Gastronomic Adventures at Krcma Ulika in Rovinj

We were fortunate to get a recommendation to dine at Krcma Ulika (Tavern Ulika), whose location in the back streets of Old Town Rovinj is reportedly a jealously guarded secret of gastronomic connoisseurs.

In our conversations with the proprietor, we learned a little bit of the restaurant’s history and philosophy. She revealed that she is a trained and formerly practicing dentist who was born in Zagreb, Croatia, but now lives in Germany with her husband, who is a surgeon. They fell in love with the Croatian coast eight years ago and decided to pursue their dream of living in Rovinj from May to October each year and opening a “slow food”-style gastronomic restaurant. An added benefit for the proprietor of living on the coast is summer visits from her grandchildren.
The chef is native to the area and has been bringing her ideas to the table for the past eight years. The restaurant has its own fishermen suppliers and they buy only the freshest green grocer ingredients they can source (locally).
The first course consisted of Capesante Sirove (fresh scallops with roe), Carpaccio Riblji-Skampi (raw fresh shrimp), and Prsut Sa Vocem (prosciutto and melon)

The second course was Rizoto Skampi Burata (shrimp risotto with burata), shrimp cooked in parchment paper, and Pljukanci Divljac (local Croatian pasta with meat sugo).

One of the things we had read about Krcma Ulika before we booked a reservation was the hand written sign out front says “no pizza, no cevapete (sausage), no calamari.” While we expected to find excellent local cuisine, we were delightfully surprised by the creative twists and outstanding quality of every dish we had. And yes, they tasted even better than they look in the photographs above. Accompanying the meal we had a crisp local (white) Malvasia wine. Very highly recommended!