Kantina Restaurant — Restaurant in Grad Pula

It's hard to say something when everything is perfect, starting from the food (main reason why you have a seat in a restaurant). My wife and I have been here for the first time on August the 12th, just arrived in Pula after our long trip from Southern Italy. It was late, but all the staff waited for us to give us a warm welcome and the best birthday dinner. They succeeded, I was happy. They made my day, in particular, thanks to: delicious food, masterfully cooked; awesome service, leaded by an awesome guy (Mario) who was able to let us enjoy any single minute spent there; the owners, who were meticulously careful to all their customers and ready to redirect to their personnel any single detail that might require attention. My wife and I spent 4 days in Pula. The first night was our arrival. The second night was for the concert of one of the best Italian artists, Zucchero. The third and the forth night, guess where we had dinner? Obviously here, at Kantina! While writing I can also share the common feelings felt together with my wife. We have never felt so good in a restaurant, we have never been pampered that much. But what really made the difference was: we never felt neglected like "tourists that needed to be milked"!!! Instead we felt special guests, every single night! You know what else was so special? This is the last night in Croatia and what truly made our trip was not just the Country to visit, but the place where to eat, and this special place...

ABOVE ALL IMAGINABLE EXPECTATIONS! The food is superb. We ordered a steak that was tender and flavorful. And I'm used to American steaks, so I know what I'm talking about. ;) Lamb chops. My husband never in his life eats lamb. He actually ordered pork chops, but he got lamb chops by mistake. I tried them, and I liked them so much, so I insisted that my husband try it. He ate the whole plate of them - despite he doesn't eat lamb, he liked those chops, that's how good they were!

Then I had a chocolate cake for desert - it tasted like silk - a cake to die for. I absolutely loved it!

Now, probably one of the most important things - the staff. It is superb! Our waiter was Mario and he's hands down the best waiter I had a pleasure to meet in many years! He's genuine, not pushy, knowledgeable (can tell you everything about their meat preparation), not overly polite (to the point when it feels fake as it often happens), but still courteous; he was constantly checking in on us, trying to make us feel welcome and taken care of. We also had a pleasure to meet the owner of the restaurant - a young man (who speaks perfect Italian, by the way), very friendly and not too formal (which is definitely a plus). That's what we actually loved about this restaurant - the food is superb, the staff is superb, and the atmosphere is not too formal! You don't need to dress to kill to have good service or not to feel out of place. Its like...

Very disappointing. We visited this restaurant for lunch with my girlfriend and the first impression was of this woman telling us rudely that the restaurant was downstairs. When the waiter took our order I asked for a vodka and coke, the waiter schooled me quite rudely on how to say water in Croatian (voda) when I was actually ordering a vodka and saying it right. The waiter then came with two little starters that we did not order and they were scrumptious until… we realised we got charged for them. I don’t think it is okay to put food we didn’t order on the table and expect us to pay for it. Anyway we ate, the sea bass was extremely salted (and I love salt) and the weird mango sauce on it made it inedible as I can’t eat sweet and savoury food together. My girlfriend’s orzotto was just plain gross and undercooked, she had barely any of it. Overall a very disappointing experience and I would for sure not be coming back. Two stars because the truffle starter...