As it was a 15 minute drive on a rural road into Rakovica, we limited our trips, but still managed to try three places.
Bistro Old Shatterhand – We had made a reservation for 8pm, but it was not busy when we arrived on Wednesday evening. With an early-ish start the next morning we decided to skip wine, so for drinks Leandra got the bitter lemon, while I got an orange fanta. For food Leandra ordered the kebap, which was quite big. They were out of my first choice, the cevapi, so I pivoted to the well-priced capricciosa pizza (ham, mushroom, tomato) which had a nice crust and was quite tasty. Even better, we had enough leftovers for lunch the next day!
Restaurant & Wine Bar Palcich – stopped in for a glass of wine around 6pm. The restaurant wasn’t open yet, but the front desk staff member kindly offered to pour us a glass. I went for the Grasevina (grash-a-vena) which was like a dry Riesling with a little melon, honey, some mineral, light acidity, very summery. Leandra got the one red on offer, the Prelac Refosk, an Istrian cabernet with lots of fruit and spice, she really liked it.
Degenija – They don’t take reservations for non-hotel guests, so we had to wait ~20 mins for a table at 7pm. Once seated, Leandra had an Istrian cab/merlot blend (peppery, cocoa powder. dr.pepper. med tannins, fairly soft) and a Vina Laguna Festigia Malvazija 2022 for me (Gewurztraminer like nose, floral. medium body and sweetness, honey, pear. Stony finish.) For food, we both ordered gnocchi – with a local Busa beef goulash sauce for me (rich and excellent), while Leandra had the young garlic and and smoked trout. I was still hungry, so ordered a baklava for dessert – it was absolutely soaked in honey! Lots of nuts too.