Zagreb: L'Erotic Fruit & Spice & a Cat Caffe (Part 1)

I began my recent visit to Croatia in the capital city of Zagreb, and you can check out my five prior articles about this interesting city for some history, background and more. It's an excellent walking city and it was great to revisit the city, to check out some places I previously visited as well as to check out some spots that were new to me. Today, I want to highlight two cool, and very different, spots in Zagreb.

One of my first stops was to L'Erotic Fruit & Spices Shop, at Maruševečka 8, which opened in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. It's located on a quiet side street, so you probably need to seek it out as you probably wouldn't stumble upon it in your travels. However, it's close to other shops and cafes, so its easy to reach, and its worth your attention.

The shop sells dehydrated fruit and decorative spices, which can be used for a variety of purposes, from cocktails to food recipes. They also sell a number of Croatian gins, as well as rakija and liqueurs. 

They prepare the dehydrated fruits and spices by hand, generally sourcing local whenever possible. There's a great variety of items, plenty that would enhance any cocktail.  

It's a relatively small store but there's plenty of variety, and its displays are eye-catching. 

Croatian Gin is their center piece, many of the brands stating they are made like London Dry Gin. I bought a bottle of the Dubrovnik Republic Dry Gin, which is made with only four botanicals: juniper, Dubrovnik bitter orange, Seafennel, and Immortelle. A few grains of sea salt are also added. It seemed to be one of the most interesting gins they sold. There were plenty of choices though and prices were very reasonable. 

They also sell Rakija and some intriguing Croatian liqueurs, like the Rossi Epulon and Rossi Teranino. both which I purchased. So, even if you dislike gin, you'll find other items at this shop to entice your palate. 

Although I didn't have the time to stop by, they also own L'erotic Gin Bar, at Nikola Tomašića 13, where you can sample many Croatian gins, with charcuterie platters. Maybe I'll be able to check it out the next time I visit Zagreb. I highly recommend you check out L'Erotic Fruit & Spices Shop if you visit Zagreb.

I also checked out the Cat Caffe, located at Kušlanova Ulica 6, which was established in 2017 and was the first cat cafe in Croatia. It's basically a cafe, a place to grab a variety of drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, in the presence of friendly cats. There are about a dizen cats at the cafe, many named after characters from the TV series, Orange is the New Black. There's a small list of rules to follow, such as not bothering the cats while they are sleeping. 

It was a hot day when I visited the cafe, so the cats were mostly sleeping, and as you can see, they can fall asleep where ever they desire, whether on a table or atop the bar. 

You can stay as long as you like, and they even have various board games that you can play. It was a very clean and homey place, and if you're a cat lover, you'd likely enjoy this cafe. A cat cafe is supposed to be opening in Boston in the near future, so we'll see how that develops. The Cat Caffe in Zagreb has been successful for five years, so hopefully the new Boston spot can emulate that success.