Mali Bar — Small Plates / Natural Wine, Zagreb
Mali Bar — ‘Little Bar’ — has become one of Zagreb’s most essential evening destinations for the food and wine community that has been building the city’s contemporary dining culture. The combination of a serious natural wine list, inventive small plates, and the Gornji Grad neighbourhood setting provides an experience of contemporary Zagreb at its most current.
The small plates at Mali Bar are built around the Croatian ingredient tradition applied with the creative intelligence of a kitchen that has absorbed contemporary European small plate cooking while maintaining its Croatian identity: the Slavonian charcuterie, the Istrian truffle, the Dalmatian anchovies, and the seasonal vegetables of the Zagreb markets all appear in unexpected but genuinely satisfying combinations.
The natural wine list is the most comprehensive in Zagreb: Slovenian, Italian, Austrian, and Croatian natural producers alongside the international selections that the contemporary wine culture demands. The by-the-glass selection changes daily.
Mali Bar is the restaurant that Zagreb’s food community recommends to visitors who ask where the city is going rather than where it has been.
Best Occasion: First Date
A natural wine bar in the Gornji Grad neighbourhood with creative small plates and the most interesting wine list in Zagreb: Mali Bar is a first-date venue of genuine originality that communicates both culinary knowledge and a feel for the city’s contemporary culture.
Best Occasion: Solo Dining
The bar seating, the natural wine list, and the creative small plates make Mali Bar an ideal solo dining address in Zagreb. The staff engage with individual guests with the enthusiasm of a team that believes in what it is serving.