Recently I was introduced to Croatian cuisine at the Dubrovnik Restaurant in New Rochelle, NY. Yum. The food was sensational, especially the sardines! It was the best preparation of sardines that I have ever had. The octopus salad was no slouch either. Both are extremely fresh – I could taste the crispness of the lemon and the stringent quality of the sourness. It sent tingle up my scalp! But the service was very slow… borderlined on poor. I had to chase down the waiter to get the menu and place the order. Not sure if it was because of the time of the day (2pm on a raining Sat afternoon) or because Croatians are just laid back people.
Marinated Sardines: Fresh sardines marinated in lemon juice. Fantastic. Loved it.
Octopus Salad: Octopus with capers, red onions, potatoes, extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar. Great. Loved it as well.
Čevapčići: A traditional croatian dish of grilled minced meat, a type of kebab/sausage served with ajvar vegetable spread, red onions and pita bread. The grilled meat sausages were moist on the inside and nice and firm on the outside. The ajar vegetable spread is the best part of the dish. Dipping the meat into the spread and then coupling up with some red onions is the way to go.
Shellfish Stew: mussels, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and white wine. In comparison to the three awesome dishes above, the stew was not amazing. Tasted good but not outstanding.
Rozata: Croatian style flan. Could have easily passed on the flan. The consistency and the texture are neither smooth nor dense/matte. This was not a successful rendition of the flan.
Palacinke Dubrovnik: Croatian style crepes served warm and filled with choice of: ricotta cheese and lemon zest, rose hip or apricot jam OR ice-cream and Nutella. So I learned that Croatians are not great with desserts. This is supposed to be a very authentic dessert and I could have easily passed on it. Worse than the flan.
But- The Sardines, Octopus and the Grilled Meat were terrific and worth the wait. I will dream of the marinated sardines tonight! Definitely highly recommend the Dubrovnik Restaurant.
This experience took place at
Dubrovnik Restaurant
721 Main St,
New Rochelle, NY 10801
914-637-3777
Peilin Corbanese 