Noel

Croatian haute cuisine in a quiet back street of the Martićeva neighborhood

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Noel is positioned between two Zagreb landmarks – Meštrović’s Pavilion, home to modern art, and Martićeva street, one of the most vibrant places in Zagreb at the moment.

They have a comfortable, booth seating inside, with a lot of spaces between tables and a chef’s table with a view of the kitchen.

A joint venture between a chef and a sommelier, Noel promises creative wining and dining, and it delivers on the promise with a unique flair.

Noel boasts one Michelin star, worth a stop, and Gault&Millau awarded them three chef’s hats

What is served

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‍Chef Mario Mandarić has established himself as one of the best young chefs in the industry, earning praise for his creative approach, dedication to sourcing the highest-quality ingredients and unwavering passion for the art of fine dining. He is one of the pioneers of the zero-food waste policy in Croatia, and that is precisely why he was included in the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list.

The Noel menu offers seasonal ingredients prepared using imaginative international techniques and spices. Instead of traditional menu sections, Noel’s current tasting menu is divided into 6 sections:

Don’t be scared: grissini, truffle gougère with mornay sauce, mushrooms tartalette & Roquefort cream, lemongrass cappuccino & leek, kombucha
Trust your mind: mushrooms and sea scallops, local trout with “vin jaune” & elderflower, “zagorske štrukle” & white Istrian truffle addition

Who doesn’t like bread: sourdough bread, milk bun with poppy seeds, porcini butter
Find a friend: local rooster with mushroom marshmallow, lion’s mane, guinea fowl ragu with yeast & stout beer
Raind drop & Childhood memory
Fight it back: forest fruit with hibiscus & curd cheese, sourdough ice cream with sage & apple, pâte à choux with tonka beans, gingerbread and orange, lime & mint gummy candy, pear tart

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What our chefs had

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The amuse-bouche highlights the flavors of the chef’s youth, reinterpreting traditional Croatian dishes. We liked the cheese bite on sourdough bread best. The bread was the highlight of the meal, crispy with a nice balance of acid and fullness from baking.

Following the amuse-bouche, the chef served us two seafood dishes, enriching our palate with oyster minerality and the rich, full flavor of the squid.

Fish mains looked as great as they tasted, balancing the freshness of the fish, the crispiness of the vegetables, and the richness of the cheese sauce to perfection. Our favorite, out of all the dishes we sampled.

Our final course was a Zagorje classic, perfectly prepared duck breast with crunchy vegetables.

Noel’s interpretation of the traditional dough pocket, štrukla, really impressed our team, where the chef used pinot in the recipe to raise the flavors of štrukla to new, sensational levels.

We were pleasantly surprised by the apres dessert, as it was larger than the dessert itself.