World Food Thursdays

Country No. 15. Croatia

 

Attendees: Ben, Kim, Lee, Becky, Paul, Ellen

 

£30 a head

 

Choosing this venue to continue the World Food journey was a fairly straightforward affair, London is not exactly overwhelmed by Croatian restaurants, there is only one and as such World Food Thursdays can now claim an impressive achievement. All four corners of London have been canvassed in the search for local delicacies. To paraphrase the infamous Reggie Noble, or Redman as he is better known, from his debut smash, Whut? Thee Album it was time 4 sum, time 4 sum, Acton.

 

Riviera Bistro is located at the end of a bustling high street and benefits from decent footfall. Sadly for the gregarious owners (a husband (chef)/ wife (front of house) team) tempting local Actonians in for a cevapcici or two has not been easy and we were the only patrons for the duration of the meal. The familiar faces (Ben and Lee) arrived punctually, joined by a no doubt temporally confused Ellen. For their efforts they were rewarded with a platter of Croatian cheese, meat and olives as well as some local fire water. The insanely strong local schnapps was washed down with tales of the restaurants past – in days gone by it thrived as a Russian restaurant serving stags and hens vodka by the bucket load but, following an aborted sale to Polish entrepreneurs, the owners decided to rebrand as a restaurant dedicated to the finest offerings from the Dalmatian coast and for that we thank them (having ticked off Russia early on in our quest and being in desperate need to Croatian cuisine).

 

Once the full complement of diners arrived the usual ordering rigmarole commenced; do we order starters, if so how many, who has decided to be vegetarian/ pescatarian/ gluten-free/ paleo this month and how does this affect the ordering? All this took place while the owner looked on in bemusement. Bearing in mind we had already consumed a large amount of bread and butter the gang was cautious in its ordering, deciding to stick with two plates of calamari and two plates of ‘hot cheese’ (nowhere near as gross as it sounds, a better description would be a less salty halloumi – grilled). Being so proud of ourselves for showing restraint when ordering starters we blew caution to the wind and accidentally ordered 7 main courses between 6. A fair few dishes on the menu seemed to be fairly standard meat and veg affairs, with Dalmatian added to the description to make them seem a bit more authentic. Separating the authentic from the less genuine was straightforward enough though. From the authentic corner we went for cevapcici (pork and beef sausages), little cabbage leaf parcels stuffed with minced pork and beef and a Croatian beef stew. The more generic items on the menu included pork kebabs, a green spaghetti with seafood, lamb cutlets and grilled calves liver. The authenticity was ratcheted up a notch with the inclusion of a red pepper and aubergine paste, ubiquitous in the Balkan states, that paired especially well with the grilled meats. Disappointingly we could not avail of some of the more special sounding menu items, rabbit stew in particular, as they require at least 24 hours’ notice. This was a shame as the rustic cooking on show would have been well suited to a traditional rabbit stew. Drinks wise there was no Croatian wine to choose from – a decent bottle of red did the trick.

 

Despite filling up on bread, a strong attempt was made to clean every plate and most of the protein was consumed, with the occasional solitary carbohydrate left behind. Overall the meal was tasty, although possibly not worth the hour long, sleepy journey home. West Londoners should definitely pop down, even if it’s just to sample the large selection of (much better tasting) flavoured schnapps that were offered at the end of the meal.

 

Croatian Facts

• The Dalmatian Coast can lay claim to over 1000 islands

• Kuna, the Croatian currency, is named after a small rodent that used to be used in bartering

• The Croatians invented the tie, the French for tie  - cravat – derives from the French for Croatian