If you stroll through the center of the (town of) Murter, after the season has started (which in Murter is, let‘s say, the last weekend in May), it will be hard to miss the little restaurant Fine food Murter. They have made sure not to go unnoticed, so at first you‘ll spot a multitude of colorful (Spanish colorful) scarves hung across the narrow alleyways, which are plentiful in the center of Murter. These used to be fishermen‘s warehouses, but today house various service businesses that change from year to year. Fine food Murter has been around for a long time and has transformed from a fast food place into almost a Fine Food village. They have expanded into several neighboring premises, and each room is decorated more eclectically than the last. The decor is so crazy that it‘s extremely charming, blending local tradition with the (obviously) playful spirit of the owner, so you can spend some time observing this maximalist decor and have a good time.
Unfortunately, you can also spend some time studying the menu, which is a sign of too much of a mishmash, which later reflects in the quality of the dishes. As soon as you glance over it, it‘s clear that they‘ve gone in every direction here. Understandable if you want to satisfy every type of guest, but organizationally and conceptually, it seems they‘ve spread themselves too thin. From the daily offerings, we conclude the emphasis is on some kind of fusion approach: there are bao buns with shrimp and mango, then swordfish skewers with tahini and couscous, and vegetable rolls with wasabi & sweet chili sauce. Asia. Then on the regular menu, there are burgers, steaks, lamb, but also pljukanci with truffles, and a whole set of more classic Croatian seafood dishes. By the end of the evening, we were wondering exactly what the many tourists were choosing, as their tables were being served some kind of hanging meat on a stick, almost like in a Brazilian restaurant.
But, we start with appetizers that seemed sensible for a hot summer evening: burrata with roasted tomatoes and tuna carpaccio+tartare with avocado cream (24.90 eur). The most successful dish of the evening was definitely the burrata with tomatoes, although there are better quality burratas, but in combination with roasted tomatoes, aceto, pine nuts, and tomato jam, the flavors blended perfectly. This is also almost the only dish that costs a little less than 20 euros.
The tuna tartare and carpaccio were decent, and the most liveliness came from the pickled radishes and onions, while the avocado cream was saved by some oriental spice we couldn‘t quite identify. It took us a little while to get used to the waiter‘s specific charm, but by the end of the evening, we were on the same wavelength. So, together with the main courses, we chose a bottle of Tomaz‘s aged Malvasia Sesto Senso (55 eur), which is truly an excellent wine that covers a wide range of stronger dishes, as well as those with Asian flavors. The wine list by the glass relies on a small selection of Dalmatian and Plešivica wines that cover the menu well.
For the main courses, we decided to go Asian, Croatian, and Asian-Croatian. We don‘t know if they make the spring rolls (15.90 eur) themselves, but if so, they need to work on the textures because the rolls weren‘t crispy, while the inside was a bit mushy. The most flavor came from the wasabi mayonnaise dipped in sweet chili sauce, which perhaps shouldn‘t be the main carrier of flavor.
The bao buns (23.90 eur) were dry, and the shrimp and mango filling was again drenched in wasabi mayonnaise. The shrimp was completely overshadowed by the mayonnaise and salsa, and the mango in the salsa was unripe and hard. Why make a dish with an ingredient that‘s almost impossible to get ripe and tasty in Croatia? We don‘t know.
Tuna with ponzu sauce and wasabi mash (here wasabi made the most sense!) was an interesting dish, although the tuna itself seemed unusually pale, mild in flavor, and quite dry. To be fair, they did ask us how we wanted it cooked, which is commendable. The sesame crust enhanced the flavors, as did the ponzu sauce, so all together it was a well-rounded dish of Asian provenance.
Adriatic squid on the grill (27.90 eur) was tasty and juicy, with a nice texture, and underneath was delicious Swiss chard and fava beans with, unfortunately, undercooked potatoes. The Trieste sauce, served on the side, was a good addition for those who weren‘t planning to kiss anyone that evening.
In the end, in good spirits, because the atmosphere in the packed restaurant was quite pleasant, we asked for a selection of desserts, which was served to us very effectively on a board. Two desserts were divided into four pieces, and vanilla and blueberry creams were also added. The white cake and blueberry tart were tasty and refreshing.
We had a pleasant evening at Fine food Murter, but we criticize them for the overly broad menu, which significantly affects the quality of execution. We understand the reasons, but we think guests would benefit much more from a less varied menu that the kitchen could execute better. There is ambition and creativity, but the diversity of the offerings is unnecessarily large, and that‘s where the execution suffers. Also, if you can‘t get quality ingredients, and in Croatia it really is hard to get certain items, you simply shouldn‘t go in that direction. If they removed half the dishes from the menu, we believe they wouldn‘t lose anything, and could still make a varied menu to which they could dedicate themselves properly. It‘s a shame, because the place is extremely charming and it‘s obvious they are trying.
Za sudjelovanje u komentarima je potrebna prijava, odnosno registracija ako još nemaš korisnički profil....