Restaurant Djudja and Mate in Vid is a lovely place. One of my favorite in Croatia. It is not a fancy place. It doesn’t offer the most extensive wine list or creative cuisine and famous, young chefs.
But the place is just right. The owners Djudja & Mate are always there, although lately their sons are trying to take over. Still the fathers are always around. Djudja’s son Jure, a very pleasant young man, speaks perfect French. So rare to find in Croatia. I enjoys chatting with him.
I love to go to restaurant Djudja and Mate in Vid. A village of Vid is near Metkovic in Southern Croatia, not far from Dubrovnik. This region is culinary known for specialties like frogs and eels. And every restaurant in the area have frogs and eels on their menu.
One of the less spoken secrets is that they make the best bread that I have ever eaten in any restaurant. It is a flat, round loaf baked in the fireplace under bell-like lid.
Special cooking technique very popular in Croatia, and not only for bread but for meat and in Dalmatia for preparing an octopus. This bread has the best crunchy crust you can imagine. I can eat only that bread all day long.
Since some time now, I have been a regular customer at restaurant Djuda and Mate in Vid. And from time to time I get to eat meals that are not on the menu, but the owner prepares them for his friends who stop by. Dried cot (cro. bakalar) around Christmas time, snails in spring, fresh cheese that somebody just brought from some remote Bosnian village, etc..
From traditional menu, I like the most frogs: breaded, grilled with prosciutto or fried with onions. My personal favorites are frogs with onions. I was amazed when I have tasted Neretva frogs for the first time. They are really meaty and tasty.
Until then, I only ate frogs at all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. After tasting frogs from Neretva region, I am not even sure what exactly they have served at those Chinese buffets. Scary to think about :-).
Another unique experience in the restaurant Djudja and Mate in Vid, as well as in other restaurants in the region, is a meal served in the traditional boats. The boats are called ladja (bigger) or trupa (smaller).
They were traditionally used for transport of people and goods, but today they have a touristic purpose. You can have your meal served in the boat while strolling down little channels on Norin river and enjoying the nature. Great experience!
Djudja and Mate have a little ranch, down the river, where you can bring a larger group for some serious partying, away from it all. Or stop at one of their fields to pick up some tangerines for yourself.
