Hotel Degenija Plitvice (Selište Drežničko, CROATIA)

This one, it took me almost 6 months to make up my mind. The dilemma was whether we should stay close to Plitvice Lakes (and therefore at their nearby shitty hotels) and a bit closer to civilization. At the end, Jelloman and I agreed that we should stay a bit closer to the lakes. I guess less than half an hour is close. 

4-star Hotel Degenija Plitvice in an area called Selište Drežničko was the one we chose and quite honestly, there weren't that many of them near the lakes. It was supposed to be a great time to visit Plitvice Lakes during the summer but we came at a terrible terrible time amid of the worst rain in 50 years. A lot of the roads were flooded and shuttle service to the lakes was suspended. I would much prefer to stay indoor at this time but since we're only staying here for less than 48 hours, we didn't have much time to work with. Looking out from the window, I kept praying that the rain would end soon but that's not going to happen.

Somehow I was finding it more depressing to stay in my hotel room. Yes, obviously they have a totally different standard when it comes to 4-star hotels in Croatia.

The decor was, should we say,  very "homey"?

Thankfully, breakfast was included so we didn't have to venture out for food in the morning. This wasn't your typical breakfast hall, more like a living room of someone's house.

They've got it all from fried egg, bacon to seasonal fruit. So, no complaints from the person who's paying the bills (me).

We were struck out when we arrived at the park entrance yesterday afternoon. The park was so flooded that they didn't let anybody in. We decided to try our luck again by driving here early in the morning. Finally, persistence pays off!!! 

Getting our rain coats ready.....

This is a very nice provincial park. Too bad we had to rush through it cuz it's raining hard and it's getting windy too.

But as picturesque as it might be, I still won't call it the most beautiful lake I have ever seen in my life.

That title goes to Lake Louise and Banff as a whole. Not even close.

One last look at the lakes and we're gone! Now we need to figure out where to get our very late lunch. It seems like nothing is open today on a Sunday.

Rating: ❤❤

Price: €€

Address: Rakovica, 47245, Selište Drežničko, Croatia

Tel: +385 (0)4778-2143

Website: www.hotel-degenija.com

Restoran Degenija (Rakovica, CROATIA) ★★★☆☆

We arrived at the Plitvice Lakes National Park amidst of the worst summer rain in 50 years. Some of the hiking trails were flooded and a few were even completely under water.

Despite completely covering myself with a raincoat, I found myself soaking wet following 3 hours of hiking at the Lower Lakes. In desperate need to recharge our battery, we decided to look for a decent place to settle down and have a late lunch.

Situated next to Hotel Degenija on the D1 highway, Restoran Degenija is touted as one of the better restaurants near the National Park (8-10 minute drive).

Some outdoor seatings are available facing the highway.



But we found the indoor dining room to be a lot more comfortable and cozy.



It didn't take us long to decide what to order. A warm mushroom soup was the perfect way to start our late lunch.



Croatia always has some of the best deep fried calamari and this one with homemade fries was certainly very good.



A little less successful was the spaghetti Bolognese.



Restoran Degenija offers a wide range of homemade pizza straight from their wood-fired oven and this one with mushroom, cheese, smoked ham, pancetta and tomato topping was a nice way to wrap up our lunch.



The Plitvice Lakes National Park, the oldest national park in Southeast Europe provided us with a great hiking experience. Too bad mother nature didn't welcome us with the expected sunshine.







Food Rating: 4.2/10
Price: €€
Address: Selište Drežničko 59 (Next to Hotel Degenija), Rakovica, Croatia
Tel: +385 (0)4778-2143
Website: hotel-degenija.com/en/gastronomy/restoran-degenija.html

Lokanda Peskarija (Dubrovnik, CROATIA) ★★★☆☆

After spending the entire morning swimming at the private beach of our hotel, we were totally exhausted. But the craving for food got stronger and stronger so the decision was to go to the Old Town for a quick bite.

I love the Dubrovnik Old Town. Its narrow streets, ancient churches and small bistros lined up at almost every corner of the streets reminded me a lot of Venice.



We sat down at the Lokanda Peskarija with front row seats to the beautiful sea port and started flipping through the menu. Dubrovnik is right by the sea so it's not really surprising to find that the menu is predominantly seafood oriented.



We looked around and saw everybody starting off their meals with a pot of mussels with white wine and garlic. The portion was huge.

We decided to follow the same approach. The mussels were very fresh and you could tell from that sea water smell. The seasoning was very light, just a little bit of local white wine and some fresh garlic but that's how we liked it.



Next up was the deep fried squid. I really did not know whether to classify it as a starter or main course. The size certainly could feed 2 to 3 very hungry people and at approximately €9, that's quite a bargain.

Croatian cuisine is not a complicated cuisine like French or Italian. It's aimed to be simple and just a little bit of salt and pepper have made this dish heaven. Crispy and tender. What more could we ask for?



Our main course was a seafood risotto. Seafood consisted of some prawns and mussels (yes more mussels) and risotto was largely covered by a thick sauce made of tomato and seafood. I thought the seasoning was a bit on the strong side.



Lastly some dessert. We had the caramel cream and for the most part, very similar to a cream brulee but with a very strong caramel flavour. I'd prefer a normal cream brulee.

Some points were given to the nice relaxed atmosphere as well as the wonderful seaview. The food wasn't bad at all and prices were more than reasonable. Definitely a place worth checking out.

Food Rating: 5/10
Price: €

Address: Gorica Sv. Vlaha 77, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Tel: +385 20 324 750
Website: www.mea-culpa.hr



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Café Royal@The Pucić Palace (Dubrovnik, CROATIA) ★☆☆☆☆

We spent our last day in Dubrovnik walking around the picturesque town from east to west. After climbing the walls of Dubrovnik and riding the cable car up to Mount Sjd, we were pretty much exhausted and soaking wet. Instead of finding the perfect dining spot, we just wanted something simple near the Gundulić Square in the Old Town to enjoy our last evening here in Croatia.



Located on the ground floor of The Pucić Palace inside a 17th century Baroque building, Café Royal was the perfect solution since we didn't have to venture too far. Another thing that attracted us here was the Parisian-inspired dining room. Absolutely stunning. 



The restaurant specializes in International cuisine with a Mediterranean twist but from what I've seen, it's mostly Italian dishes with a strong focus on seafood.



Service took forever but we finally got our menu (after a long wait) and someone to take our order for us (even longer wait). Even longer was our wait for the first dish to arrive and by the time that it did arrive, I have almost passed out already.

Anyways, kicking things off for us was some kind of bean soup with croutons.



Fresh shucked oysters...arguably the best dish of the night. Although just average by our standards but it's heaven comparing to the rest of the dishes.



Ravioli with clams and prawns in white wine sauce. The white wine sauce tasted more like water. Bad.



Handmade Istrian style pasta with truffles and pancetta ham. I thought the kitchen has a lot to learn about making a good sauce (too bland) and delicious pasta (a bit soggy). As crazy as it may sound, this is still way better than the ravioli.



It was getting late but we just didn't want to leave the Old Town. This is a really astonishing site and we've got to come back sometime.



This felt a lot like a tourist trap to me. The high prices were certainly not justified any way we looked at it. I was particularly disappointed with the quality of food, which was way short of what a professional kitchen should be capable of producing.




Food Rating: 3.8/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F The Pucić Palace, Gundulićeva poljana 8, 20000, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Tel: +385 20 326-222
Website: www.thepucicpalace.com

360° by Jeffrey Vella (Dubrovnik, CROATIA) ★★★☆☆

Jeffrey Vella is the man behind 360°, the latest addition to Dubrovnik's culinary scene. For those familiar with fine dining in Croatia, they should be no stranger to Chef Vella, who has worked as the Executive Chef at the prestigious Regent Esplanade Zagreb starting in 2008.

But even before then, the Malta-borned chef has already cultivated his cooking techniques after extensive stints in famous hotel chains in Malta, Italy, UAE, Jordan, and Slovenia.  During those years, he got to work with some of the biggest names in the business including Alain Ducasse and Heston Blumenthal.

The most amazing feature of 360° by Jeffrey Vella has to be the view. The restaurant is housed in a fortress-like environment with the main dining room and bar set deep into the city walls of the Dubrovnik Old Town while the outdoor terraces stretched out to embrace the beautiful harbour. 

The first thing we noticed was the service put on display by the team here. Even the dropping of a fork did not go unnoticed (despite that our waiter was miles away) and it was replaced in a matter of seconds.

Seared scallops, 4/10
Vella's cooking philosophy has always been to preserve the natural taste of ingredients and it was quite evident here with our first dish (and the next 2).

Thin slices of seared scallops were served with apple carpaccio, young spinach and shoots. It was refreshing but no element of surprise at all.  

Tuna Tartar, 4.5/10

Following the scallops was a Japanese influenced tuna tartar which was dipped in a wasabi soy sauce and served with warm tomato focaccia and herb extract. Like the previous starter, the presentation was quite attractive but unfortunately the seasoning was way too overpowering on the tuna cubes.

Adriatic langoustines, 5.5/10
Almost a carbon copy of the scallop dish but scallops were replaced by Adriatic langoustines instead.

Lightly smoked langoustines, about half of the size of my little finger, were served with young leeks, lemon caviar and egg yolk carpaccio.

I thought using egg yolk to go with the langoustines was clever but there was a genuine lack of cooking techniques being shown from all three dishes so far.  They all looked strikingly similar.

The Croatia classic, 5/10
Finally a dish with a little bit of cooking involved. They called this the "Croatia classic".

It's a 72-hour slow-cooked beef shank done 2 ways. One piece of beef shank was smoked while the other roasted. Adding a bit of horseradish film helped to slightly enrich the flavor.

The harbour view of 360° was magnificent but the food was a bit off-the-mark (and a little pretentious). However, considering this is one of the very few fine dining options in town, perhaps it's still worthwhile to take a chance.




Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: €€€€

Address: Svetog Dominika BB, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
Tel: +385 20 322 222
Website: www.360dubrovnik.com

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Villa Orsula (Dubrovnik, CROATIA)

A few weeks before we took off on our highly anticipated trip to Dubrovnik, I got an unexpected message from Hotel Excelsior explaining to us that they would be unable to meet our accommodation request for a reason that was unknown to us. They did, however, arrange for a different hotel (Hotel Bellevue) under the same group for our stay. But once I checked out the location of our replacement hotel, I decided to write back and reject their offer. The reason? Well, Hotel Excelsior is within walking distance to Dubrovnik's Old Town (could actually see the Old Town from the hotel, which was the reason we picked it over others in the first place), and that was something Hotel Bellevue could never offer (although they made us a very good offer with an upgraded room at Hotel Bellevue). When I rejected their offer, we were thinking along the line of perhaps negotiating a different type of room at Hotel Excelsior. Little that we knew they would be making us an even better offer, one that would totally blow us out of the water.

Their second offer: a deluxe room at the newly opened Villa Orsula which is just 100 metres away from Hotel Excelsior. They even arranged a driver to pick us up from the airport. How nice is that!!!

As planned, the driver picked us up from the airport and after a 30-minute ride, we finally arrived at the lobby of Hotel Argentina. Wait a second, Hotel Argentina!? As we later learned, Villa Orsula did not have its own reception and lobby. This had me and Jelloman talking among ourselves - what kind of 5-star hotel would have no hotel reception of its own.....

We waited a bit at the lobby (while enjoying the view of Old Town) while they took care of all the paperwork for us. After the highly efficient check-in, the hotel manager showed up and offered to give us a quick tour of the premise. We followed her around a "secret" indoor passage before finally arriving at Villa Orsula in less than 5 minutes.

To be brutally honest, we were a bit concerned having seen the condition of Villa Argentina (a bit old and boring) but the manager kept reassuring us that "we would see the difference" (perhaps having seen the expression on our face!?). And finally we saw the difference.

Villa Orsula is a historic architecture built in 1939 but recently remodeled in 2011 by the Adriatic Luxury Hotel group. The hotel only has 13 rooms but that's the beauty of it - quiet and exclusive with its own swimming area, lounge and garden.

While it doesn't have its own lobby, there is a lounge on each floor for guests to chill out.

Our room was a contemporary one with very simple design and lots of space.

There were complimentary fruits and macarons waiting for us in our room already.

We couldn't wait to go and check out the sea view from our balcony.

Breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea, Lokrum Island and the Dubrovnik Old Town; exactly as advertised.

And this was right from our private balcony!

On the other side of the room was our bathroom. Again very spacious and much much cooler without the direct sunlight.

They have more than enough space to fit in a nice bath tub.

Apart from the amazing facility, one of the nicest things about Villa Orsula is the incredible location. Just a relaxing 10-minute walk to Dubrovnik's Old Town.

In between the hotel and Old Town is Plaža Banje, or Banje Beach, one of Dubrovnik's most popular public beach.

Known as one of the world's finest and best preserved medieval cities, it's not difficult to find a perfect vantage point for a beautiful shot at Dubrovnik's UNESCO listed Old Town.

Even after sunset, the "Pearl of the Adriatic" was still buzzing.

Following an amazing time in the Old Town, we returned to the hotel and the first thing we did was to head back to our balcony to admire the night view of Adriatic sea and Dubrovnik's Old Town.

The next morning after breakfast at Victoria Restaurant, we decided to check out the hotel's private "swimming area".

Through the picturesque cascading seafront gardens we go onto the waterfront. We could actually see Hotel Excelsior and its private beach from down here.

It's time to enjoy a lazy morning right by the ocean.

My stay at Villa Orsula won't be complete without an early morning swim in the Adriatic Sea, right? Here I come~~~

Our stay at Villa Orsula was truly a phenomenal experience. To have this seaside view of the Adriatic Sea with us throughout our stay, that was the perfect exclamation point on our remarkable trip in Dubrovnik. Special thanks to the folks from the Adriatic Luxury Hotel group for their hospitality (and free upgrade of course!). You have made our journey a very memorable one. We will most definitely look you guys up next time around.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Price: €€€€
Address: 14 Ulica Frana Supila, Dubrovnik, Croatia  
Tel: +385 (0) 2043-0830
Website: www.adriaticluxuryhotels.com/en/villa-orsula