Dine At Konoba Opat In The Kornati Islands

You’re sailing on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The water is blue. You are admiring the amazing view; it’s a day to remember. However, something is missing; what is it?

What’s missing is Konoba Opat. If you are sailing near the Kornati Islands, you must make a stop at Konoba Opat. It will be an experience that will make your sailing adventure complete. I promise. I chartered a boat for the week, and we stopped in to enjoy a meal and a few drinks.

As you near the shore, you’ll see that Konoba Opat, which the Božikov family owns, has made a very welcoming place for you to berth. There is enough space to berth more than 20 boats & electricity and water connections are available. We docked and bounded into the Konoba Opat, not expecting anything more than the usual Dalmatian Konoba experience. However, what we got was something so great it’s made my top 5 places to eat.

As I took my seat, my eyes were drawn out to the bay. It wasn’t easy to look anywhere else.

The view from your seat is of the Adriatic and her surrounding islands. It’s clear that the Božikov family designed your experience with that breathtaking view in mind.

Once you have sat down, you don’t need to do anything else. Not even read a menu. Your waiter greets you as any good waiter should and will walk you through what is on offer that day. There isn’t any frozen squid to be found in this kitchen; they’ll only serve you fresh fish caught by local fishermen. This is the standout for me; any restaurant prepared to change the menu daily and relies on the daily catch rates very highly in my book. Plus, it adds weight to an already wonderful experience. Wouldn’t you agree?

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The Food

I wanted to order everything. And I almost did. I dined there with three other friends of mine, and we were hungry and excited to taste what the waiter made sound so delicious.

Our Waiter suggested the following;

6 Entrées / Appetizers, plus a main meal

• Fresh-grilled lobster
• The fish pate, 
• Anchovy fillet
• Tuna carpaccio
• John Dory carpaccio with truffle
• Marinated tuna with local herbs and capers
• Grilled scorpionfish with grilled vegetables

Order over, we enjoyed a few glasses of local homemade wine. Here in Croatia, homemade wine is known as Domaci Vino – and I always recommend trying it; it’s always great value for money.

As we looked over at the open-style kitchen. For me, there is something extraordinary about watching a chef and his team work their magic with my food. That and it seems like the food arrives so much faster.

The food all sounded so great when we ordered and weren’t disappointed when it arrived at the table. It was presented and had me drooling as it arrived on the table. When we tasted the food, it was magnificent.

Five blokes were sitting around a table ooh-ing and ahh-ing, as we’d never done before. The two standouts for me were the John Dory Carpaccio with truffle and the grilled Scorpionfish. The John Dory was super fresh, and the hint of Tartufo complimented the fish so well. The Scorpionfish was grilled to perfection.

Our meal was served with the bread that is freshly baked on-site each day. Given our vast food selections that filled our bellies, it was a shame that we couldn’t dig into more of that perfectly baked bread.

What To Drink

If you love your wine, you’re at the right place as there is a diverse wine list at Opat, which you won’t see too often in Croatia. We decided to go with the house white, which turned out to be a good table wine. Following this, we rounded off the perfect meal with a few rakijas (Croatian Grappa).

On the day we were dining, it was not at capacity, which was great. Opat has seats for around 100 guests, which means you have loads of room, but not so much that you lose that intimate feeling you get at a family-run restaurant.

After you’ve eaten, you may not be ready to leave, or maybe you arrived but are not hungry? That’s okay because you can head into a separate bar area, where you can sit back and relax with a cocktail or three. Opat also has a small store onsite, which is handy for picking up last-minute bits and bobs for your onward journey.

Konoba Opat ticks all of the boxes. Really, I mean all of them. Food, wine, service, and the view! It’s got to be one of the best places I have eaten.

Ever. I am a great believer that if you have a quality product, you should cook it simply. You cannot get seafood any fresher than Opat. While we were there, two local fishermen were unloading their catch for the restaurant. My only regret about visiting Konoba Opat is not bringing my wife along; she would simply love it. I guess that makes it a great reason to go back, sooner rather than later.

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Where Is Konoba Opat?

Konoba Opat

T. +385 914732550
www.opat-kornati.com