Eating: Kava Tava

We love eating so it was easy to find something new to write about, namely restaurants. We would like to share some of our good experiences and eventually create a "food map". In the beginning when I moved here in Zagreb, I asked my colleague K to give me some restaurant suggestions. She ended up preparing me a one page long list of her and her friends favorite dining places. During last three months, we have tried some of them already, as well as taken our chance to try something not included in the list. Instead of listing restaurants with bad experiences, I rather tell about those we could definitely recommend to others.

Yesterday Croats celebrated the Assumption of Mary, which is a public holiday in Croatia. That means we had a day off from work and some time to kill. Therefore, we decided to look for some restaurants that were open that day. After intensive net search we picked a restaurant (actually, M picked it and I didn't like it. It turned out to be great though). I have to admit, that restaurant selection is a tricky situation for M and it often ends up with a little fight as I tend to be difficult with my food. Even if I pick something, I think long time between some options and obviously I make his life difficult when nothing he suggests is good for me. But after he pointed out me being rather unfair, I agreed on one of the options he suggested.

We ended up in Kava Tava, which is more known for their American pancakes, than proper food. With delicious looking pancakes, they offer breakfasts, toast sandwiches, burgers, and Argentinian dishes. For me, the first impression is very important and I have to say I was very happy about the service from the first step we took inside. Waiters immediately paid attention to us, welcomed us with smile and we got seated. Generally, I haven't been too impressed with the customer service in Croatia, so it was very delightful to find good service. 

After browsing through menu, M ordered twin burgers and I had beef empanadas. M is basically a burger specialist already so, when he ranked his burgers second best after burgers in the Submarine, it means they were really good. I also enjoyed my empanadas, which were served with bulgur salad, rustic potatoes and BBQ sauce. Our waiter suggested me to try the empanadas with lemon, which is the Argentinian way of eating them, and with the BBQ sauce which was for American taste. I tried both ways and my favorite was with lemon. Surprisingly, the bulgur salad was the highlight of the meal! Here in Croatia I have had very disappointing side salads but this one was a pleasant surprise! 

Only negative thing during our visit was the end, when I really wanted to order one of these great looking pancakes. Waiter quickly came to pick our plates and vanished with speed of light. No one came to ask us anything for another 20 minutes. After that, we finally got the attention of waiter and asked for a bill, because waiting just got us frustrated. While we were waiting for the bill I overheard some other waiter telling arriving customers that they are closing in 20 minutes because of the holiday. It is not restaurant's fault, but would have been nice to mention when cleaning our plates that "I am sorry, I would like to ask if you want something for desert, but we are closing". It doesn't take much and I wouldn't be disappointed. More annoying is to leave the customer hanging there. We will probably go back there to try the breakfast and pancakes anyway :)

Kava Tava

Britanski trg 1