La Puntulina

La Puntulina is the restaurant every first-time visitor to Rovinj eventually eats at, and the one that locals still admit is correct. It sits on the rocks beneath the west wall of the Old Town, with terraces stepped down almost to the waterline — on a warm July evening the Adriatic sometimes sprays the outside tables, and the restaurant simply accepts this as part of the deal.

The kitchen cooks classic Istrian seafood with quiet confidence. Crudo of Adriatic tuna with olive oil and lemon; a house spaghetti with scampi and Istrian olive oil that has not changed in twenty years; risotto al nero with cuttlefish; whole turbot for two, grilled over vine-wood and finished with the same olive oil again. No foam, no tweezer work, no nonsense. The fish is bought the morning it is served.

The wine list is deeply Istrian and worth drinking through slowly — ten Malvasias by the glass, serious Teran reds from the hinterland, and a rotating natural-wine section that the younger front-of-house team clearly drive. Dessert is short: a chocolate mousse, a panna cotta, an espresso with grappa. The bill, by Rovinj summer standards, is fair.

The view is the asset. Booking ahead for a water-edge table in peak season means three to four weeks out. Sunset is the prime slot — 8.30pm in July. Service is sharp and proud; the waiters recognise returning guests by season and by face. It is the single most postcard-perfect dinner in Rovinj, and the kitchen is good enough that the postcard is not the whole story.

La Puntulina is a first-date room in the pure romantic register. The terrace, the Adriatic, the sunset, the orange-lit Old Town walls above — the setting is extravagant in a way that first dates usually cannot reach. If the opening date needs ceremony without pretension, and the weather cooperates, this is the table. It also works as a proposal setting for anyone who prefers a classical Mediterranean scene to Monte's courtyard.