Best Seafood Restaurants in Split: Where to Eat Fish

What Split's seafood is and the dishes to know

Dalmatian cooking keeps fish simple: grilled over charcoal, dressed with olive oil and lemon, and served with blitva, the Swiss chard and potato side that turns up everywhere. Black risotto takes its colour from cuttlefish ink and is the dish most visitors try first, while black gnocchi applies the same idea to potato dumplings. Octopus salad, fish soup and grilled squid are the lighter openers that show whether a kitchen is cooking fish properly.

Busara-style shellfish means clams or mussels cooked with garlic, white wine, breadcrumbs and pasta, and it is a good test of a kitchen because it depends on fresh shellfish rather than technique. Fish stews let you choose the fish that goes in, so ask what came in that day before committing. For a first seafood meal in Split, a whole grilled fish with blitva and a plate of octopus salad is a sound order.

How ordering works: fish by the kilo and sharing platters

Whole fish and shellfish platters are often sold by weight rather than as a fixed plate, so the final bill depends on what you choose and how much of it. The practical move is to ask for the weight and the total before the kitchen cooks it, especially when ordering a mixed platter for a table. Sharing platters of cold and hot seafood are a sensible way to try several things at once without committing to a single large fish.

At Kavanazona, for example, the fish or shellfish is chosen and served on a large plate to share yourself, so a platter works best for a group rather than a solo diner. Sides of chard and potatoes normally come with grilled fish, so you rarely need to order them separately. A shared fish platter with a starter and a bottle of local white is enough for two people at most of these places, as set out in our Best Restaurants in Split guide.

Fish Mama Seafood & Steak in Trg Republike

Fish Mama Seafood & Steak sits in Trg Republike, the square of colourful architecture a short walk from the old town, and serves seafood and steak with views of the buildings. The menu runs to Croatian favourites including peka octopus and seafood plates, but the fish platter is the order: sea bass fillet, Adriatic tuna steak, grilled squid, scampi, mussels and Dalmatian chard. Start with the Fish Mama's Plate, a cold spread of fish pâté, salted and marinated anchovies, smoked Adriatic tuna, smoked prawns and mussels.

The square-side setting makes it a popular evening room, and the terraces and old-town rooms in this guide fill up in high summer. The fish platter is substantial, so a table of two can share one with a starter and still have room for dessert.

Adriatic Grašo: clifftop seafood above the marina

Adriatic Grašo is perched on a clifftop overlooking the marina, with an outdoor terrace and an indoor dining room, and seafood dominates the menu. Order the fish soup and octopus salad for a lighter lunch with a sea view, or settle in for a fuller seafood meal in the evening. The drinks list covers Croatian beers and wines, which suit the fish.

This is the pick when the view matters as much as the food: the terrace looks out over the marina, and the clifftop position makes it a natural lunch stop. The menu leans to local seafood specialities rather than steak or pizza.

Apetit in the old town near People's Square

Apetit Restaurant is a polished old-town dining room close to People's Square, with a menu built around local seafood and staff who know it well. Order the grilled squid with Swiss chard and potato, or the fresh swordfish served with courgette when it is on. The room suits a romantic dinner or a slower evening meal, and fits naturally into our Where to Eat Dinner in Split guide.

Its position inside the old town makes it a sensible stop after walking the palace streets. The grilled squid is the dish to judge the kitchen by.

Bajamonti on Trg Republike: square-side seats and black seafood pasta

Bajamonti sits in the Neo-Baroque Trg Republike and sets tables out in the square for alfresco dining, with a more formal room inside. The menu covers plenty of seafood alongside a range of pizzas, which makes it a useful lunch stop when part of the table wants fish and part does not. Order the black seafood pasta, which comes full of fish including monkfish and langoustine.

The square setting is the draw: sit outside for the architecture, inside for a quieter meal. The menu covers plenty of seafood and a range of pizzas, so it works for a mixed table. It is central enough to combine with a walk through the old town.

Restaurant Leonis in the old-town side streets

Restaurant Leonis is tucked into the narrow side streets of Old Town Split, with a food and wine menu that rewards a bit of exploring. The black gnocchi is the dish to order: plenty of fish cooked so the seafood stays tender. It is a good alternative to black risotto if you want the same idea in a different form.

Being off the main squares makes it a calmer choice than the terraces around Trg Republike. The food and wine menu is worth a look if you want a glass with the fish.

Kavanazona on the coastal path west of the centre

Kavanazona sits along the coastal path west of the centre, with a covered terrace and an indoor room, and works well for lunch. Order the black risotto, the daily fish soup or cream of shrimp soup to start, then a seafood platter sold by weight: you choose the fish or shellfish and serve yourself from a large plate. The mixed shells cooked busara-style with pasta, clams on the day, are another strong order, as is fried squid with rustic potatoes.

The lighter lunch options make it a good midday stop, while the fish stews, where you choose the fish that goes in, suit a longer evening. It is a coastal-path room rather than a sightseeing terrace in the old town.

Corto Maltese Freestyle Food: a quirky room and inventive seafood

Corto Maltese Freestyle Food is a quirky dining room with inventive decor and a few seats outside, and the menu gives every dish a creative name. Order the Ballad of the Salted Sea, homemade tagliatelle with a shrimp bisque and cottage cheese, if you want something beyond the standard Dalmatian plates. The drinks list includes lesser-known craft beers alongside wine.

The menu also covers meat, so it works for a mixed table, and the drinks list runs to craft beer and wine. It is a good change of pace if you have already eaten your way through grilled fish and black risotto.

Mandrach near the stadium: sunsets, meat and seafood

Mandrach Restaurant sits near the football stadium, with a terrace known for its sunset views and a comfortable indoor room. The menu covers both meat and seafood, so it is a useful choice for a group that is not entirely sold on fish. It is a neighbourhood room rather than an old-town stop, which makes it a different kind of evening.

Go for the terrace at sunset and order seafood, with meat as the alternative if that is what the table wants. In summer the sunset terrace is the reason to come westward, so plan an early enough start.

Old-town terrace or neighbourhood table: the trade-off

Old-town seafood restaurants put you within a few minutes of the warren of streets inside Diocletian's Palace and the squares around it. The more distant rooms such as Kavanazona and Mandrach trade the old-town setting for a calmer, more residential pace. Our Best Restaurants in Split guide covers the wider city picture if you want to mix old-town rooms with places further out, and our picks of the restaurants in Split old town help if you want to stay central.

A sensible plan is one old-town seafood dinner for atmosphere and one meal further out on the coastal path, using lunch for the waterfront rooms and dinner for the old-town dining rooms. If you want a set evening out, Where to Eat Dinner in Split compares the dinner rooms in more detail.

When to book in high season

Outside the summer season the places in this guide are generally easier to walk into without a reservation, but peak summer is a different matter and booking ahead is the safer approach for the old-town rooms and terraces. Dinner from around eight and lunch on the waterfront are the busiest windows. If you want a specific terrace or a square-side table, reserve it rather than turning up.

For a first night, book an old-town table so you are not walking the streets with bags at nine. For a sunset terrace such as Mandrach, aim to be seated early enough to eat before the light goes.

Which Split seafood meal to book first

If you want one seafood meal that shows what Split does well, book Fish Mama Seafood & Steak for the fish platter, or Kavanazona for black risotto and shellfish by weight if you would rather eat along the coastal path. Add Restaurant Leonis for black gnocchi and Apetit for grilled squid if you have more than one evening. Reserve the terrace tables in summer, ask the weight and total before a platter is cooked, and order a whole grilled fish with blitva at least once.