Montenegrin food divides along the same lines as the landscape: the coast eats fish and seafood; the mountains eat meat, cheese, and cornmeal porridge. Both are worth exploring.
On the coast, grilled fish is the default order — sea bass, sea bream, and red mullet are all excellent. Ask for the catch of the day and let them grill it simply with olive oil and lemon. Mussels from the Bay of Kotor are a local speciality — the bay's water is unusually clean and the mussels are outstanding. Order them steamed in wine or buzara-style (with olive oil, garlic, and breadcrumbs). Black risotto made with cuttlefish ink shows up on most coastal menus and is reliably good.
In the mountains, kačamak is the comfort food — a thick porridge of cornmeal and potato, mixed with cheese and served with soured cream. It sounds simple and it is, but done well it's deeply satisfying. Ispod sača (meat slow-roasted under an iron bell covered in embers) takes hours to prepare and results in falling-apart lamb or veal. Njeguški pršut is the Montenegrin prosciutto, made in the village of Njeguši in the mountains above Kotor — saltier and smokier than Italian versions. Pair it with Njeguški sir, the local semi-hard cheese.
Ćevapi (small grilled meat sausages) and burek (filo pastry filled with meat, cheese, or spinach) are ubiquitous snacks and cheap — burek from a pekara (bakery) is the standard local breakfast.
Wine: Montenegro has a small but interesting wine production, centred on the Crmnica region around Lake Skadar. Vranac is the dominant local red variety — dark, tannic, and good with grilled meat. Krstač is the white equivalent, dry and citrusy. Plantaže is the major producer; their bottles are widely available and perfectly decent. Rakija (fruit brandy) is everywhere and offered freely by hosts — refusing is considered impolite but accepting repeated glasses is an endurance sport.
Restaurant prices on the coast in peak season are European; in the interior and out of season, food and drink are quite cheap.