Location: Zminj
Countries
Zminj Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Zminj
Žminj (Italian: Gimino) is a small town in Istria, Croatia, 15 km south of Pazin. It has a population of 3,483, and was first mentioned in 1177 as a parish of the Poreč diocese.
1. OPG Ondina
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 29 reviews
Reviewed By Mateja J - Zagreb, Croatia
We ate here after visiting the cave Festinsko kraljevstvo. There were only several meals on offer but they were all quite delicious. As a bonus, the owners have treated us with pancakes "on the house".
2. Konoba Danijeli
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 95 reviews
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Reviewed By Paul C - Bedford, United Kingdom
Meat is grilled on charcoal from the huge open fire and pasta is freshly made to order. You need to be in a big group to get the typically Croatian "meat under the dome" experience though. Food quality is excellent, service is friendly, wine is good, and it's a pretty location for eating outside. Prices are good. What more could you want!
3. Konoba Puli Pineta
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 104 reviews
Reviewed By wheretheheartis - Warwickshire UK
The location is a little weird but that said it is quaint! You do feel as if you're in someones home. We had the beef back and it was delicious, tender and very tasty. My only complaint is that service was quite slow, only 2 staff on. However, I would go back.
4. Konoba Vela Vrata
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 174 reviews
Reviewed By Richard I
Stumbled upon this place having just visited the Pazin zip line and the Castle. Located 6km out of Pazin and visited by tourists viewing the nearby chapel of St Marije na Škriljinah, Vela Vrata is beautifully located overlooking rolling hills.
We stopped off for lunch but noted that most tables were reserved for dinner, we visited mid week. Our waitress was helpful and polite, it felt very much a family-run business. The kitchen is small though looked very clean and organised. There are also two wood ovens which we were informed that these were only used for dinner in the summer months and all day during the winter. As such our steaks were cooked on a griddle. This did not detract from the melt-in-mouth fillet steak with intense black truffles accompanied with perfectly cooked and seasoned, homemade Istrian pasta.
We began with Istrian soup and a carpaccio of beef doused with an unearthly amount of black truffles. As well as the fillet steak with black truffles we had homemade pasta, one with goulash and one with porcini mushrooms, both delicious. The house wine was also very palatable. We finished with a dark chocolate tart with honey and truffles, a heady combination.
Vela Vrata really is an off the beaten track gem. Worth a visit but be sure to book ahead.
5. Konoba Vorichi
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 120 reviews
Reviewed By Pickytraveller1304 - Pai, Thailand
Settled in a natural environment of a lovely Istrian village, with a semi-open and completely open space is a remarkably smart solution. A flute of nicely chilled sparkling wine as a welcome drink was appreciated. That's where it stops being amazing and passes to average. Mojito was good but overpriced - yes, the prices are well noted in the menu, I'm just saying that it's not worth 50,00 kunas (almost 7,00 €). The starter was good, tempura shrimps, carpaccio and cold plate with ham and cheese. Again, overpriced. 90,00 kunas (12,00 €) for 3 pcs of fried shrimps. Finally a meat feast as a main. T-bone steak of an impressive size but average taste and quite chewy. Pork ribs very bad, as if half cooked. Sausages not bad. Pork chop hard and quite tasteless. Grilled veggies and rosemary potatoes good, but again not worth that amount of money.
The total of 220 € for 5 people was a lot, considering we ordered no wine and no dessert, and one person had just a cod fish risotto and one beer.
Will probably not return nor recommend.
Important: be sure to bring enough cash, they don't accept cards.
6. Pizzeria Orhideja
Overall Ratings
5 based on 32 reviews
Reviewed By jamiet560 - Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
My family of 5 went to the pizzeria in mid August when staying just south of Zminj. At first we were a bit apprehensive as it is fairly dark and was really the only place to eat in the town but having seen loads of people eating there we went in. The pizzas we got were amazing! One of the tastiest pizza I've had, with incredible crusts and for a very very reasonable price. Loved it and recommended to the next residents of the villa I was staying in. Do go if you visit Zminj!
7. OPG Agroturizam Familija Ferlin
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 25 reviews
Buisness time: Only Reservations.
Reviewed By Rantin rover - Biggar, United Kingdom
We visited this agro-tourism restaurant for lunch during a tour entitled “Flavours of Istria” organised with TUI via local Croatian operators Gulliver Travel. The tour gave a flavour of the region and the restaurant a flavour of some local dishes.
It seemed a bit unusual to be getting driven by coach into a very small hamlet however they were obviously well geared up for the process. We were welcomed at the restaurant by a piper (their version who wasn’t dressed in a kilt) and offered an aperitif of the local brew which came in shots of a few flavours. For the brave only there was some grappa, said by our guide to be of a very high alcoholic content and not tested by many on our tour. The flavoured drink was perfectly fine.
The restaurant can seat quite a sizeable amount of visitors however it is designed in such a fashion that we never felt as if it was catering for the masses and that we were “packaged“. There were separate areas for small tour groups which isolated us from other parties and maintained a farmhouse-like atmosphere rather than a barn! We were seated at tables of around 8 fellow travellers and fortunately for us everyone was sociable and the atmosphere relaxing.
The meal consisted of soup and bread and despite Reservations of the soup being an odd thing to serve with soaring temperatures outside, it was delicious. (The temperature inside the restaurant was comfortable).
Next we shared a couple of platters of pasta with meat or with cheese which again were perfectly tasty - the meat one had the odd bit of grizzle however I suspect it was one of those dishes where everything is put into a pot and cooked for hours - chunks of tender meat in general.
To finish off we were served mini doughnuts covered in sugar which despite the coating didn’t taste too sweet.
To help the food down locally produced red and white wine were served and having tried both I was satisfied that I would happily buy a bottle if offered - it wasn’t.
Service throughout was quiet and efficient - plates arrived and left in a smooth manner so we hardly noticed.
Meal completed we were offered a token gift of Istria (a little wooden item) in exchange for our tour receipt - not quite sure why but we also experienced something similar at our hotel during our holiday as part of a prize draw. The cost of the meal was inclusive in our trip.
After viewing the temperamental donkey tied up outside and taking a few photos it was time to hit the trail for our next stop.
Overall it was a very enjoyable visit, unhurried and well organised to avoid giving us a feeling we’d just been processed so full marks to all involved for achieving this result - a pleasant change from some similar operations we've experienced elsewhere.
8. Agroturizam Botra Marija
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 18 reviews
Agroturism Botra Marija is a family restaurant located in Sveti Petar u Šumi, Istria. Agroturism is named after our grandma Marija who is well-known for her cooking skills and preparation of home-made grappa, pasta and bread. We serve mainly traditional Istrian food such as home-made istrian pasta "fuži", "ravioli" and "makaruni", fruits and vegetables from our garden all together with homemade wine and craft beer.
Reviewed By nikaPazin - Pazin, Croatia
We tasted all different types of dried meat: sausages, pancetta, proscutto and few more with strange name (Ombolo and Buđola). Eveything was very good. The owners family prepares all that at home including traditional home made pasta. But you can only taste all that during...MoreThank you for your review. :D Best regards, Jelena
9. Pizzeria Ulika
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 20 reviews
Reviewed By Lara H - Utrecht, The Netherlands
We had a take away twice here to enjoy at our nearby B&B. Beware: the big pizza's are huge! For me, their medium is already large :-) Nice wide range of choice and good quality.
10. Pizzeria Grimani
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 87 reviews
Reviewed By Thebates22
A group of 10 of us ate at the Grimani Pizzeria last night. Located in a beautiful 15th Century building this place provides gorgeous home made stone fired pizza. Great value for money and served by really friendly staff, will most certainly be back later in the year.
