Yes, you read that right: Asian food in Croatia. Can we say a big hello to Cro-Asian food? Thanks to Silk Street Food you can now take a break from traditional Croatian food and satisfy your Asian cravings while on vacation.
Unlike places like America, Croatia is very limited in the number of Asian restaurants around. After speaking with local owner of Tara’s Lodge, Jane Bell Bandack, I came to learn that Asian food options are very limited if not non-existent, not only on the island of Korcula, but in Croatia in general. In fact, a quick google search and you’ll quickly find out, there is no place to get that Thai, Japanese, or Korean fix. That’s why game changing Silk Street Food stepped in. It’s not a game changer because it serves pan-Asian food in Croatia, but because it serves it well. No completely botched interpretations or sub-par meals, Silk Street Food is the real deal when it comes to Asian food in Croatia.
Silk Street Food embodies the typical Asian tradition of street food. The place is no frills and down to earth with just a few wooden high top tables and benches for people to eat on. The menu surrounds a small hatch where you order your food through a window. The menu has it all udon soup, chicken katsu, crispy duck, pork belly, pad thai, gyoza, curry, spring rolls, edamame, tataki, motchi, and the list goes on.
So how did Silk Street Food come to be? The restaurant, which also has locations in Split, Hvar, and Verbier Switzerland, was started by a local who was tired of the limited exotic offerings on the island. He decided to fly over a chef from Asia and open up a restaurant that could satisfy his exotic cravings. Who was this man you may ask? Well, it was Jane Bell Bandack’s very own husband Dennis Bandack who came up with the idea and had the craving while they were working on constructing Tara’s Lodge!
From here, Silk Street Food was born–and what an appropriate name for the island where Marco Polo himself, who went to the East in search of adventure, spent a good part of his life. Each Silk Street Food restaurant still uses local ingredients making the Asian restaurant unique, so what you may find in Split may be different from what you find in Korcula.
So Pat and I decided to take our own journey down the old Silk Road in Korcula, as Marco Polo would say, tasting local Asian delicacies along the way. As a starter we ordered Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. As we dipped them into the peanut sauce, my favorite part, every crunchy bite was insanely good. They tasted like summer in your mouth, fresh scallions, cucumbers, and carrots all wrapped together in a thin rice wrap.
Silk Street Food is perfect for all types of eaters: The restaurant has plenty of gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian options.
The chicken pad thai came next. The noodles were fantastic and the pad thai flavors were impeccably fresh with a hint of lime. The pad thai didn’t taste like a spoonful of peanut butter–a problem I run into more times than not in the US if the place isn’t great–but rather were lightly drizzled with the right amount of crushed peanuts. It was amazing how Silk Street Food preserved the essence of Croatian cuisine through the philosophy of fresh food, informality, and seasonality, with a cuisine that is unique and has tremendous room to grow.
Coming from New York where we have access to some of the best Asian food ever, I have to say Silk Street Food was top notch. It felt as if we were back in New York eating in our favorite local Thai place Sala Thai, if not better with Korcula’s fresh ingredients. If you’re looking for a modern change up while on vacation, Silk Street Food is the Asian food in Croatia that you can’t miss. It’s a super easy dinner eaten street food-style surrounding the hustle and bustle of Korcula old town.
>> Next: Where to Eat on Korcula: Mimi’s Bistro
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