By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Published: 06:43 EDT, 2 September 2025 | Updated: 06:45 EDT, 2 September 2025
Sir Keir Starmer copied Manchester City stars by visiting one of Croatia's top fish restaurants while holidaying in the Balkan country last month.
The Prime Minister, who is a pescatarian, dined at Restaurant Viking overlooking the waters of the Lim Bay in Istria while abroad with his family in August.
The family-run eatery has previously been visited by Manchester City footballers Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan.
The restaurant is known for its oysters, which are cultivated in the Lim Bay, and celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
According to local media, the PM's visit was kept 'strictly incognito', with restaurant staff unaware that Sir Keir would be visiting until after his arrival.
The Dubrovnik Times also reported that 'discreet' security measures meant most diners 'likely had no idea they were sharing a meal with the British PM'.
Sir Keir did squeeze in some official business during his trip abroad when he met with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković at the seaside resort of Opatija last Friday.
His Croatia trip was the PM's second break during Parliament's summer recess, after he went to Scotland for a family holiday earlier in August.
Sir Keir Starmer dined at Restaurant Viking overlooking the waters of the Lim Bay in Istria while abroad with his family in August
The family-run eatery has previously been visited by Manchester City footballers Phil Foden , John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan
Sir Keir did squeeze in some official business during his trip abroad when he met with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenković at the seaside resort of Opatija last Friday
But Sir Keir's visit to Scotland was interrupted by his dash to Washington DC for crunch talks on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump and other European leaders.
It was the second summer in a row that the PM had been forced to interrupt a family holiday.
Sir Keir cancelled his planned break last summer in order to remain in charge of the Government's response to the outbreak of rioting across Britain.
Restaurant Viking posted a photo of Sir Keir and staff members on its Instagram account on 23 August.
'Today we had the honor of hosting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was enjoying this sunny Saturday and kindly provided us with this photo as a memory. Cheers!,' it read.
The restaurant had posted a similar photo of Foden, Stones and Gundogan with staff members in July 2022, when the footballers were on a pre-season training trip in Croatia.
The British Embassy in Croatian capital Zagreb revealed Sir Keir's talks with Mr Plenković.
In a post on its Facebook page on 29 August, the embassy quoted the Croatian PM as saying: 'It is my pleasure to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Opatija, who is spending his vacation in Croatia.
'We exchanged views on main bilateral and global issues. Croatia and the UK will continue to mantain close and partnership-based cooperation focused on key political, economic and security matters.'
Sir Keir has previously spoken of how he stopped eating meat around 25 years ago after leaving university.
Speaking to the Table Manners podcast in 2023, he added that initially he had given up fish as well but had reintroduced it to his diet.
He also said his wife, Victoria Starmer, has been a 'proper vegetarian' because she doesn't eat meat or fish.