Stara Loza — Restaurant in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia was the third destination that I visited on my trip, and so far, Stara Loza is one of the best on my list for fine dining without $$$$. The restaurant is partnered with Prijeko Palace, so breakfast is offered to the Hotel guests every morning of our stay.

Location: really excellent location. Steps from Stradun and in shaded alley where you can cool off from the beating sun.

Breakfast: 1st day: Dalmation Omelet with ham. After days of not having eggs, I thought my taste was somewhat biased. Good omelet. Free orange juice and water (here.. Nothing is free.. not even water, especially when you are seated in a restaurant). On the side, I had a bowl of fresh chopped fruits. Refreshing even at 8 AM. 2nd day: Cereal crusted Yellow Fin Tuna on a bed of arugula. Wow. It blew me away with the flavor and freshness! I had it again for my 3rd breakfast. :) 4th day: Classical Spanish Omelette with Chorizo spreading and arugula. Another wow. I am a happier person when I am happy with my first meal, and I have been happy every day starting my breakfast with Stara Loza.

Dinner: I had a rooftop dinner here and ordered Ox Cheeks with whipped and bitter greens. The Ox cheeks were very tender in a gravy that I originally thought as a bit salty, but when mixed with the slightly bitterest greens, there existed a balance that I appreciated. I think food is all about balancing of flavors and textures. Stara Loza got this balance down!

Lunch: I ordered Octopus with Gnocchi with bone marrow. It never failed to please my palate. One of the best seafood dish I have had since my travel or even in the U.S.

So.. for what you pay here, I think it will more than please you. I would say this is more.. fine dining but without the cost. The portion is definitely not meant for someone who is just looking to overfill the belly. The portion is perfect to leave you content without over filling.

Service: very friendly and curteous staff. I truly and highly recommend Stara Loza and congratulate them on having such...

Do not do the prefixed menu. It is not worth the price in the slightest.

I will call out the goods and the bad of our dining experience, but in my opinion, this place was not worth it.

They have a main dining room and a rooftop. The rooftop was 120 eur for a 3 course prefixed menu. And the main dining room is a la carte.

I can’t speak on the experience ans value of the main dining room, as I did not go, but what I can say is the rooftop was certainly not worth it.

The biggest issue with the rooftop is that it was really just choosing a starter, main, and dessert for $120. I calculated my meal and it was roughly $51 if I just paid for the same items in the main dining hall. I will say the view was spectacular but charging $120 for a dinner “experience” that isn’t fine dining at all is a huge ripoff.

Our server was very sweet, named Frank, so he deserve plenty of credit, but the food was underwhelming.

We tried: Ceviche - underwhelming Arancini - absolutely fantastic Potatoes - cooked well but lacked flavor

Monkfish - mediocre Kate steak - pretty great Cacao e Pepe - underwhelming

And we all got the harmony dessert, which was amazing.

Overall the biggest issue is that it is marketed as a fine dining experience and it simply isn’t. It is just a set price for a rooftop dinner. If they priced it at $80-90 I would have left a 4 star. But $70 to sit upstairs for an hour is absurd. Get it together.

(Petty call out - the music playing upstairs was just from a speaker and ads came on in the middle of our dinner. If I’m spending $120 for a coursed experience it should be high end, not low budget rip off)

TL:DR - if you are willing to spend $120 on a dinner experience just save up $25 more and go reserve a table at Nautika. You’re only paying for the view here. And the views at Nautika are just as good. However, if you eat in the main dining room, im sure you can get some great food...

We stumbled upon this restaurant and loved the decor of the refurbished hotel and beautiful restaurant at top overlooking old town. We got a reservation immediately in person after giving and watching the woman take my info.

However, the day we arrived they didn’t have my name or contact info and that was annoying but we were seated in salon as that’s one step down from terrace which is top floor. The salon is also a la carte so that’s what we wanted. I found it strange there was only one other table with guests the entire time we were there. Maybe people haven’t heard of it yet, I don’t know. There are a lot of restaurants in old town.

But a few things to mention. We wanted to take our time and asked to let them know when we were ready to have our main course. I did that, but they never came to our table to ask if we wanted our dinner or another drink, I had to ask and they said they didn’t understand that’s what I said. While they made up for it in apologies and free glasses of wine, we sat for at least 40 min wo service or a dish. Overall service was great. Lastly, the food was delicious and made up for that error and they were very apologetic . It’s a beautiful place to have dinner, so don’t wait. It’s romantic too and if you like art, it’s stunning hotel and the overall...