My spouse
and I visited Licka Kuca Restoran for lunch on a Friday afternoon in early
September 2016. We visited the restaurant after we spent a few hours exploring
in the adjacent Plitvice National Park. This restaurant is located directly
across the street from park entrance number 1; you can cross sometimes-busy county road DC429 using the overhead footbridge. To dine in the restaurant,
you can park your car in any visitor lot, and you can dine there even if you do
not visit the park. Licka Kuca is open daily from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm.
Originally
built in 1972, this national restaurant occupies two floors in a traditional-style
barn-like building (similar to a structure that you would find in the town of Lika
[spelled differently than the restaurant name]). In the summertime when we
visited, the restaurant was decorated
by flowering window boxes and surrounded by other colorful foliage.
Devastatingly, in 2012, the restaurant structure experienced a destructive
fire; however, in 2015, the owners rebuilt and renovated its huge rustic indoor
dining rooms. The spacious restaurant can accommodate large parties and groups
as well as individuals. Interior décor features traditional items that families
in the town of Lika would have used in olden days. The restaurant also offers
service at a few tables on the outdoor covered deck.
The
traditional, meat-based menu offers authentic Croatian favorites like
spit-roasted lamb, stew, and fish. The ground-level interior of the restaurant
includes an open-hearth fireplace where you can watch some of the cooking. Our
lunch totaled 312 Kuna (about $50 USD) for two rounds of drinks and two entrees
(including the meat skewers and the lamb under the iron cover, both of which arrived
accompanied by side green salads and fried potato chunks). Other house specialties including “basa” cottage
cheese, sour milk, fritters, and strudels (cheese, apple or plum) sounded
intriguing.
We were
thrilled to find such a pleasant dining option right outside Plitvice Lakes
National Park!
