Game of Stones: Dubrovnik’s Mali Ston Oysters

Many things spring to mind when you think of Dubrovnik, Croatia’s walled medieval city lapped by the blue Adriatic. Its role in Game of Thrones, most often as King’s Landing, sent the city’s profile soaring; its UNESCO World Heritage status draws travellers from around the globe; and, in the times before Covid, it was a cruise ship mecca and a byword for crowds.

But eating and drinking are two great highlights of Dubrovnik. Wine has been made here since the ancient Greeks arrived around 2,500 years ago, and production, often of indigenous grapes, is small-scale, artisanal and, often, excellent. Better yet, the town of Mali Ston, just 50 km (30 miles) up the coast from Dubrovnik, produces some of Europe’s finest oysters.

With their delicate appearance and flat, shallow shells, Mali Ston oysters technically fall into the category of European flat oysters (ostrea edulis), a species whose range runs all the way from Scandinavia to Morocco. But what makes them special enough to be a favoured treat of Roman emperors is the waters off Mali Ston, where a river loaded with minerals from karst springs mingles with salt water and plankton fill the molluscs with flavour.

Mali Ston oysters taste mild and delicate – less aggressively briny than many oysters, with notes of mushroom and hazelnut. The texture, despite their small size, is soft and delicate. And the value, unlike some more expensive oysters, is hard to beat.

The perfect place to eat them? One of the Bota Šare restaurant group, owned by a family who farm their own oysters off Mali Ston the traditional way, and serve a simple menu of oysters and sushi in Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik and Mali Ston. Pair them with a local wine, perhaps a Pošip, crafted from an indigenous grape, and perhaps a squeeze of lemon, if you must.