Zadar Mediterranean

This is where the city's newer kitchens sit, cooking from the same larder as the konobas but with less butter, smaller plates and a wine list that has an opinion. Menus are short and change with the season, which is the honest sign that the vegetables came from the market that morning rather than a freezer. Olive oil from the Ravni Kotari does most of the work, and fish is handled lightly rather than smothered.

The cluster is on the peninsula and in the streets just behind it, close enough to the forum to walk between them while deciding. Prices land above a neighbourhood konoba and below the hotel dining rooms at Borik, and a table in July or August is worth booking a day ahead, particularly the handful with terraces facing the water. Croatian bottles dominate the lists: Posip and Malvazija in white, Plavac Mali in red, usually with something from the Benkovac vineyards inland.