What is a konoba? Eating out like a local in Istria

Drive inland from Poreč on a summer evening and you will pass hand-painted signs pointing up farm tracks: Konoba. Following one is one of the best things you can do in Istria.

What a konoba is

Originally a konoba was the cool stone cellar of a farmhouse, where wine, ham and oil were kept. Over time families began serving food there, and the word came to mean a simple tavern with home cooking. Today the name covers everything from a few tables in a grandmother’s courtyard to a polished restaurant with a wine list, but the idea is the same: local food, cooked the way it is cooked at home.

You will also see agroturizam, a working farm that serves its own produce, often only to guests who book ahead. And restoran simply means restaurant.

What to order

Menus are usually short and change with the season. A typical meal:

• To start: Istrian pršut (air-dried ham), sheep’s cheese, olives and bread with olive oil. Often served as a mixed plate for the table.
• Pasta: hand-made fuži or pljukanci, with truffles, game sauce or seasonal vegetables.
• Main: grilled meat or fish, or a slow-cooked dish pod čripnjom (under an iron bell covered with embers), which often has to be ordered a day ahead.
• Sides: blitva (chard with potatoes) or a simple salad dressed with oil and vinegar.
• To finish: fritule, kroštule or a glass of home-made brandy.

Our list of 12 Istrian dishes explains them in more detail.

Wine

Ask for the house wine, domaće vino, usually served by the quarter, half or full litre in a carafe. In Istria that means Malvazija (white) or Teran (red). It is often made by the family or a neighbour. Read more about Istrian wine.

Practical tips

• Book ahead in July and August and at weekends, and always for groups of eight or more. A group of twelve from one of our larger villas will usually need a reservation.
• Check opening times. Many konobas open only in the evening, and outside summer some open only at weekends or close for a winter break.
• Expect a relaxed pace. Food is cooked to order. Konobas are for long evenings, not quick dinners.
• Ask what is not on the menu. The best dish is often the one the owner suggests.
• Payment: cards are widely accepted, but small rural places may prefer cash. Prices are in euros.
• Children are welcome almost everywhere, and many konobas have gardens where they can run around.

Finding a good one

The best konobas are rarely on the main road. Ask your hosts, look for places full of local families on a Sunday lunchtime, and be suspicious of long laminated menus with photos. In autumn, head inland towards Motovun and Livade for truffle dishes. On the coast, look for places that tell you which fish came in that morning.

If you stay at Villa Bina or Villa Cvita Domenica, the village of Labinci itself has a restaurant less than a kilometre away, so one of you does not have to drive home.