Caffetteria Cica

Zagreb, ugao Tkalčićeve i Skalinske ulice

This tiny storefront 'graperia, cafeteria and galleria' is the most underground place you'll find on the Tkalčićeva strip. The interior undergoes radical changes every year or so and has the appearance of an art installation rather than a café-bar. Last year's gothic bathroom look with ceramic sinks serving as tables has been replaced with a long table that looks like a space shuttle and emits an enigmatic blue glow. Skeletal black chairs look like instruments of torture but are strangely comfortable. Outdoors, a scattering of tables on both sides of the street is insufficient to cope on summer evenings, when it's standing-room only both inside and out. Otherwise, Cica's main claim to fame is the long menu of house rakijas or brandies, which stretches to blueberry, honey, nut, fig and aniseed alongside the more common varieties.