Beštija
An out-of-sight gourmet bistro with a Michelin Bib Gourmand award
Bistro Beštija is a hipster gourmet bistro in the pedestrian zone of Zagreb's Masarykova Street. This restaurant has been open under the same name for years, but has changed several owners. The present owners gave Beštija back its old glory of a charming place with a well-thought-out offer.
Beštija is located in a courtyard, so you can’t see it from the street, but once you find out that it's a place that offers great value for a relaxed lunch/dinner right in the city centre — we believe you'll keep coming back. Its value was also recognized by the Michelin guide, who awarded them the Bib Gourmand rating for 2023 and 2024.
The place is a bit hipster — a simple, stripped-down restaurant space with large windows and a red neon Beštija sign, which has become a recognizable symbol of this bistro. A window into the kitchen reveals that they take food seriously.
What is served?
Inspired by flavours and colours of the season, Beštija bases its offer on Croatian seasonal ingredients bought on the Dolac open market or from trusted suppliers. Thus, their plates are full of creative interpretations of familiar foods. One of their signature dishes is certainly the steak tartare, which is always on the menu, and whose ingredients change depending on the season. It is based on meat they buy from a Croatian producer.
The menu is not large, but it is very interesting — it offers four/five different appetizers, mains and sides. It comprises creative dishes such as celery baked in savoury dough with hazelnut and nori seaweed dressing, tuna sashimi with shiso sauce and lime and apple gel, prawn risotto with fresh goat cheese, roasted aubergine with hummus, dukkah spice and aioli with soy sauce, tuna steak with fennel and miso sauce, filet mignon with leek cream...
Two desserts are currently on offer — tiramisu and mango-fig.
The wine list is interesting and quite large for this type of restaurant. It shows that the owners are fans of unconventional natural and amber (macerated) wines.
Beštija also offers a selection of cocktail classics.
What our chefs had?
Beštija is an ideal place for a quick lunch in the city when you want to eat something nice, original, modern and after all — healthy. That was also the mission of the Delicious Zagreb team. We visited Beštija on a sunny day, so the restaurant was full of natural light, which makes it an ideal setting for a casual lunch.
Dishes at Beštija can be shared, which is how we planned our selection. We decided on tuna sashimi, roasted aubergine and curly kale salad.
Tuna sashimi was served in shiso dressing with pickled kombu, cucumber and lime and apple gel. This modern interpretation of tuna is full of delicate flavours that bring tuna to the fore and compliment it perfectly. For those who like somewhat bolder flavours, roasted aubergine is a great choice. It is prepared à la minute, so you will get it in about 20 minutes, but it is definitely worth the wait. Because it is the peak of the aubergine season, when baked, it becomes creamy and sweet. It's served with rich toppings — hummus for earthy undertones, dukkah spice for texture and crunch, soy aioli for umami, and curly kale for vibrancy. In addition, we decided to add some more greens to our lunch, so we ordered the curly kale salad with parmesan and croutons and Caesar dressing.
With our lunch, we paired a Slovenian biodynamic wine from the Vipava valley — Pasji Rep Zelen.
We were smart enough to leave room for desserts because they are fantastic. Tiramisu is light and airy, but with the depth of coffee and cocoa. Namelaka is actually a silky cream, and this mango one was perfect. The combination of mango, fig and lime was truly thrilling.
We will definitely come back to Beštija.
