Island of Vis, Croatia Dining: Konoba Barba and Konoba Dol

My next several travel blog posts are about dining experiences and traditions in Croatia’s Dalmatia region. The posts are written through the lens of my family’s travels on the Dalmatian island of Vis, primarily in the town of Komiža but elsewhere on the island as well. 

Image featured above: The beckoning waterfront terrace at Konoba Barba, a restaurant serving traditional Dalmatian cuisine in Komiža. The restaurant is located at the end of a quaint alleyway off the pedestrian Ribarska Ulica, or “Fisherman’s Street.” The Adriatic Sea and island of Biševo are visible in the background.

My husband Jaroslav is a Dalmatia native, born and raised in the coastal town of Makarska, where his sister and her family live to this day.  It is a tradition when we travel to Croatia each summer for all of us to retreat to the island of Vis for relaxation and beach time. 

After spending the day swimming in the refreshing waters of the Adriatic Sea and basking in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun, we work up a ravenous appetite.  There is something about the combination of physical activity and time spent in the sun that wears us out physically and sends us on a quest for a satisfying meal.  

The Dalmatian “konoba” is just the right kind of place to satiate hunger on those active beach days.  Many of our most memorable dining experiences on the island of Vis have taken place in konobas.

So what is a konoba?  According to my Dalmatian husband, there is no direct translation in English.  In a historical sense, a konoba was the room in a traditional Dalmatian house – a structure constructed of karst limestone – where food was prepared and stored.  So sort of a kitchen, and sort of a cellar.  The konoba was located on the ground floor of the house, if not in the basement, and had no windows.  The stone construction coupled with a lack of windows permitted the maintenance of proper temperature to keep food from spoiling. The konoba as an integral part of a Dalmatian dwelling endured until the use of electricity and modern refrigeration became widespread. The arrival of tourism as a major industry in Dalmatia also added to the traditional konoba’s demise.  Locals began renovating their homes to accommodate tourists as a way to earn extra income during the summer months. 

The above two photos are from the bottom floor of the renovated stone house where we prefer to stay in Komiža. The kitchen and bedroom are pictured. The bottom floor must have once been the konoba.  It has walls of stone and while it has three rooms and a bathroom, there is just one tiny window, located in the kitchen and likely added when the house was renovated.  We prefer the bottom floor to the top because, like the konoba it once was, it is cooler, darker, and quieter. 

Nowadays, konoba refers to a traditional Dalmatian restaurant serving grilled meats and fish.  Because of the variety of meats and fish prepared at these restaurants, it is possible to dine in konobas day after day and not order the same dish twice.  Below I detail our experiences at two different konobas: Konoba Dol, where we dined on meat, and Konoba Barba, where we dined on fish.

The above photo is of the spread from our meal at Konoba Dol, located in the picturesque countryside between the towns of Komiža and Vis. We dined at Dol after spending the day at Stiniva Beach. We were so hungry that we went to Dol directly from the beach in the late afternoon, without showering or changing out of our beach attire. This was not an issue because Dalmatian culture and identity are inextricably intertwined with the sea. We also arrived in advance of the evening hours, which are a bit dressier.

There is a lot to unpack in the photo of the spread at Dol with respect to Dalmatian cuisine. While the centerpiece is the meats, I will begin with the potatoes. Fried potatoes seasoned with just the right amount of Dalmatian sea salt are a common side dish throughout the region. There is something about the sea salt, harvested primarily in Northern Dalmatia on the island of Pag but also in the coastal towns of Nin and Ston, that complements the starchiness of the potato and brings out an exquisite and delectable taste, setting the potato apart from any I have ever tasted. Part of the delectability of the Dalmatian potato may be due to how it is grown and raised. Potato patches can be found all across Dalmatia in sinkholes that have formed in the mountainous countryside. Locals lovingly tend to these patches, cultivating tiny batches of potatoes that are then sold to fine restaurants in Western Europe. Thankfully, some remain in Dalmatia for local consumption.

Now, moving on to the meats. Dalmatians are unapologetic meat eaters and enjoy a diverse array of meat dishes. The mixed grill platter at Dol does a great job of capturing the variety of meats commonly consumed in the region. My most favorite meat dishes, and the ones I will highlight here, are čevapi and pljeskavica. It is important to acknowledge that these two specialties are beloved not just in Croatia’s Dalmatia region, but in most of the present-day countries that once made up the now non-existent country of Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia). Čevapi are composed of a minced mixture of two meats and shaped like a sausage, but without a casing. The meats used to make čevapi are beef, lamb, veal, or pork. The specific two-meat mixture selected depends not just on personal taste, but on region-specific traditions and beliefs as well. For example, in the Muslim part of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, beef and lamb are used as the consumption of pork is forbidden due to religious belief. However in Croatia, a Catholic country, pork is most often one of the two meats used. My favorite mixture, and the one served to us at Dol, consists of beef and pork. Pljeskavica is very similar to čevapi, made with the same minced meat mixture but shaped like a patty. Čevapi and pljeskavica are typically accompanied with the condiment ajvar, a bright-red eye-popping mixture of roasted red peppers and eggplant. Ajvar is salted and spiced in a variety of ways, and can range in temperature from mild to hot. It can be seen above nestled on the far left of the meat platter.

And I must not neglect to mention the side dish of grilled vegetables. We enjoyed grilled tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, and eggplant. The vegetables were served drizzled with olive oil, one of the exports of the Dalmatia region.

Konoba Barba is conveniently located off Ribarska Ulica, the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the town of Komiža, which is composed of quaint alleyways and pedestrian-only streets. “Barba” is the Dalmatian word for “uncle.” It amazes me how a country with barely four million inhabitants can have so many different dialects and words for the same thing.

Above two photos: the charming entrance to Barba. And Ribarska Ulica in the shadow of late afternoon.

The setting at Barba is idyllic and dreamy, on a terrace perched above the Adriatic Sea with a stunning view of Komiža’s “riva” (the Dalmatian word for a walkway along a harbor front), harbor, and the island of Biševo.  A large part of the experience at Barba is, in fact, to simply take in the ambiance. The photo at the beginning of this post captures the dreaminess of Barba’s waterfront setting.

Above is Barba’s terrace in the morning light, before it opened for the day. I snapped this photo on our way to our morning coffee. The captivating terrace was beckoning to us throughout our entire trip. We were thrilled to secure a reservation!

Above two photos: Jaroslav and our niece settling in at our table on Barba’s terrace. The restaurant is just beginning to fill up for the evening. And the view from our table of the riva, harbor, and mountain as the sun was setting. The white karst limestone of the mountain is taking on a beautiful pinkish-orange cast. We took our time at dinner that night, wanting to fully enjoy the sunset and the experience. Our food did not arrive until it was dark. Luckily we were in Dalmatia where, much like in the rest of Europe, dinner is viewed as an experience to savor and enjoy. The wait staff respect their patrons’ space and are not in a hurry to turn over the tables.

Now, there is no lack of restaurants with beautiful views throughout Croatia’s Dalmatia region, and some restaurants get away with serving lack-luster food knowing that their view will attract a consistent throng of customers. This is not the case at Barba, where the food is just as much an attraction as the view.  While we indulged in meats at Konoba Dol, at Konoba Barba fish was center stage. 

My brother-in-law and I ordered the tuna steak. As is often the practice in fine restaurants throughout the Dalmatia region, Barba requested our seafood order when we made our reservation. Planning ahead allows the restaurant to ensure the freshness and quality of the fish and, by extension, the dining experience. I did depart a little from tradition by ordering red wine to go along with my tuna instead of white. Luckily, the wait staff was not bothered by this whatsoever. I have in the past when travelling in Europe had the wait staff dispute my order because I did not choose the preferred accompaniments and pairings to a dish. And go figure, the two true Dalmatians in our group, my husband and his sister, do not like seafood so ordered a mixed grill platter instead!

For my side item at Barba I chose the Dalmatian specialty blitva and potatoes, traditionally referred to simply as “blitva.” Blitva is often translated in English as Swiss chard. However, as my Dalmatian family and friends assure me, blitva is not Swiss chard, but rather a green leafy vegetable endemic to the Dalmatia region. The delectable dish is prepared by boiling the potatoes and sautéing the greens in a mixture of olive oil and garlic, and then combining the potatoes and the greens in the olive oil and garlic mixture. And of course, the blitva is seasoned with Dalmatian sea salt! Luckily at Barba the amount of sautéing and boiling was just right, so the greens and potatoes were neither too tough nor too mushy, and the greens retained their flavor.

And we mustn’t forget the kiddos! In this last part of the post, I discuss dining with children in Dalmatia (and the challenge associated with it!). As anyone who has travelled with small children knows, there is a direct correlation between the enjoyment of your trip and keeping the kids happy. My husband and I have experienced this firsthand on travels with our niece and nephew in tow. This reality is often most evident when dining on our trips. There is nothing more frustrating on a trip than securing a reservation at a restaurant we’ve been looking forward to dining at and then having the experience dampened by the kids being stubborn and fussy about the food. In my travels around Dalmatia I have found one kid-friendly dish that satisfies every time: green peppers stuffed with a mixture of ground beef and rice, served on bed of mashed potatoes and topped with gravy.

Above two photos: my brother-in-law struggling to convince his daughter, who was five at the time, to eat her dinner. And the dinner-rescuing kid-friendly dish, stuffed green peppers with potatoes and gravy. The spice level is mild to non-existent, with the only bite coming naturally from the green pepper. So no complaining about upset tummies! The consistency of all elements of the dish – the stuffing, the pepper, and the potatoes – is soft, smooth, and mushy, so no off-putting and unfamiliar textures. Simply put, the risk of dinner-destroying meltdowns and tantrums is minimal!

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