Local cuisine in Umag revolves around seafood, featuring a wide variety of fish, prawns, squid, and octopus, often prepared through grilling. Seafood-based pizzas and pastas are also highly recommended.
Croatian cuisine is renowned for its meat dishes, including items like small sausages (cevapcici), skewered kebabs (ražnići), and large minced cutlets (pleskavica). Additionally, you can savor whole roasted piglet, goat, or lamb on a spit, typically served with sides like potatoes and greens (salad or blitva).
When dining at restaurants in Umag, tourists often recommend trying prschut, a wind-cured pork ham thinly sliced and garnished with olives, onions, herbs, and sheep's cheese. For this delicacy, the best places to purchase it are farms or taverns in the countryside.
Another must-try in Umag's restaurants is Pag cheese, produced on the island of Pag using sheep milk that grazes on aromatic herbs. Scampi (langoustines), king prawns, polenta (corn porridge), and truffles are also local specialties. Truffles find their way into various dishes, including omelettes, pizza, pancakes, meat, and more, in many restaurants throughout Umag, not just the finest ones. They even make their appearance in chocolate and ice cream!
Popular drinks in Istria include plumovica (plum brandy), travarica (herb-infused rakija), maraschino (cherry liqueur), and varietal wines like Hrvatica (pink) and Malvasija (white). During the summer, you can find delicious young homemade wines, often served in a very diluted form to quench your thirst.
