Konoba Perast — Restaurant in undefined

We've had two wonderful weeks in Perast. It really is a beautiful place. Spending so much time here, we've had the opportunity to try all the restaurants on offer. However, Konobo Skolji is the one that has stood out, but for all the wrong reasons.

It's perhaps the least popular. While the other restaurants are busy, this one was usually mostly empty. One reason is the fact that the moment you approach to look at the menu, the waiters--particularly the eldest one (more about him later: see photo)--start hassling you to come in and eat. The other places to eat along the town's single street leave you in peace to make your own mind up. It's off-putting to be pressured before you've even set foot inside.

The service was poor. The waiters are scruffy, which normally wouldn't bother me, but it doesn't fill you with confidence about the restaurant's standards when it comes to quality and hygiene. After we placed our order, we were completely ignored by the 3 staff for 30 minutes despite the fact there was only one other table occupied. While I don't want waiters hovering around me as I eat, neither do I want to feel like requesting a second drink is a huge favour to ask.

The third reason is what has motivated me to write about the place. I and others witnessed something which appalled and disgusted us.

We were sitting closeby, just a few minutes ago, playing a board game. I happened to look across in the direction of the restaurant and saw something which took my breath away.

Before I explain what happened, I'd like to offer some context, Montenegro is a country of cats. Whichever town you visit, you'll see little cats and kittens sitting in the shade or timidly approaching people who beckon them. The cats are very friendly without bothering anyone who does not like felines. Montenegro prides itself on its cats: there's a museum in Kotor dedicated to them and many of the souvenirs feature them. This suggests that they are not a terrible nuisance and are seen as part of the culture.

Well as I looked across towards the restaurant, I noticed one of these small cats, perhaps even a kitten, sleeping on the roof of a car parked at the water's edge. To my horror and the other tourists and locals who witnessed it, the elder waiter casually left the restaurant, crossed the street and slapped the sleeping kitten, tossing it into the sea (the water is not shallow at all but fortunately it managed to swim to shore). We were dumbfounded. The waiter seemed well aware that he now had an audience and began nodding and grinning in almost delight at his sudden notoriety. There was no explanation for what he'd done and no look of shame or remorse. Instead, he looked pleased with himself.

If he wanted the cat off the roof of the car (perhaps the vehicle was his), there are many other ways of shooing it away. This slap was just intentionally brutal.

As a result of this, I certainly will not go back unless something is done about what we saw and I urge others who feel the same way about animal abuse to do the same. I will be writing to the owner about this later today in the hope they will...

Content warning: murder reference. Fish die. We eat them. It's as tragic as a pandameic, but more nutritious. When fish die for us to eat, don't we owe them not to be overcooked? I know, nobody wants raw fish at the centre of their din din. If only there was a place to go, where people are exhaustively trained to cook fish, but not overcook them. Yeah, I'm a PhD in smart arse. Restaurants don't have to overcook fish. Here, the whole fish was only overcooked on one side. By the time you karate flip it over though, the cooking has progressed to tragic levels. The fillet dish too suffered a second demise. I'm sure few punters would have a big issue with the way these were cooked, hence the 1 point penalty. The place is otherwise good, though idiosyncratic. The owner hovers like God a bit. The waiters cheeky, whilst simultaneously on guard should they catch the owners ire. It's a good place. It could be even better. The potato chard side dish and local salads are awesome value..worthy...

Unfortunately a very bad experience in our case.

We ordered the risotto with cuttlefish and it was overcooked and definitely prepared much earlier as the waiter literally brought the dishes in 10 minutes, while a good risotto takes much more than that to get ready.

We also ordered pasta with sea bass, which wasn't very good either. The pasta was overcooked and it was swamped in sauce, covering the flavor of the sea bass. Probably also pre-cooked beforehand, but I am not 100% sure in this case.

The service was okay, not great and not terrible. However, the tablecloth was full of stains and although this is a small detail, a good service should take these small things into consideration.

Prices are high considering the before-mentioned quality of the food. And 5 euro for a bottle of water is outrageous.

To top it off, we got food poisoning, so we suspect that the ingredients were either not fresh or not well preserved considering that at least the risotto was not...