クロアチアのレストラン Restaurants in Croatia

クロアチアは、大きく肉料理中心の地域と地中海料理の地域とに分かれています。オーストリアやハンガリーに近いスラヴォニア地方やザグレブなどクロアチア中心部は肉料理、海岸沿いのイストリア地方やダルマチア地方は魚料理とかイタリア料理が中心です。クロアチアはイタリアに近いこともあって、ここザグレブでもおいしいピッツァとかパスタ料理のお店がたくさんあります。しかも安い!

　普通に地元の人が行くピッツァリアとかレストランになりますが、ザグレブでは、日本で言うLサイズのピッツァ1枚がこちらではミドルサイズでだいたい35Kn (2012年2月時点で1Kn＝約13.5円）くらいと日本に比べたらだいぶ安いです。飲み物も、コーラ250mlで約12Kn。ラザニアが約35Kn。トリュフソースのパスタが約80Kn。　日本で食べると高価なトリュフも、さすがトリュフ生産地だけあって、お安く食べることができます。でも原型をとどめないトリュフの粉（?）が黒い点々として見えるくらい・・・。普通レベルのレストランでは過度な期待はしないほうがいいかも。トリュフのパスタは大体クリームソース。たま～にオイルベースのソースをみるくらい。

  スプリットやドゥブロブニクのレストランは観光地だけあって、ザグレブよりも20%～30%くらい割高。

　下の写真はBaschieraというピッツァリアのメニュー表。ザグレブ内に3店舗構えているけれど、どこも中心からはちょっと距離があるかな。一番近いのは3号店でザグレブ中心のイェラチッチ広場から東にJurišceva通り、Martićeva通りを歩いていって突き当たるŠubićeva通りを南に数メートル行った所にあります。インテリアがモダンで、おしゃれで開放的な雰囲気のピッツァリアです。味も地元の人お勧めだけあって、おいしいです。

Menu of Baschiera

The Croatian cuisine is diverse depending on regions. For example, the cuisine in the region called Slavonija and around Zagreb, which are located closer to Hungary and Austria, have influence of Austrian and Hungarian cuisines. On the other hand, the cuisine in the coast region has influence from the Mediterranean and Italian food. So, in Croatia and here in Zagreb, you can find really nice Italian restaurants and pizzerias. And they are very cheap! Much much cheaper than in Japan, definitely.

  For example, at a standard pizzeria where local Zagreb people go, you can buy a middle size of pizza for about 35Kn, a 250ml bottle of coke is about 12Kn, and a small size of salad for about 15Kn. The middle size of pizza in Zagreb pizzeria is actually the same size as, or could be bigger than, a large size pizza in Japan. And a large size pizza in Japan costs over 30 euros!

  Many people think that everything in Japan is extremely expensive. But, it actually is not true. In Japan, you can find cheap food at Japanese-style pubs called Izakaya, on the other hand, you can also find high-end restaurants. Izakaya is a pub, but offers verious types of food in small plates, so you can try many different Japanese domestic food there. When I have dinner at an Italian cafe/izakaya with 3 to 4 female friends of mine, I spend about 25 euros on average including 2 glasses of alcohol beverage. Maybe it's not common outside Japan, or more broadly outside Asia, but we usually share plates. So, when I have dinner with my friends at the restaurants, we order a salad, a few appetizers, some small plates of chicken, a medium size of pizza (meaning, a small size of pizza here :)) and a past to share, and drinks and cakes for each.

  In Japan, usually, restaurants offers different menu between lunch and dinner. Prices for lunch is much cheaper than dinner even at a relatively expensive restaurant. Lunch at standard restaurants is in a range between 8 euros to 15 euros. You can also find a cheaper option at a chain Gyudon restaurant, such as Yoshinoya and Sukiya, where you can eat Gyudon (a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion) for less than 4 euros :) Gyudon is something like, pizza for Italian and hamburger for Americans.

  Anyway, going back to Croatian restaurants, I think prices of food at tourist destinations, such as Split, Dubrovnik and so on are higher than Zagreb by 20 to 30%.

  The menu on the photo above is from a pizzeria called Baschiera. The pizzeria was recommended by local people and they do have really good pizza! They have 3 branches in Zagreb, but I think the one on the Šubićeva street is the closest from the centre of Zagreb. How to get there? Well, walk along the Jurišceva street and the Martićeva street from the Jelačića square to the East, and when you reach the Šubićeva street, walk to the South for a few meters, and you will find the pizzeria. It also has very nice and modern interior design :)