'You are now entering Evolution Area' says the sign on the door, which leads through to a coolly minimal white space with a handful of tables grouped around the bar. For several years now Eli's has been Zagreb's leading venue for quality coffee, leading a brown-stuff brewing revolution that is slowly spreading to the city's other bars. It is also one of the few cafe-bars that has remained 100% non-smoking, ensuring that you can actually taste and smell whatever it is you're drinking. A foxy young professional clientele gather here to gas, goss and guzzle coffee from 100% arabica beans selected and roasted by the café owner Nik Orosi, the country’s first specialty coffee roaster and supplies a half-dozen cafés with enough taste to want the best coffee in town.
Croatians are sacrosanct about their kava: it’s something to be enjoyed leisurely, not slugged from a cardboard cup on the way back to the office. That said, much of what you’ll find in your cup is commercially blended and can be spectacularly bland. Luckily, a cluster of ace coffee-shops are flying the flag for specialist and third-wave coffee – some double up as artisan roasteries, too. We’ve trawled them all to bring you a definitive guide to the best coffee Zagreb has to offer.
RECOMMENDED: the best cafés and coffee shops in Zagreb.
