Where to eat in Podgorica, from the clock tower to the Zeta

Eating well in Podgorica isn’t hard as long as you go for what the city does best, which is Montenegrin home cooking, grilled meat and the red wine from the plain on its doorstep. Where people tend to go wrong is the shopping-mall food court and the hotel international menu. To pick places I’ve leaned on the restaurant list published by the Tourist Organisation of Podgorica and on what’s known about the local wine. I’m not quoting prices, because there are no official ones.

The old town for your first night

If you only have one dinner, have it in the Ottoman quarter. Pod Volat is right on the clock tower square, Bećir-bega Osmanagića, and the tourist board describes it as part of every old Podgorica story, with national dishes, good wine and two desserts you shouldn’t skip, tufahija and baklava. Before or after, take a stroll round Podgorica old town and down to Sastavci, where the two rivers meet.

Montenegrin food in the centre

Close to the cathedral is Vuk, at Dalmatinska 24, which mixes traditional Montenegrin dishes with international ones. Stara kuća, at Iva Andrića 5, pitches itself as the place where tradition meets modern cooking, with a long wine list. And on Bokeška Street, the city’s main strip for bars and nightlife, Gostiona 1928 keeps features of an early 20th-century building and combines classic dishes with Mediterranean food. After a visit to the Cathedral of the Resurrection, Vuk is the obvious choice.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Podgorica for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.

Heading out of town to eat

The two meals I’d most look forward to are outside the centre. Đedovina, at Pričelje, has terraces on the River Zeta and a dining room of stone and wood in the old Montenegrin style. Imanje Knjaz, at Mareza, is a country estate with a fire in winter and shade in summer. Both need a car or a taxi, and both suit a long lunch better than a quick supper.

East of the city, in Tuzi, the local tourist board steers visitors towards lamb roasted on a spit or carp preserved in salt, as well as flija, kačamak, pie cooked under a metal bell and pastries from the local bakeries.

The wine from the plain

Podgorica sits beside one of the largest vineyards in Europe. The tourist board gives Plantaže 13. jul about 2,300 hectares on Ćemovsko Polje, with 29 grape varieties and vranac covering almost two thirds. It’s the grape I’d order anywhere in the city, and among the whites, krstač. To see where it’s made, the Šipčanik wine cellar, more than 30 metres underground in a former military hangar, runs sommelier-led tastings of three or four wines with food, always by reservation.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Podgorica on GetYourGuide.

Ordering without surprises

My general advice holds for the whole country. Ask for the menu before you sit down, check whether fish or grilled meat is priced by the kilo and, if you pay by card, always choose euros rather than pounds. The national tourism office says the vast majority of restaurants take cards, but carry some cash for small konobas. For somewhere to stay nearby, my guide to hotels in Podgorica sorts them by area.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Podgorica for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.