Food at Pical Resort 5* isn’t built around a single restaurant or dining style. Instead, the resort brings together everything from premium hotel restaurants and casual seaside venues to some of the most ambitious names on Poreč’s growing gastronomic scene.
There is also a strong sense of place behind it all. Around 80% of the food and drink used across the resort is locally sourced, while Istrian ingredients, Adriatic seafood and the culinary traditions of Croatia, Slovenia and Italy appear in very different forms from one restaurant to the next.
Parenzana: three countries on one plate
A good place to understand Pical’s culinary philosophy is Parenzana, the V Level restaurant at Pical Suites, whose concept follows the famous former railway route connecting Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.
Its menu was created by chefs from all three countries, bringing regional recipes and ingredients together in a more contemporary setting. Traditional flavours are joined by live cooking stations, a carefully selected wine list and an elaborate dessert offering. It makes Parenzana feel less like a conventional hotel restaurant and more like a first introduction to the wider region surrounding Poreč.
And that sense of discovery works particularly well at the beginning of a stay: one breakfast or dinner can move between Istrian, Slovenian and Italian influences without ever leaving the resort.
More: seafood, show cooking and a serious wine selection
At More, the Adriatic naturally takes centre stage. The restaurant combines a premium buffet format with locally sourced dishes and fish prepared in front of guests. Seafood is one of its defining features, but wine is just as important: the restaurant showcases more than 200 labels.
It is an easy choice when you want plenty of variety without giving up the feeling of a considered gourmet experience. You can keep things light with seafood and seasonal vegetables, explore local dishes or build dinner around a bottle discovered from the wine collection.
Quattro Terre: Istria made family-friendly
For guests staying at Pical Family Hotel, Quattro Terre takes a more relaxed approach to regional cooking.
The premium all-inclusive restaurant revolves around Mediterranean and Istrian specialities prepared through a show-cooking concept.
It is designed to make local flavours approachable for the whole family – particularly useful when one person wants to explore Istrian cuisine while another is looking for something familiar. That variety is part of Pical’s strength: a culinary holiday here does not have to mean formal dining every night.
Harry’s Piccolo Poreč: the MICHELIN-starred experience at Pical Resort 5*
Then there is Harry’s Piccolo Poreč, Pical’s most ambitious fine-dining destination and the restaurant that earned a MICHELIN Star in 2026. The concept draws on the philosophy of the two-MICHELIN-starred Harry’s Piccolo in Trieste and the creative vision of chefs Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra. The MICHELIN Guide describes the experience as a journey connecting sea and land, Italy and Istria, with two tasting menus alongside an à la carte selection.
The concept draws on the philosophy of the two-MICHELIN-starred Harry’s Piccolo in Trieste and the creative vision of chefs Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra. At the heart of the experience is La Parenzana tasting menu, a seven-course journey inspired by the historic route connecting Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. The menu moves between sea and land with dishes such as langoustine with apricot and coconut curry, boškarin with aubergine and pickled sea herbs, pasta e fagioli with gambero rosso and buzara sauce, lobster, lamb and a dessert inspired by the forest. Each course can also be accompanied by a carefully selected wine pairing, with bottles from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Italy and beyond.
This is the restaurant to save for a long evening.
Fire, Flavour and Easygoing Seaside Dining at Pical Resort 5*
Fogo by Bekal: when fire becomes an ingredient
Not every memorable meal needs white tablecloths. At Fogo by Bekal, right on Pical Beach, chefs Tvrtko Šakota and Marko Turković bring the creative spirit of Michelin-recommended Bekal in Zagreb to the Adriatic. The defining element is fire – not simply as a cooking technique, but as part of the flavour itself. It gives Fogo a very different personality from Pical’s fine-dining restaurants. The setting is seaside and informal, while the cooking is bold, smoky and contemporary. It is particularly suited to those long holiday dinners that begin while there is still daylight and slowly continue into the evening.
Purobeach Poreč: lunch with a global outlook
A few steps away, Purobeach Poreč changes the mood again. Its signature M3 Cuisine concept looks beyond Istria, blending Mediterranean influences with flavours from Asia and Latin America. Dishes are designed for a relaxed, social style of dining, while handcrafted cocktails incorporate local botanicals.
This is where lunch easily turns into an afternoon by the sea. Food, cocktails, music and the beach-club atmosphere all form part of the experience, rather than feeling like separate parts of the day.
Oliva Grill Pical: the easy-going side of the resort
For an uncomplicated lunch between the beach and the pool, Oliva Grill Pical keeps things simple.
Its à la carte show-cooking menu includes fresh pasta, wood-fired pizza, gourmet burgers and grilled fish and meat.
It is not trying to compete with the resort’s tasting menus, and that is exactly the point. After several elaborate dinners, sometimes the meal you want most is pizza straight from the oven, grilled fish and a cold drink outside.
Dine Around: A Different Culinary Experience Every Evening
JAZ by Ana Roš: a different kind of dining in Poreč
One of the best things about staying at Pical is that the culinary experience does not stop at the edge of the resort. Through its wider Dine Around concept, you can continue into Poreč itself, including JAZ by Ana Roš Poreč, part of the MICHELIN Guide 2026 selection.Dine Around: jeden Abend ein neues Gourmet-Erlebnis
Ana Roš describes JAZ as young dining: neither traditional fine dining nor a classic bistro. Seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers and foragers are transformed into expressive, often playful dishes designed to be placed in the middle of the table and shared.
The atmosphere follows the same philosophy. JAZ sits on Poreč’s seafront promenade and is intended to feel social and spontaneous rather than ceremonial. It is a chance to experience the creativity associated with Ana Roš in a format made for conversation, sharing and a lively evening by the sea.
Spinnaker: contemporary Adriatic bistronomy
For a deeper exploration of the Adriatic, continue along the Poreč waterfront to Spinnaker, another restaurant selected by the MICHELIN Guide. Here seafood is the protagonist, interpreted through contemporary techniques and an increasingly focused approach to seasonality and ageing. The MICHELIN Guide highlights techniques such as dry-ageing the catch before cooking it over a Japanese grill, while the menu can be explored à la carte or through four- and six-course tasting experiences.
It is a more modern expression of coastal cooking: recognisably Adriatic at its core, but willing to explore new textures, deeper flavours and less expected preparations.
Miramare by Fratelli Cerea: dinner starts with a boat ride
And then there is the restaurant where the journey to dinner becomes part of dinner itself.
Miramare by Fratelli Cerea sits on Sveti Nikola Island, reached by a short boat ride from Poreč. Its refined Italian and Mediterranean cuisine comes from the Cerea family, whose Da Vittorio restaurant holds three MICHELIN Stars.
The location makes it particularly memorable: dinner unfolds beside the island’s infinity pool and historic Isabella Castle, with Poreč visible across the water.
It is one of those evenings where you remember not only what was on the plate, but the entire sequence – the boat crossing, the island, dinner and the lights of the town on the journey back.
From dinner to champagne above Poreč
Pical’s gourmet side continues after the final course. At the Pical rooftop bar by Laurent Perrier, more than 50 premium sparkling wines and champagnes share the menu with boutique sparkling wines from regions along the Parenzana route. The food offering follows the same celebratory mood, with oysters, tartares, lobster tacos, gourmet sandwiches, seasonal fruit and artisan ice cream.
With the infinity pool and views towards the old town of Poreč, this is the place for an aperitif before dinner – or one last glass after it.
For something quieter, Nota piano bar offers more than 150 premium spirit labels, over 200 wines, cocktails, oysters, caviar and cold bites, accompanied by regular live piano sessions. And when the craving is for something sweet rather than another course, Atelier 33 patisserie turns chocolates, pralines, truffles and pastries into its own small gourmet experience inspired in part by the Parenzana region.
One stay, many ways to experience Istria
What makes the culinary experience at Pical Resort 5* interesting is not simply the number of restaurants. It is how little repetition there is between them.
You can start with Istria and the neighbouring regions at Parenzana, spend an afternoon over Mediterranean-Asian flavours at Purobeach, discover cooking shaped by fire at Fogo and dress up for a MICHELIN-starred dinner at Harry’s Piccolo. On another evening, Poreč becomes part of the experience through Ana Roš’s relaxed sharing plates at JAZ or Spinnaker’s contemporary approach to Adriatic seafood. And when you want to go a little further, a boat takes you across the water for Italian fine dining at Miramare.
Pical’s Dine Around programme is designed to connect many of these experiences, with dinner-exchange and dining-credit options available at select restaurants depending on the guest package. Restaurant availability can vary by season, and reservations are recommended for the signature venues.
