Feasting on Croatian Breads and Pastries: Burek, Fritule, Krafne

Fritule also called Ustipci are deep-fried little doughnuts and sprinkled with fine powdered sugar.

Burek, Fritule, Krafne

I arrived in Zagreb centre with my rental car that I picked up from Zagreb airport. There are no train or tram connections from the airport to the city centre. The only way to get to the centre is to take a taxi (fast and comfortable) or bus + metro. So I figured out that Iâ€™d better just go by rental car since the hotel I booked has free parking and I am leaving the following day anyway for the road trip.

After I have settled my luggage at my hotel room, I immediately went out to hunt for a place to eat. Unfortunately, in Zagreb there are very few sit-down restaurants offering lunch and you really have to search for them. Croatians I noticed eat lunch on the go, buying bread or pastry from the bakery or food stands, I did not see people having long sit-down lunches. Perhaps in the summer this is different. The cafes and bars as well do not really sell food, they only offer drinks.

Which is the reason why I ended up at this bakery beside the Dolac Market.

I canâ€™t tell you how excited I was inside that bakery because I am seeing new types of food. New pastries, new breads, everything is new to me. Oh dear, what am I going to choose? Now this is the reason why I love travelling to new places. I discover new stuffs, learn new things and eat new foods =)

So I picked a few items. The girl serving me was so amused at my excitement and curiosity, haha.

My first two choices: Burek and some deep-fried minced meat pastry.

Burek is like pita bread stuffed with anything in between, the most popular in Croatia is beef but I chose a cheese and broccoli stuffing. This was actually quite good.

This was my least favourite because it was too dry and oily.

I also bought a few Fritules. Some versions have raisins in them.

Here is the bread and pastry counter of the bakery. It was soooo cheap! Croatian currency is Kuna (HRK abbreviation): HRK 1.00 = EUR 0.13 (or HRK 10.00 = EUR 1.31)

On Tkalcica street, a shop (actually a few shop cafes) were selling fritules and across Ban Jelacic Square I saw a stand selling krafne, Croatian filled doughnuts. Fritule and krafne are probably the most popular pastries in the country. They are everywhere!