Montenegrin cuisine is a combination of Mediterranean (coastal side) and continental Balkan influences. Main products: meat (pork, lamb), fish (Lake Skadar, Adriatic), cheeses, olive oil, vegetables, wine. Every meal starts with rakija.
🥗 Starters and salads
- Pršut — dried ham, specialty of Njeguši. Among the world's best (gastronomic recognition). Served as a starter.
- Njeguši cheese — hard sheep or cow cheese from Njeguši. Cured, mature, piquant.
- Kajmak — creamy dairy product, spread on bread or with meat.
- Shopska salad — tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, cheese.
- Zeljanica pita — with spinach and cheese.
🍲 Soups
- Meat broth — clear beef soup.
- Spicy bean soup — with smoked meat.
- Fish soup — from Lake Skadar fish.
🍖 Main dishes
- Lamb under sač — most traditional dish. Lamb baked in earthen vessel under hot ashes. Wedding and holiday specialty.
- Kačamak — corn flour porridge with cheese and kajmak. Mountain specialty.
- Ćevapi and pljeskavica — as in Serbia.
- Stuffed peppers and sarma — Balkan classics.
- Grilled fish (coast) — sea bream, sea bass, small fish. Simple, with olive oil and lemon.
- Squid in pumpkin — with rice and cheese.
- Carp in alaska (Lake Skadar) — carp paprikash.
🥖 Bread and pastry
- Priganice — fried dough balls, eaten with honey and cheese. Breakfast.
- Pogača — round white bread for holidays.
- Pita — phyllo, with cheese, meat or pumpkin.
🍷 Drinks
- Vranac — autochthonous Montenegrin red grape and wine. Plantaže, Montenegro's largest winery (and one of the largest in the Balkans).
- Krstač — white wine.
- Lozovača — grape rakija, 40–50%.
- Beer — Nikšićko (most popular).
- Coffee — domestic (Turkish).
🍰 Desserts
- Krempita — cream with puff pastry.
- Baklava — Oriental dessert with walnuts and syrup.
- Tulumba — fried dough in syrup.
- Šape — cookies with honey and walnuts.
🍴 Recommended restaurants
- Kotor: Galion (fish), Stari Mlini (tradition), Bastion.
- Budva: Konoba Stari Grad, Demižana.
- Podgorica: Pod Volat, Lupo di Mare.
- Njeguši: Restoran Belveder — pršut and cheese at the source.
- Virpazar (Skadar): Pelikan (best fish).