Da Rocco tavern
Da Rocco is a traditional Istrian tavern (in Croatian: konoba) located in the village of Krnica, situated on the east coast of Istria, approximately a 20-minute drive away from Pula or Labin.
Da Rocco is a traditional Istrian tavern (in Croatian: konoba) located in the village of Krnica, situated on the east coast of Istria, approximately a 20-minute drive away from Pula or Labin.
The surrounding parts of Krnica are perfect for horseback riding, going on walks, mountain biking, swimming, diving, and boat rides.
There is a bay near Krnica called Krnički porat (Port of Krnica), where fishermen come every morning with a great selection of fresh fish.
This family restaurant was built using natural construction materials and it features stone walls and antique-style interior. If you are looking for a place for relaxed family gatherings and enjoying traditional Istrian and Mediterranean cuisine, this is the right spot for you!
At the Da Rocco tavern, we pay special attention to traditional Istrian cuisine and we prepare our dishes according to the old recipes of our nonnas. All of our ingredients come from local suppliers, and our fish dishes are prepared using wild-caught fresh fish caught by local fishermen. The fish and meat are grilled in front of the guests on the traditional grill called gradele, using exclusively homemade olive oil, the taste of which gives a special flavour to the dishes.
The open fireplace (hearth) is the central part of the tavern where the chef and owner, Manuel Vlačić, prepares various specialties, and you will be warmly welcomed by the kind owner, Loreta, who will be at your disposal providing you with the experience of your own home.
The pasta is hand-rolled in our kitchen (traditional Istrian pasta fuži and pljukanci, as well as gnocchi and ravioli), and it goes extremely well with a sauce made with Istrian beef (boškarin), game meat or rooster meat.
You can select the best Istrian wines to go with our dishes, which we procure exclusively from the highest quality Istrian wine cellars. In addition to wines, we also offer a traditional appetiser called Istarska supa (a dish prepared in a clay jug called bukaleta in which spices, olive oil, and red wine are combined, with the addition of grilled slices of bread that are left to soak in the mixture) which will awaken your senses and enrich the flavours of this traditional Istrian dinner.
If your wish is to enjoy traditional Istrian cuisine, you will not leave the Da Rocco tavern with an empty stomach! For our youngest guests we have a customised children’s menu with smaller portions.
In addition to traditional Istrian specialties, we also offer dry-aged meat (Florentine-style beef steak (Fiorentina) and ribeye steak) of juicy flavours and soft texture, which is dry-aged in our dry-aging display cabinet. The real gourmet food lovers will always happily treat themselves to such a quality piece of meat. The meat is of top-notch quality and produced from animals raised through grazing on Croatian pastures.
We offer lamb from local family-run farms, which herd their flock to graze on pastures located right by the sea. Such lamb has a special flavour and savouriness. We prepare this lamb in a special skillet (in Istrian dialect: padela) with a mix of various spices, and when it comes to spices, we put a special emphasis on wild sage (slavulja). In addition to that method of preparation, we can also prepare the lamb in a traditional way, under the bell (in Croatian: peka, čripnja).
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