Best Restaurants on Brač, Croatia

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The wonderful Palute sits on Supetar harbour, and its extensive terrace is pretty much the first thing you see when you step off the boat from Split. For waterside location, quality of food, fish and meat prepared on a traditional grill, and superb service, they could charge a fortune – but they don’t. Many opt for the seafood platter, either for one or for two, with a carafe of house white to accompany.

There’s something a bit different about the Taverna Riva, something that makes it worth visiting above and beyond the surroundings, a sturdy stone house and terrace overlooking the Adriatic in Bol. If you’re staying longer than three days on Brač, you’ll appreciate a menu that veers away from the standard 10 dishes you’ll see everywhere, to offer the likes of pumpkin gnocchi with four-cheese sauce and spit-roasted lamb offal, vitalac. Lamb, veal and octopus are prepared ‘under the bell’, as they say in Dalmatia, which means slow-roasted in hot coals.

Nono Ban is a complex of traditional villas set around Gornji Humac, a high point in the Brač hinterland. Guests, and non-guests, who should phone to reserve, are treated to what the chef found at the market that morning, expertly prepared in the classic Dalmatian way. The accent is on healthy living, but don’t feel you shouldn’t knock back the wine, produced by those who run the place.

Murvica, on the southern shore of the island, is one of those places people go to year after year, offering tranquillity and seclusion within easy reach of Bol and its airport. Another of its attractions is the Konoba Raj, whose traditional atmosphere, stunning views and stellar seafood and grilled meats have earned it the kind of reputation that have diners trekking over from Bol.

‘Local Food for Pure Pleasure’ is the motto at the Konoba Dalmatino, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017. Dalmatian brodetto, lamb and fresh fish are served in classic taverna surroundings, the walls lined with farm implements and framed images of age-old rural and maritime life. Staff will be happy to advise on wine and, indeed, on traditional local dessert.

Though you miss out on a sea view here, surrounded by holiday rental apartments, you make up for it with the quality of the seafood and local produce to accompany it. Regulars, the bulk of them Bol locals, wouldn’t come here otherwise. The Konoba Mendula is inexpensive too, another plus for the loyal customer, these days priced out of dining on the harbourfront. There’s a menu but most don’t bother with it and just ask the waiter what’s fresh that day.