The 80 best Zagreb restaurants

Trilogija sits just above the Stone Gate. Cobblestones lead from the door and inside. Tables sit on individual landings under vaulted, brick ceilings. The cosy dining room includes a bar area where folks can snack on a steak-and-cheese sandwich with caramelised onions (60kn). The idea is that even if you're in a hurry you can still enjoy a quality feed and glass of wine. More time lets you sample wonderful natural ingredients. Daily specials change per artistic mood and supplies on hand; mains run from 75kn to 145kn. Entrée examples include sea bass in lobster sauce and beefsteak in port wine. As well, you won’t regret the black tiger shrimp risotto with mango and spinach. For dessert, try the ravioli with sweet walnut filling.

Carpaccio delivers stylish Italian-themed dining in a wonderfully convenient bang-in-the centre location. There are plenty of vegetarian options among the risottos and pastas, and substantial steaks and veal cutlets among the meaty mains.

A modern interpretation of a French brasserie, the dishes are small but remarkably well-crafted, and the food plays to local strengths – there’s plenty of Adriatic fish-dishes, locally sourced meat and an excellent cheese and tapas selection. Inside, it’s an uber-cool suede and dark leather affair, with a backlit bar serving princely cocktails. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't come cheap - mains are priced 100-200kn, but food this satisfying is worth the splash-out. Boasting an opportune spot on Tkalčićeva (previously home to Takenoko) the location is hard to beat.

Occupying an oft-overlooked street corner just off the main square, Time is one of the trendiest restaurants in town. The extensive Asian-inspired fusion menu covers all the usual dishes, from ramen and Teriyaki to tuna carpaccio and a Thai green, but what really stands out is how the restaurant fuses sizzlingly fresh Adriatic ingredients with its familiar cast of eastern dishes. Much of what is chucked into your pan comes from nearby Dolac market; succulently tender lamb hails from Pag island and seafood is sourced from the coast. Quality fusion classics are served with presentational flourishes – and aren’t eye-wateringly expensive either. The interior would have you believe otherwise, what with its pricey lacquered furniture and low-key lighting, evoking a cocktail bar you might come across in Mayfair. 

Mano 2 specialises in high-level dining, with parallel themes to its sister restaurant Mano: exquisitely cooked meat and seafood in a modern, unashamedly trendy dining room.

The first sushi restaurant in Croatia, Takenoko is still one of the very few Asian restaurants in town worth experimenting with – and although it will set you back a wad of kunas it is usually well worth it.

Agava offers a professional and cosmopolitan approach to dining. The menu features starters such as mushroom carpaccio at 45kn; a good choice of pastas and risottos from 70kn, and a dozen or so mains.

Zinfandel's is an outstanding spot which transfers the elegance of Art Deco hotel, the Esplanade, built for the Orient Express back in 1925, to the dining room. Beneath the chandeliers, a pianist strokes the keys for a room overlooking the Oleander terrace.

Rougemarin serves top-notch bistro fare with a small menu of light but delectable meals strong on fish and healthy foods. Three-course set lunches with drink are well worth the 100kn outlay.

Hidden behind Kota, this smart bright bistro serves up dedicated vegan fare, with the accent on wok, noodle and pasta-based recipes.

Noel is sizzling hot restaurant dedicated to the flux of contemporary trends in gastro-cooking. Portions here are small but well garnished; extravagant diners can opt for the taster menu.

Though called an Italian restaurant in local tourist brochures, Mano is actually a high-end steakhouse fit to bring your best girl to for an anniversary dinner or the business associate you're trying to impress.

This might be one of the cosiest locales in Zagreb – on a narrow passage among the cobbled streets behind St Mark's Church and the Croatian Parliament in the Upper Town. But even as quaint as this is, the food matches it.

Out in the western suburb of Gornji Stenjevec, just off the main road to Samobor, this characterful restaurant is something of a destination in its own right, housed in a 16th-century mill that still produces its own flour. Kitted out with mix-and-match furnishings and with wooden-bench seating on the outside terrace, it’s a suitably old-world environment in which to enjoy a traditional central Croatian repertoire of grilled and roast meats. Seasonal game, including boar goulash, is the speciality.

A small but perfectly chosen menu has made Burgeraj one of the city centre’s cult eateries. The spicy Pepper Jam Burger or the shiitake-filled Tamari Burger are worth making a pilgrimage here to try out.

Located in a wooded dell between the Upper Town and the Tuškanac woods, it features a cool minimalist interior full of dark-brown furniture tones and low-key lighting. Seafood remains the kitchen's strong point, and both the baked fish  and a 12-course tasting menu are well worth the splash-out

The menu is small and specialised, and each meal – whether it be glass-noodles with prawns, or the Saturday special ramen – is prepared exactly as it would be in an izakaya bar in Tokyo.

If you enjoy high-quality food served briskly in informal surroundings, then Lari i Penati (named after a pair of Roman household gods) will be the kind of place you'll find it difficult to stay away from.

Korčula is as traditional as it gets. This fish restaurant on the corner of Teslina and Preradovićeva was here long before the trendy bars set up around it. The kitchen turns out high-quality versions of seafood standards, tuna fillets or grilled squid with blitva.

The menu is famous for sticking to north-Croatian staples, with schnitzel-style cuts of meat, roast turkey with mlinci (baked pasta sheets), venison goulash, and roast knuckle of veal leaping off the pages of a lengthy and not too pricey menu.

The best Bosnian restaurant in town is hugely popular despite its hidden location in a residential quarter - take a taxi. Grilled meats are the order of the day here, pljeskavica and ćevapi, served with traditional bread.

Not only is Capuciner convenient, facing the Cathedral, and filled with locals, but it's fairly priced, most dishes in the with most dishes in the 40kn range.

Tekka attracts a sharp-suited clientele, and has cultivated the elegant decor and uber-attentive staff to go with it. It’s neither central or cheap, but as one of Croatia’s best sushi restaurants, it’s worth the pilgrimage.

Named after its owner, local football hero Zvonimir Boban, this popular two-storey operation is set just off Jelačić. Upstairs is a café, downstairs a (mainly Italian) restaurant.

Mali Bar serves up exquisite lunches and inventive nibble food in an informal, five-table dining room. Main courses change daily.