Restaurant Kastel

Dinner was set in a truly unique location on top of the old Riva with a stunning view of the new side. The place was beautifully organized with elegant plating and attentive service. They did serve me before my girlfriend, which felt unusual, but the overall atmosphere remained warm and inviting. The entrées were excellent, full of flavor and well presented, while the main courses were more on the average side. Even so, for Croatia it was a delightful surprise, and the genuine smiles of the staff made the evening memorable. Too bad for overcooked pasta… but the bread was amazing!

Absolutely blown away by Restaurant Kastel! Our first evening in Zadar was truly memorable thanks to this incredible place. The ambiance is simply stunning – elegant and with a real sense of history. The food was equally impressive, showcasing fresh, local flavors with a sophisticated touch. Every dish was a delight. The service was outstanding overall. Our sommelier, Dominik, was fantastic! He was knowledgeable, engaging, and made excellent recommendations, leading to some lovely conversations. We also had the pleasure of meeting the sous chef who was cooking for the public holiday. It was such a treat to chat with him about the food, and his passion truly shone through. While not as directly involved in our conversations, the rest of the staff were also attentive and professional, contributing to a smooth and enjoyable dining experience. From start to finish, our experience at Restaurant Kastel was top-notch and a wonderful introduction to the finer side of Zadar's dining. Highly recommend!

The restaurant is amazing! High culture and level of waiter service, regular verification of guest satisfaction, top-notch dishes worth any price and extremely cozy atmosphere. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for your openness and hospitality, as well as a small gift to celebrate the engagement, which took place a few hours earlier (of course, I informed the manager about it when booking a table). You made the day even more special! :)

A really great restaurant. We found it on the Michelin app. We had a super evening on our first night in Zadar. So we booked for the last night of our holiday too. Both meals were excellent. The menu is very interesting. A wide range of prices makes this restaurant affordable for most diners. I enjoyed the fish soup and the tuna tartare starters. The squid ink risotto was excellent. I loved the rooster ravioli. My colleagues enjoyed the tuna, the lamb and the filet steak. The head waiter was previously a cocktail maker. I loved his negroni. The old fashioned, with a Croatian twist was amazing. The Croatian rose sparkling was very good. The sommelier is amazing. He guided us through the excellent wine list. We had a fabulous GRK from Korcela and a fabulous pinot Noir from Northern Croatia. The deserts were stunning too with the cheesecake and the drunken fruit stew amazing. Thank you to all the amazing staff for such a great experience.

Was so hyped for this place and so sorry to say, but the experience of the food was: "mjeh.." we chose the 5course tasting menu and it did not feel like fine dining or worth it. Thumbs up to the serving staff, they did a great job 👍 (maybe the chef who was employed during Michelin-guide visit is not there anymore?)

High quality ingredients meets unfortunately no passion in cooking. We had a 3 course menu. The tuna tatar was amazing. Really good. But that’s it with good news. The other starter came without an idea of a proper dish - some ham. Cheese. Olives. Nuts. What was the thought? Purity? Or Just no idea which story to tell? Main dishes: both not warm enough. Fish was good. But the side dish was boring and missed salt. The duck was ok. But is OK enough? The dessert should be the star of a menu. But it wasn’t. It just continued a passionless meal. I finished and was still hungry. And I‘m not the person who needs much to get sated. Overall I’m completely disappointed. All I need to feel is passion. A good heart. But I felt nothing. Same with the interior. Someone designed it without telling a story. But guys, it’s all about story telling at the end. What’s your story?? I did not get it. Good service though.

A stunning experience last night at Restaurant Kastel (11/06). The food was 5 stars. The drunken figs being my favourite - even my wife who doesn't like cinnamon loved this cinnamon forward dish. Hers was the Tuna which was cooked perfectly. Especially memorable was the effort made to source local ingredients, to serve local specualities and to share the story and history around each - which really added a bit of magic. If the food was 5 stars, the service was 6, 7, 8 stars. People who really care about their food, wine (we chose largely locally sourced wine flight) and their customers. A highlight of our trip to Croatia, thank you to everyone at Restaurant Kastel.

One amazing restaurant that is so underrated. We like many other tourists rely heavily on google / tripadvisor reviews when scouting for local food on holiday. We initially wanted to go to other places with more reviews (I.e. >1000) and only came here as we didn’t have a booking with anything else for the night. That turned out to be more than what we expected. Every dish took us by positive surprise. We had lunch on the same day at 4 Kantuna for the same scampi pasta dish. What we had at Kastel was 10x better from the ingredients to aroma and presentation. The tagliata was fresh and tender, and the tuna tartare also refreshing and flavourful. The dessert was labelled as a chocolate soufflé which is really a lava cake, which we loved. Last but not least, the gentleman serving our table was incredibly enthusiastic and professional. This is a point echoed by many other reviews that we read before sitting down. We felt very strongly about this especially when compared to our experience at Restaurant Kornat the night afterwards (which I have also written a review about). Our mister explained and presented all the dishes (including the ceramic plates!) with genuine passion and made us feel special and taken care of. We would recommend this to our family and friends who visit Zadar.