got to try it to know it!Finally for dessert, we had the Royal Chocolate Cake which consisted of bitter chocolate top sitting on a crunchy hazelnut praline base, topped with a cherry. The chocolate top was dense and firm, almost like a hardened version of chocolate mousse but so much more chocolatey. Towards the bottom, the praline case and the hazelnut gave it a nutty crunch, one that I could not get enough of. Best of all, this was not overly sweet – just perfect.
The Crepe Suzette was served with 2 crepes cooked in a citrus orange sauce, flambéed with Cognac and topped with plenty of orange zest. The tangy and sweet flavours from the orange sauce made this quite an interesting dessert to complete our satisfying dinner.
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