Restaurant Cardo

The Hotel Atrium's big ground-floor restaurant has been renamed after one of the main streets in the Diocletian's Palace but remains anknowledged as one the city's prime culinary destinations. Here the traditional Dalmatian repertoire is jazzed up with an injection of modern European attitude. One speciality, though, is a selection of dishes prepared after recipes in the only cookbook that has come down from the Roman era, written by Marcus Gavius Apicius. One such is roast lamb "haedum pasticum", boiled in prune sauce with white wine and sun-dried herbs, seasoned with Balsamic vinegar. The kitchen sticks to a handful of topnotch dishes rather than attempt to cook up every Adriatic favourite under the sun: fish mains are limited to fillets of sea bass served in inventive combinations of sauce and garnish - and there's usually at least one classic game, fowl and steak selection on the menu, too. The risotto with spinach and asparagus is the perfect choice for a light and delicate lunch, while the house take on Dalmatia's favourite stew (pašticada) delivers satisfyingly generous portions of succulent meat.