Sopal
A fun dining experience with exciting organic wines
Occupying a terrace within the Teslina street pedestrian district, Sopal delivers innovative and contemporary cooking that refuses to be categorized. Service is structured, but relaxed.
Sopal's interior is comfortable and modern, with simple lines and color scheme. It accommodates around 30 people and guests can choose between comfortable high seating and a touch less comfortable lower seating. The terrace can accommodate 24 more guests.
Everything served comes from the imagination and skills of a perspective young chef Katarina Vrenc, who used to work at some of the best Croatian restaurants.
Waiters are well informed, look after the guests and present the food above the usual bistro food bar standard.
Guests are warmly welcomed as they arrive.
What is served
According to the chef, every dish on the Sopal menu is intended for sharing, showing they recognized the most human of behaviors - if you see someone having an interesting dish, you want to sample it. At Sopal, sharing is built into every dish.
The menu consists of 14 dishes of varying complexity, from the most basic prosciutto and cheese to the most unusual, like charred cabbage on a chestnut and anchovy cream.
At times, the menu is playful, pairing burrata with cucumbers, instead of traditional tomatoes and basil, or riffing of traditional Croatian dishes and ingredients, like pickled fish (savur) or pork chops and beans.
There are a couple of dishes with nods to Japanese cuisine, with furikake and ponzu butter, as the menu avoids classification into any known concept.
The wine list is satisfyingly abundant, leaning toward natural and organic wines, and still pairs well with the type of food served. It consists of sparkling, white, red, rose, macerated,and dessert wines. All wines can be ordered by the glass. The cocktail list stops at five classics.
What we had
We started with a razor clam tartare, served with lime and charred leek, served cold. A refreshing dish. dominated slightly by the lime juice and zest, but still highly enjoyable.
Next, we tried beef tartare with smoked cow's cheese, horseradish, millet popcorn, and chives on homemade toast. The meat was cut into slightly larger cubes for superb, even though the dish was mildly spicy, the meat still had the main role flavor-wise. Masterfully balanced.
Potato rosti with smoked tuna, onion pate, and pickle gel was interesting in terms of technique and aesthetics, nice big pieces of baked dominated the fish, which should be the star of the dish. Transparent pickle gel was tasty and visually impressive.
For the main course, we had the dish that made Sopal famous - charred cabbage, with chestnut and anchovy cream. Cabbage is grilled, and charred on one side, so it cooks in its own juices. Flavors work surprisingly well on a delicious, light chestnut-based cream onion and garlic.
Dessert was baked then frozen sweet potato served with light, not too sweet creme Anglaise and grated tangerine peel which added a refreshing touch to the dish. The texture of the sweet potato was reminiscent of popsicles.
