Mali Raj — Restaurant in Općina Bol

Highly do NOT recommend. Host in Bol suggested me to visit Mali Raj for dinner. She mentioned that it's pricey but the food worth it. Of course I gave it a shot, and to my disappointment, the only true thing was that it's pricey. Waiter was nice throughout the service, however the service wasn't great. I specifically wanted to order fish, even though it's expensive (96 Euros per KG). Waiter brought fresh fish to the table to choose from and I went for the one he said would be around 400 grams. Still pricey but sensible. I asked it to be grilled to what waiter suggested that it's better tasting if baked. I went with his suggestion, thinking that they know what they are doing there, this is their business at the end of the day. Appeared that they don't know anything. Fish wasn't tasty at all and there was barely anything to eat, and admittedly fish wasn't tasting as today's catch. I'd rather stick with my choice of it to be grilled. Then waiter started taking bones out, and he honestly did very poor job with most of meat being taken out with bones. I had to stop him at that point as I was hungry and I would need to retrieve all that meat back, which I was okay with doing. Later arrived the bill. Weight of the fish specified in the bill was 650 grams, which was not that at all. Also, if restaurant is charging that much money for food, at least the atmosphere of the restaurant would not have to cost additional 3,50 euros per person (it was a charge added to the bill to sit in the nicer bit of garden). This kind of thing I saw for the first time in my life. Again, I don't mind paying significant bill as long as I'm getting the equal value for it. This restaurant certainly doesn't provide that value, looked more like a scam to me. Left very disappointed and minus 107 euros from my pocket. There are many much nicer restaurants along the promenade with appropriate prices and much...

What a delightful dinner experience. Quality of reception: The staff was welcoming and responsive, seating us straight away with zero wait time. They responded to emails prior to the reservation promptly and kindly.

Quality of service: We were pampered the entire evening! The waiter was kind, funny, and helpful: he pulled my chair out for me to sit down, brought us the platter of the catch of the day and presented us all the different types of fish, showed us how to eat the appetizer because we weren't used to receiving such fancy appetizers served in clam shells (🤩), refilled our glasses of wine/water from our bottles without us even having to ask, and humored me by answering even the silliest of my questions. (I split a bottle of wine with my date, and I got a little happy towards the end of the evening and asked what they did with the carcasses of the fish. God bless the poor waiter.)

Quality of environment: Serene, romantic, and cozy. (Seriously, there is an olive branch lattice roof covering the outdoor seating area, fairy lights and lanterns floating overhead, and a small vase with a freshly cut white rose adorning each table, all against the backdrop of the soothing lapping of the Adriatic waves.) You will quickly forget you are in the 21st century and all the worries that come with it, and think you are in 400AD enjoying a meal under the olive groves.

Price: I paid 130-140 euros (922 kunas), a solid part of which was the 30€ bottle of wine I ordered. The menu prices were comparable to the other restaurants along the Zlatni Rat beachfront. It was worth every penny.

This was the best restaurant experience I have ever had. Taking a long look around me during the meal, it was my impression that the other clients - from diverse countries and walks of life - were equally as delighted with their service as we were.. Come here and I promise you...

Nisam osoba koja piše negativne recenzije, ili pohvalim ili vjerujem da je bio moj loš dan, ali ta večer meni nikako nije bila loša, bila sam sa svojim prijateljicama na najljepšem ženskom vikendu u životu pri čemu smo tri dana ručale i večerale u prefinim restoranima u Hvaru i u Bolu, i tako smo Mali raj ostavili kao šećer za kraj… Pa krenimo od početka, ulazimo prema terasi restorana i imamo samo jedan komentar - UVAU, mislim da nisam nikada vidjela ljepši ambijent restorana… i onda kreće sve nizbrdo… Konobar nas dočekuje na ulazu i objašnjava nam pravila, uvjete i prednosti sjedenja na donjoj i gornjoj terasi koja smo jedva shvatile (ali smo mislile ok valjda smo bile umorne, a i malo nas je zatekao), kada smo odabrale posljednji stol na donjoj (ljepšoj) terasi, ostavili su nas da malo pričekamo da pripreme stol što me zbunilo jer sam tjedan dana ranije rezervirala stol za pet osoba i zamolila da bude na lijepom mjestu u vrtu, ali izgleda da je dobro da smo došle prije idućih gostiju jer bi bez njega i ostale… i sve je u redu, opet moja misao - umorne smo, nešto je samo drugačije… ulazimo na terasu, sve kao u raju, predivan ambijent i onda do nas dolazi konobar za kojeg ni sada nisam sigurna je li bio bezobrazan ili ima grozan smisao za humor (tu sam već bila poprilično sigurna da nije do mog umora, ali sam rekla ok prihvati i idemo dalje, došle smo uživati i jesti, a ne se družiti s konobarom)… ali krenimo s neprofesionalnošću, nakon predjela (tune i inćuna) ostavile smo pribor za jelo na tanjuru kako bi konobar pokupio prljavi beštek, no on je s tanjura skinuo beštek i vratio nam ga na salvete kako bi s njime mogle jesti glavno jelo…možda bi to nekako i prihvatila da za glavno jelo s tim istim priborom nismo morale jesti janjetinu (janjetina s okusom tune - “mljac”), po donošenju hrane na stol konobarova kolegica je pomagala i prije spuštanja hrane na stol pitala me smije li malo pomaknuti moje privatne stvari, što sam naravno odobrila, ali njezin kolega je stvari moje prijateljice micao po stolu bez ikakvog pitanja (da se razumijemo da je sve drugo valjalo ovaj detalj ne bi ni pisala niti ga primijetila)… a sada dolazimo do hrane, jedna porcija janjetine je bila ok, prolazna, ništa posebno, kao i njoke s kozicama, ali škampi na buzaru od 40€ koji nisu imali nikakav ni okus ni miris bili su stravični, buzara ljuta (sreća da obožavam ljuto), obožavam ja i škampe i jedem ih cijelo ljeto po svuda, ali ovi su bili gori nego oni iz metroa koji su u ledu stajali pola godine i više. Druga porcija janjetina bila je hladnjikava i poprilično krvava, što apsolutno nisam nikada vidjela, a i s obzirom da prva porcija nije bila takva možemo zaključiti da je ova,ili jedna od njih, bila neuspješno napravljena... nakon toga smo odlučile pojesti neki desert jer to će nam sigurno popraviti dojam, međutim desert isto tako na pola, ok, prolazno (kad smo kod deserta, konobar je izjavio da je creme brulee nešto kao rožata-je li ikada probao rožatu taj čovjek, ako nije možda bi se kao konobar trebao educirati ili jednostavno ni ne spominjati jela koja ne poznaje i koja ne poslužuju)… sad sam se već raspisala, a nisam ni na pola, dodati ću još samo da od trenutka kada je poslužio desert, konobar ga više nije odnio sa stola idućih sat i 15 minuta koje smo još provele tamo uživajući bar u ambijentu, ali isto to vrijeme nitko nije ni došao do nas pitati trebamo li što još… nakon što smo platile, naručile smo još jednu coca colu od 4€ koju smo došle platiti s 10€ u ruci i dotični je prijateljici izvratio 5€ i rekao doviđenja (poprilično sam sigurna da zna izračunati 10-4), nije stvar niti 1€ nego principa - u tom trenu smo odlučile napisati ovu recenziju jer smo shvatile da možda ipak nije do lošeg smisla za humor… Sve u svemu predivno mjesto s najgorim iskustvom s konobarom (za druge ne znam kakvi su) i poprilično lošom hranom za takav restoran, koji očito posvećuje minimalnu pažnju profesionalnosti… Neću reći zaobiđite jer je predivno, i bilo bi mi drago da netko od vlasnika obrati pažnju na moju recenziju, ali ipak...