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Croatia has horrible food, locals can not afford quality food. This country was overrun by tourists, and is now more expensive than Italy. Recent adoption of Eu

Croatia has horrible food, locals can not afford quality food. This country was overrun by tourists, and is now more expensive than Italy. Recent adoption of Euro was the last nail in a coffin. Go to Greece, if you want "authentic local tomato from street-market".

urbandw311er 2y ago
Just had a week on various Croatian islands. It’s true that we were shocked by the cost of the food (€18 for a pizza in a restaurant) although put it down to the cost of importing the various ingredients. I wouldn’t say any of the food was “horrible” though. We had a tremendous “meat plate” of grilled marinated chicken, pork and steak with potatoes.
- senko 2y ago
  (Croat lounging on the Croatian coast right now) No, prices are high because they've been jacked up as high as the market will bear. As an example, an cup of coffee at a beach bar in a random coastal village (€2.5) is about the same as in the (touristy) center of London (£2). The effects will probably be seen the next year. As other commenters noted, Croatia has historically been mass budget tourism location, largely undiscovered by comparatively wealthier western tourists (aside from Germans). Ultra-low taxes for "mom and pop" short-term rentals exacerbated the mass low-quality buildout. Now it's at a point where prices went up fast (due to euro, overall inflation and the tourist demographics changes), but the quality didn't catch up yet (generalizing a lot here). There's also been more vocal "anti tourist" sentiment (echoing protests in Barcelona, but just people complaining on blogs and in news) that will for sure get more momentum in the next few years.
  - jq-r 2y ago
    While I agree that the prices (of everything) went up, it wasn't due to adoption of euro. The grocery prices dramatically rised in the year before euro adoption due to inflation and then continued to rise after that. Also I do find it kind of funny when tourists are complaining about prices of food in touristy places. I've eaten a hamburger in Chicago which was $15 and food prices (restaurants etc) are comparatively much higher then in Croatia. At the same time, the prices in the grocery stores are completely out of control due to high taxes and makes living on the coast or islands as a local miserable and very expensive. Needless to say that housing is also totally out of wack, Croatia is not going in a good direction for it's own citizens.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    The effects will probably be seen the next year. People say this every year and yet, it's always the same - the beaches get more crowded, the prices are higher, there seems to be no end to this.
  - willyt 2y ago
    £3.50 more likely for central London, Edinburgh or any fashionable tourist place.
Ylpertnodi 2y ago
>more expensive than italy Related: had some friends down from a northern country and they were as amazed at the taste and cost of the tomatoes, as they were at the fact they came from the country my guests came from. We figured from growth to packing to transportation to purchase, made the tomatoes 'just right' on the day we got them. Not had anything similar since for taste, including those i bought last night.
- schrijver 2y ago
  I imagine these were Dutch tomatoes—I’ve heard the best ones don’t actually get sold in the Netherlands, as the Dutch consumers don’t care enough to pay a premium. These get exported to the south instead, where the costumers are more discerning.
kungito 2y ago
Croatia is having its "bully" tourism phase. They have been historically super cheap and undiscovered location up until 5-10 years ago and now that they are in EU and Schengen and it's actually nicer than some bigger mediterranean countries everyone started piling in. The locals which aren't really business savvy started doubling/tripling prices to see how far it can go without providing additional services or raising the quality to another level. From business perspective it does make actual sense since last few seasons after corona have been breaking records every year. Until there are actual consequences for raising per night booking prices from 100€ to 200€ from year to year nothing will change. I think that the reality is that people "in the know" like polish/chech families are being priced out because traditionally they didn't have as many western european tourists like Dutch or French and now it's on their radar
- trte9343r4 2y ago
  > think that the reality is that people "in the know" like polish/chech families are being priced out Not really. They are not poor anymore, and can afford it. But quality is just not there compared to Italy, Greece, Egypt... Only benefit for Polish and Czech tourist, they understand local language.
  - lifestyleguru 2y ago
    I would be wary with "Slavic familiarity" while visiting. Slavs in Balkans furiously hate each other. It's safer to speak German or English.
    - imp0cat 2y ago
      Right, but that was mostly the issue of all the former Yugoslavia nations. Czechs 1) were not a part of Yugoslavia 2) have a long tradition of visiting the Adriatic sea. They are not poor anymore, and can afford it. The price increase in Croatia in the last few years is insane, especially near the tourist spots (= seaside). Czech people who want to save some money now usually turn to the other Balkan countries that are still quite cheap.
- 2y ago
imiric 2y ago
> Croatia has horrible food Anthony Bourdain disagreed[1]: > This is world class food, this is world class wine, this is world class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia. This was in 2012, before Croatia joined the EU, but the culture of quality cuisine doesn't change in a decade. I can't speak about the prices, but I'm sure there are affordable restaurants and markets outside of touristy zones. Go to any popular place in the world, Greece included, and you'll pay the tourist tax. [1]: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8h8rqf https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8h8rqf
- foobarian 2y ago
  There is a lot of quality perhaps. But two things I noticed about Croatia (and maybe wider Europe) food: 1) They don't know coffee. There is no equivalent of the American half&half creamer. 2) I find that there is not that much in the way of vegetables when eating out. I wonder if perhaps it's a cultural thing where you give your guest the best, i.e. most caloric/tasty food possible. The tavern/grill places are especially like this.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    This! You can have vegetables with your steak/cevapi/pljeskavica/whatever, but they will be drenched in oil and fried. ;)
    - avereveard 2y ago
      Just get fiber trough ajvar, problem solved
  - haspok 2y ago
    > American half&half creamer You are joking, right? (The country that invented Starbucks might commit more serious crimes eventually. It turns out they already have.)
    - foobarian 2y ago
      Starbucks coffee is an abomination too, don't get me wrong. But I do miss the half&half and could not find a substitute; I was kinda surprised because there was a great variety of milks, heavy/whipping/cooking creams as well as all sorts of non-dairy creamers both in powder and liquid form.

urbandw311er 2y ago

Just had a week on various Croatian islands. It’s true that we were shocked by the cost of the food (€18 for a pizza in a restaurant) although put it down to the cost of importing the various ingredients. I wouldn’t say any of the food was “horrible” though. We had a tremendous “meat plate” of grilled marinated chicken, pork and steak with potatoes.

senko 2y ago
(Croat lounging on the Croatian coast right now) No, prices are high because they've been jacked up as high as the market will bear. As an example, an cup of coffee at a beach bar in a random coastal village (€2.5) is about the same as in the (touristy) center of London (£2). The effects will probably be seen the next year. As other commenters noted, Croatia has historically been mass budget tourism location, largely undiscovered by comparatively wealthier western tourists (aside from Germans). Ultra-low taxes for "mom and pop" short-term rentals exacerbated the mass low-quality buildout. Now it's at a point where prices went up fast (due to euro, overall inflation and the tourist demographics changes), but the quality didn't catch up yet (generalizing a lot here). There's also been more vocal "anti tourist" sentiment (echoing protests in Barcelona, but just people complaining on blogs and in news) that will for sure get more momentum in the next few years.
- jq-r 2y ago
  While I agree that the prices (of everything) went up, it wasn't due to adoption of euro. The grocery prices dramatically rised in the year before euro adoption due to inflation and then continued to rise after that. Also I do find it kind of funny when tourists are complaining about prices of food in touristy places. I've eaten a hamburger in Chicago which was $15 and food prices (restaurants etc) are comparatively much higher then in Croatia. At the same time, the prices in the grocery stores are completely out of control due to high taxes and makes living on the coast or islands as a local miserable and very expensive. Needless to say that housing is also totally out of wack, Croatia is not going in a good direction for it's own citizens.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  The effects will probably be seen the next year. People say this every year and yet, it's always the same - the beaches get more crowded, the prices are higher, there seems to be no end to this.
- willyt 2y ago
  £3.50 more likely for central London, Edinburgh or any fashionable tourist place.

Ylpertnodi 2y ago

>more expensive than italy Related: had some friends down from a northern country and they were as amazed at the taste and cost of the tomatoes, as they were at the fact they came from the country my guests came from. We figured from growth to packing to transportation to purchase, made the tomatoes 'just right' on the day we got them. Not had anything similar since for taste, including those i bought last night.

schrijver 2y ago
I imagine these were Dutch tomatoes—I’ve heard the best ones don’t actually get sold in the Netherlands, as the Dutch consumers don’t care enough to pay a premium. These get exported to the south instead, where the costumers are more discerning.

kungito 2y ago

Croatia is having its "bully" tourism phase. They have been historically super cheap and undiscovered location up until 5-10 years ago and now that they are in EU and Schengen and it's actually nicer than some bigger mediterranean countries everyone started piling in. The locals which aren't really business savvy started doubling/tripling prices to see how far it can go without providing additional services or raising the quality to another level. From business perspective it does make actual sense since last few seasons after corona have been breaking records every year. Until there are actual consequences for raising per night booking prices from 100€ to 200€ from year to year nothing will change. I think that the reality is that people "in the know" like polish/chech families are being priced out because traditionally they didn't have as many western european tourists like Dutch or French and now it's on their radar

trte9343r4 2y ago
> think that the reality is that people "in the know" like polish/chech families are being priced out Not really. They are not poor anymore, and can afford it. But quality is just not there compared to Italy, Greece, Egypt... Only benefit for Polish and Czech tourist, they understand local language.
- lifestyleguru 2y ago
  I would be wary with "Slavic familiarity" while visiting. Slavs in Balkans furiously hate each other. It's safer to speak German or English.
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    Right, but that was mostly the issue of all the former Yugoslavia nations. Czechs 1) were not a part of Yugoslavia 2) have a long tradition of visiting the Adriatic sea. They are not poor anymore, and can afford it. The price increase in Croatia in the last few years is insane, especially near the tourist spots (= seaside). Czech people who want to save some money now usually turn to the other Balkan countries that are still quite cheap.
2y ago

imiric 2y ago

> Croatia has horrible food Anthony Bourdain disagreed[1]: > This is world class food, this is world class wine, this is world class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia. This was in 2012, before Croatia joined the EU, but the culture of quality cuisine doesn't change in a decade. I can't speak about the prices, but I'm sure there are affordable restaurants and markets outside of touristy zones. Go to any popular place in the world, Greece included, and you'll pay the tourist tax. [1]: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8h8rqf https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8h8rqf

foobarian 2y ago
There is a lot of quality perhaps. But two things I noticed about Croatia (and maybe wider Europe) food: 1) They don't know coffee. There is no equivalent of the American half&half creamer. 2) I find that there is not that much in the way of vegetables when eating out. I wonder if perhaps it's a cultural thing where you give your guest the best, i.e. most caloric/tasty food possible. The tavern/grill places are especially like this.
- imp0cat 2y ago
  This! You can have vegetables with your steak/cevapi/pljeskavica/whatever, but they will be drenched in oil and fried. ;)
  - avereveard 2y ago
    Just get fiber trough ajvar, problem solved
- haspok 2y ago
  > American half&half creamer You are joking, right? (The country that invented Starbucks might commit more serious crimes eventually. It turns out they already have.)
  - foobarian 2y ago
    Starbucks coffee is an abomination too, don't get me wrong. But I do miss the half&half and could not find a substitute; I was kinda surprised because there was a great variety of milks, heavy/whipping/cooking creams as well as all sorts of non-dairy creamers both in powder and liquid form.