Montenegro is not short of hotels that are located in its various towns and also summer resorts which offer half and full board accommodation. There are restaurants, taverns, fast food and pizza places which line the roads. There are also a variety of restaurants which offer traditional Montenegrin cuisine and are called national restaurants.
This mushy dish is a meal by itself and is made from wheat, barley, cornflour or buck wheat and is served with cheese and sour milk. When cheese is added to this dish it is called ‘wet kacamak' or simply ‘kajmak'. This dish has to be stirred for a long time with a wooden spoon. This makes the dish taste even better. Kacamak is very popular with people living in the villages as it is a good source of energy for the hard labour they put in. Another variation to this dish is made out of potato. This dish will be found on the menu of most restaurants in Montenegro.
This dish is made from cooking crumbled cheese pieces, and when the grease or fat is released, wheat flour is added to it. By constantly stirring the mixture you get a porridge-like dish and this can be eaten with cooked potato and sour milk. This dish also provides high energy and is pleasant tasting as it seems to melt in the mouth.
This is a dish made from mixing bread with milk and cheese. It is an inexpensive dish which is deeply rooted in the culture and cuisine of Montenegro.
This is a fairly simple preparation which requires cooking the potato for half an hour. It is accompanied with cheese and sour cabbage.
This dish is a speciality in Montenegro. To serve eight people you need two kilograms of meat, which is then cooked in milk. While cooking, potato and various spices such as pepper and laurel are also added. This dish is also served on solemn occasions.
This is made by using a special drying technique. This is usually made in the village of Njegusi and is very strong flavoured, yet tasty.
This also comes from the village of Njegusi and is better in quality than what the Italians produce. It is dried on beech logs for several months. People like to eat this along with some domestic grape brandy and dry cheese from Njegusi.
This meal is unique because of the vessel it is made in. The pan is made from cast iron. These meals - made under the pan - are very tasty as the ingredients are placed under the pan and the pan is then covered with ember and ashes. This way the aroma of the food is retained and the meal is also cooked naturally. Lamb cooked in this manner, in particular, is very tasty. All the Montenegrin national restaurants to date prepare lamb this way.
There are many meals that are specific to Podgorica, but Popeci is by far the favourite amongst locals. This is a meal made from pork fillets and is interestingly arranged. What is done is that a piece of cheese or old ‘kajmak' and a piece of ‘prsut' are rolled into a steak made from veal's meat. This is then deep fried in oil and you get a dish which has a rich and juicy interior and a crunchy and tasty exterior.
Montenegrins also like their food made on the grill. For instance, the luscious Cevapi or kebab and the grilled meat patty that combines excellently with onions are quite a favourite with everyone. These two meals are popular with the young people and can also be found on the menu of fast food restaurants in Montenegro.
Bay of Kotor Food & Cuisine Guide
The cuisine of Montenegro is based on its geographic location and its long and rich history. Traditional dishes from the heartland and the Adriatic coast have an Italian flavour, especially in the way that breads are made, in the curing of the meat, and in the flavours of its cheeses and wines. Other gastronomic influences are from Turkey and the Levant, with dishes such as burek, pita and baklava. There are also dishes like the popular Hungarian goulash, doughnuts and Viennese bread from other parts of Europe.
The coastal regions in Montenegro typically eat a Mediterranean type of cuisine with lots of seafood, while the northern regions have more of a meat based cuisine, with dishes of lamb, polenta, cicvar and tripe. Montenegro's traditional method of cooking dishes of lamb, bread and flat cakes is still followed. In this method, shallow clay dishes are covered with a bell and buried under coals and ash to give it uniform heat from every direction.
Kotor has a variety of restaurants, with the majority of them offering typical Mediterranean dishes.
Cold Antipasto (a.k.a. Meza)
This is the dish that is usually offered to welcome a guest. The classic Meza platter includes items such as njeguska prsuta (which is a local version of prosciutto), thin slices of cacciatore smoked salami, njeguski and pljevaljski cheese, and kastradina, a type of smoked mutton.
Breakfast
A normal breakfast consists of Cicvara, which essentially is stewed cornmeal with skorup (fresh cream that is salted and compressed), pita bread with kiselo mlijeko (yogurt or buttermilk), popara, or simple bread with some skorup.
Soups
Soups generally include supa (pronounced soop-uh) which is a clear soup, corba (pronounced chore-buh) which is a thick soupy stew, and kasa (pronounced kuh-shuh) which is a porridge type soup. Soups are generally served as the starting course at lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day. Popular soups include kokosija supa, a chicken broth, jagnjeca supa, a lamb broth, and goveda supa, a beef broth. The traditional method involved adding a little rice to the pot once the broth was made, so that it became more substantial. Today, most people add pasta instead of rice.
Main Courses
Montenegrin cuisine include kuvani brav or boiled lamb which is similar to an Irish stew; kacamak or polenta, brav u mlijeku or lamb cooked in milk which is the national dish of the Albanians originally from Montenegro; buttered potatoes with corn meal drizzled with skorup, a fresh salted cream, that is served with either cold milk, yogurt or buttermilk, kuvana krtola or halves of boiled potatoes, served with cheese, fresh cream or cold yogurt; ukljeva or smoked and dried bleak; pastrva or fresh water trout; krap or fresh and smoked carp straight from Skadar Lake; rastan (pronounced as ruh-shtun), a sturdy green vegetable with a slight bitterish taste and which comes from the cabbage family. Rastan adds a delicious flavour when added to stews with pork ribs and also to ham hocks. Other main course dishes include japraci and dolma that is made by rolling rastan leaves and served with mashed potatoes; corbast pasulj, a bean stew that also has smoked ribs and a variety of sausages and salami and is similar to a French cassoulet or the fabada or feijoada from the Iberian region; Maune or a green bean stew; balsica tava, a fried veal with several vegetables and dairy items; grasak, a beef and pea stew; and pastrovski makaruli, a homemade macaroni with cheese and olive oil.
Seafood dishes
Seafood dishes are an important part of the Montenegrin cuisine and include items such as lignje (squid), tunj (tuna), salata od hobotnice (octopus), musle (mussels), scampi (prawns), and prstaci. Seafood dishes are a excellent choice when eating out in Kotor
Salads
Salads are also an central part of Montenegrin meals, with the most common salad being paradajz salata or tomato salad which is similar to a bruschetta topping with tomato, onions, olive oil and some rock sea salt; a zelena salata or a green salad with spring onions and spring lettuce along with some olive oil, vinegar and salt, ajvar (a roasted or fried capsicum relish) as well as kiseli kupus or sauerkraut.
The preferred way to end a meal is with some seasonal fruit and sweet biscuits accompany tea or coffee. Some of the famous sweets in Montenegro are the priganice, flat doughnuts or fritters served with cheese, jam, honey or homemade syrups with wild pomegranate that abounds in the countryside of southern Montenegro.
Montenegro has a variety of cheeses of which it is immensely proud. Varying from skorup, which is also known as kajmak and is a salty cottage cheese; pivski kajmak, a salty cottage cheese from the Piva area; prljo, which is cheese made of skimmed milk, cijeli sir, buca and zetica, all of which are made of unboiled milk.
Drink
Drinks made from dairy products like yogurt and kiselo mlijeko (buttermilk) are popular and are found everywhere.
There are several Red and white wines local to Montenegro. One excellent red wine is Vranac, which is affordable and suits a variety of palates. Montenegro's local Merlot can compare quite well with medium priced varieties from Europe. The best known white wines of the region are the Sauvignon and the Krstac, which is a dry wine. The local loza/grappa is Rakija and is consumed across the country for toasts and is also offered to guests. Since it is a fiery wine, it should be sipped slowly and is best drunk when chilled and taken as an aperitif with some smoked ham and cheese. Kruna is the smoothest variety of Rakija and is refined with vine twigs.
Montenegro's trademark is Niksic Beer, which is made of local barley, mountain water and some bitter but aromatic hops. The beer is usually served chilled at 5 degrees C.
Rakija is a local brandy that is made of grapes from Zeta Valley and the Crmnica region. While it is similar to Russian vodka, Montenegrin Rakija is a stronger and aromatic drink. There is also a brandy from small wild apples that are found in northern regions as well as from plums and pears and junipers. Montenegrin brandies all display the name of the fruit base from which they are made, so names are like lozovaca or loza (made of grape), sljivovica or sljiva (made of plum), krusku (made of pear) and so on. Prvijenac is an extremely popular variety of brandy and is strong and aromatic. Most meals are ended with some loza, a Pomace brandy that is quite similar to Italian grappa, slowly sipped and taken with a glass of water.
Food & Cuisine in Budva
Small, sweet and round fritters, accompanied by homemade honey and Montenegrin brandy made from the finest grapes, will greet you as you sit down for a meal at a restaurant in Montenegro. The table will also have sweet tasting dried figs with the most enticing aroma. These tempting figs would have been picked the previous summer and dried naturally.
Being a Mediterranean destination, the cuisine of Budva is largely coastal. Seafood is plentiful and naturally an important part of the meal. Grilled fish, mussels in sauce, octopus salad, dentex, and black rice are some of the dishes worth a taste. Freshly caught fish is cooked in lots of olive oil, and ingredients such as garlic, lime, chopped parsley, and aromatic rosemary are the usual additions to any dish. There's a local saying that fish swim in three places - first they swim in the sea, followed by oil and finally in wine! Local fishermen start selling their wares from the moment they reach the docks and directly from their boats. Budva residents know this and buy their fish straight from the docks.
A visit to Budva is considered complete only after tasting the local cow and goat cheese, the green salads, the smoked ham or dried pork meat, the black and green olives, and some of the domestic red and white wines such as Procorden and Krtsac.
Regardless of your choice of drink, it is customary in Budva to raise a toast to everyone present, to wish everyone good fortune, good health, success, and perhaps even an encounter with someone new in Budva!
Where to go
The best places to wine and dine in Buda are in the Old Town, teeming with excellent restaurants and bars. They are all located in lovely settings, surrounded by squares with flowers and palm trees, old homes, and eye catching gardens.
Be warned that cafés and bars in Budva are invariably crowded throughout the season, making it very difficult to find a place to sit. Also, prices of drinks and food here are some of the highest in the region.
The number of restaurants in Budva goes up during the tourist season. Restaurants in the Old Town and near Slovenska Plaza are more expensive than those in other localities. With the cost of fish being 35 to 45 euros per kilogram, the chances of finding inexpensive meals here are low. Fast food joints near Slovenska Plaza are quite cheap. A hamburger or a slice of pizza costs 1 to 2 euros, while most other foods cost about 3 euros. The cheaper Budva restaurants are located away from the main tourist areas and they are the places frequented by the locals.
Open air discothèques, night bars, and terraces attract crowds of young people, more so during the long and sultry summer nights. Young people get together at the numerous coffee bars and enjoy taking part in the madness. The crowds linger in the open air clubs lining the main promenade till about 1 am when they move to the indoor nightclubs. These nightclubs remain busy till the morning.
Out of season
Once the tourist season ends and most tourists have left, the local population celebrates the season with wine, beer and fish. The festival is organised near the docks, in front of the Mongren Hotel, outside the Old Town walls. One of the last few weekends of October is selected for the festival. It is an opportunity for the local people, and some fortunate visitors, to get together, enjoy the town and its people, and tuck into some wonderful Montengrin food and drink.
Food & Cuisine in Podgorica
Montenegrin cuisine is simply delicious and exclusive all the way! Perhaps, the traditional dishes lack the refinement and sophistication of French and Italian cuisine. But if you think that it makes them any less appetising, you couldn't be further from the truth!
The typical chef in Montenegro nurtures tradition and every spread is bound to be distinctive in its own way. Delectable, wholesome and natural, menu specialties from restaurants are a treat to the palate.
Eating out in Podgorica will definitely be an enjoyable experience.
Podgorica Beverages
Both Podgorica and Montenegro serve food that is extremely unique to the region. Take a sip of the irresistible Montenegrin red wine or the "Niksic bear" and the odds are that you will never remain indifferent to it ever again! Representing the highest standards of quality in Europe, these two products are typical of Montenegro.
The climatic conditions and geography of Podgorica favour the production of that nectar of life - wine. The grape plantations of the 13th July use sophisticated technological processes, which are on par with the highest international standards.
Brands like Chardonnay, Vranac, Procordem and Krstac are world-famous and have loyal admirers even in the North American market. Light and dark variants of the "Niksic bear" are found in almost every other Podgorican café.
Brandy, an alcoholic product, is extremely popular in the Balkans and Podgorica specialises in producing many variants. The most popular among them are "lozovaca", made from grapes, Prvijenac and "13 jul" Kruna. As whiskey is to Scotland, so brandy is to Montenegro and no tour of Montenegro can be complete unless you savour these concoctions to their last drops.
Every variant has its distinctive flavour and taste, so make sure you take a little sip of each!
Podgorica cuisine
In Podgorica, as well as among most of the other Montenegrin municipalities, native cuisine has a very large influence on most dishes. Some of the meals on your menu are likely to be specific to Podgorica. To live the spirit of Podgorica, try whisking up your own versions of the 'popeci' and carp while dining out in one the fine restaurants in Podgorica.
A traditional delicacy, 'Popeci' consists of pork fillets that have been salted and mashed. White cheese made from cow's milk is kneaded until it reaches a rather creamy consistency. This is then placed in between the fillets, which are then rolled in. The sides are pinched together to prevent the cheese filling from spilling out. The fillets are then dipped well in a frothy mixture of eggs, before being rolled in breadcrumbs. The process is repeated until the fillet has been well coated with the eggs and breadcrumbs. This roll is then deep fried in hot oil, until it is crisp and well cooked. What goes best with 'popeci' is a scrumptious topping made by mixing together mayonnaise and sour cream, seasoned with a few sprigs of parsley.
If you're a river fish enthusiast, you'll simply love the Podgorican way of preparing carp. A generous mixture of chopped onions, carrots, garlic, celery and parsley are stewed well. In the meanwhile, dry plums are boiled and strained in another vessel, and the raw carp is left to marinate in salt. The carp is then baked as one whole piece along with the stewed vegetables, strained plums and just enough water to cover the carp. However, light cuts are made in a few places, so as to make it easier to cut the carp into small pieces while serving.
The outcome is truly phenomenal and the distinctive tang of such an assortment of ingredients leaves behind a taste that will linger long after the meal is done!
