Croatia: Kapetanova Kuca (Captain’s Table) (August 2016)




My spouse and I ate at Kapetanova Kuca on a Tuesday morning in late August 2016. We were traveling from Dubrovnik to Split, and we stopped in Ston to investigate the town and to eat some oysters. After a short walking tour, we learned that nearby town Mali Ston offers preferable oysters (plus, restaurants in Ston do not open until noontime, and we visited mid-morning), so we stopped at Kapetanova Kuca to indulge our craving.

The Kralj (King) family opened Kapetanova Kuca, which means “Captain’s House/Captain’s Table”, over 30 years ago. The restaurant is located in the Hotel Ostrea on Obala dr. Ante Starcevica. (The family opened the 13-room hotel about 18 years ago.) The restaurant is located to the rear of the hotel and offers a view of the water. It seats approximately 50 patrons indoors, and another 50 customers outdoors on the terrace beneath a large canopy.

Kapetanova Kuca serves fresh seafood, including oysters, mussels, clams, lobsters, cuttlefish risotto, and fish dishes (such as pates, salads, whitefish, and bluefish). As we perused the menu, our waiter delivered a basket of homemade bread covered with a pretty cloth embroidered with the Kralj family crest. Because it was not yet lunchtime, we visited for some light refreshments only. We shared six plump briny Kamenica oysters, followed by a piece of stonska torta (also called Ston cake, which is a celebratory dessert that contains cooked macaroni [makarulima], somewhat similar to a walnut kugel or a strudel). Along with two rounds of drinks, including a local white wine called Posip cara from the island of Korcula, our bill totaled 193 kuna ($28 USD).

We will always remember our mid-morning stop at Kapetanova Kuca for oysters and Ston cake.















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