Restaurants

Outside of Osijek, where you're spoiled for choice, there aren't a huge number of restaurants in Slavonia. In many towns, you'll find eating at hotels and wineries is your best (and sometimes only) opportunity to try hearty, spicy, and delicious Slavonian cuisine, considered by many Croatians to be the country's best. Slavonia's most popular dishes involve river fish, namely carp, pike, catfish, and pike-perch. With paprika-rich Hungary not far away, you’ll often see dishes characterized by an unmistakable, bright-red zest, most evident in the region's most popular dish: the spicy-hot and extremely photogenic fiš paprikaš, a fish stew usually served in a bowl big enough for two. Perkelt od soma is another fish stew common in Baranja, often made with sliced catfish and accompanied by homemade noodles, cheese, and bacon.

Meat is a key part of the dining picture; regular menu staples include čobanac, a stew made with game meat, bathed in paprika sauce and usually served with spaetzle, and kulen, spicy, air-dried sausage similar to chorizo that is Slavonia's most beloved local product. Cabbage and cottage cheese are common side dishes, as are pepper, tomato, and cucumber salads straight from the garden. Of course no trip to Slavonia (Croatia's largest wine-producing area) would be complete without local wine. The region is best-known for its whites; look for varieties such as Graševina (known elsewhere as Welschriesling) and Traminac, a type of Gewürtztraminer. Red wine lovers should try the delicious frankovka. Hearty meals, delicious wine, and extremely affordable prices all add up to one certainty: you are going to eat and drink far too much in Slavonia, and you’ll love it.