Restaurants

Croatian food is very close to Italian. But a few dishes to try would be
Ćevapćiči - Small sausages w/out casing
Lepinja - like a pita bread/English muffin mashup
Kajmak - soft cheese
Ajvar - roasted eggplant and pepper sauce
Skampi - like shrimp
Pljeskavica - hamburger

Eat at Kamenica at the bottom of the Jesuit steps. Go early as they don’t usually take reservations and there is always a line after 3 pm.

If you drink wine, don't forget authentic Croatian wine. Croatia has a great wine industry. I haven't the foggiest about names, but ask your server.

Every menu seemed to highlight at least one item as a “Dalmatian Specialty.” My personal experience was that people were downright thrilled if you chose that or asked after local delicacies. Croatians are incredibly proud of their cuisine and genuinely appreciate your interest. (It earned me a couple of free digestifs, of which they are also very proud of!)

Surprisingly, I found those local dishes to be very meat centric, even on the coast. One ubiquitous dish you’ll see is “gnocchi with meat.” In actuality, it’s more a slab of beef with some dumplings, cooked in a dark gravy with prunes. Thoroughly delicious, but not what I was picturing.

I really enjoyed restaurant Kopun, it is into preserving old recipes and traditional food. http://www.restaurantkopun.com/

We loved Kopun Restaurant in Dubrovnik, too. One of our favorite meals!