Vest

A place for hipsters and others who like pretty things

Yes, this is a proper hipster place. And even if you like making fun of their extravagancies on other occasions, when you visit Vest you will thank them with all seriousness. For this beautiful, modern, cozy restaurant where you can see that every detail was well thought through, for the friendliness of their young staff, and of course, for wonderful food. Vest did not bring to the world anything that did not exist before but it made a solid contribution to an established style – and that is very good.

When we visited on a late Sunday afternoon, customers were comfortably spread out in this pretty large space. I assume it gets more crowded and noisy on weekend nights, turning into a fun hipster pub full of bearded creatures playing foosball, tasting latest craft beer brand and checking new cool apps. Really, hanging out like all normal people do.

On a given Sunday though, it was a chill time with Dj's equipment sitting quietly, a sports game showing without a sound on a projector and some mostly decent 90's music playing on appropriate volume. While sipping our delicious cappuccinos and waiting for the food to arrive, we kept turning our heads in all four directions noticing little things and how they all come well together. 

Yeah, we should have gotten the coffee after the meals, not before. It's just the waiter asked if we wanted some, and to say 'sure' felt like the most natural thing. 

The pulled pork burger (~7 Eur) was my type of burger, mainly because of pulled pork and that roasted bun. I am a terrible burger eater and bad judge, though, so I have to take into account my burger lover's opinion - the burger was falling apart too much even for him and was impossible to eat with your hands. In my hands, all burgers fall apart but when coming from him - means something.

 An ox cheek stew (~9 Eur) was my exotic choice but turned out to be a perfectly normal stew with very soft pieces of meat and veggies. I loved how balanced the mix of spices in it was - not bland and not overwhelmed with extra flavors. It would be even better with some bread or rice on the side.

We also ordered a salad which never arrived. Being too full for it anyway, we decided to leave it for next time which will definitely happen soon.

A dinner for 2 without appetizer or dessert came to ~25 Eur. I feel like we tried too little to give definite judgment but I already can't wait to go there again and fix that.

Final score: 4/5. In my heart, I really wanted to give more but was stopped by my more reasonable half.

Vest

Stabu iela 1, Riga, Latvia

https://www.facebook.com/VestRiga/?rf=1487026264869466

Picas Meistars

Picas Meistars  

A little cozy pizza place. Pizza is good here, too

When I get to rank the best pizza in Riga, I believe Picas Meistars will be in top 5. There probably will be no more than 5 entries in the top because, well, it’s not like you find great pizza on every corner in Riga. I just hope to find 5 places to put on the list that are not chain restaurants. That already would be an achievement.

Picas Meistars is located around Gertrudes church which seems to be the hub of cute little restaurants. It is small and can be noisy when crowded but still has a charming character. The idea of simple but delicious pizza is in the air along with those graters, ladles and other spoons and forks that are hanging around.

And that is exactly what we got.

We went for a big 40cm half and half pizza, and barely managed to finish. We did but were feeling full almost until next morning.

One half was loaded with pepperoni, mushrooms, and bacon – not your humble Italian pizza. The crust was sort of oily but nice and crispy.

The second half - a salmon pizza was a bit plain, felt like it lacked something. Probably more salmon.

I will surely come again to taste other pizzas, maybe will even order pepperoni, bacon, and mushroom again. If I’m very hungry or craving for something extra unhealthy. 

Big pizza and a couple of beers came to ~15 Euro. And you pay at the counter so no extra for the tip.

Rating: 4/5

Picas Meistars

Baznicas iela 24, Riga, Latvia

http://www.picasmeistars.lv/riga/picas.html

Tavs Banh mi

How Vietnamese street food brought a hope of civilization to Latvia

Tavs Banh mi is an unexpected discovery. Hearing about the existence of Vietnamese restaurant in Riga intrigued me but I was cautious with expectations. The name “Tavs Banh mi” did not add much hope, either. Banh mi just means “bread” in Vietnamese and often refers to a Vietnamese sandwich - a popular street food dish in Vietnam. Tavs is "your" in Latvian. Imagine a restaurant called “ Your Hamburger” or “ Your Pizza”.

And who could have thought that it will turn out to be a casual local Vietnamese restaurant (little cleaner but not much) serving common street food like Pho noodle soups, mixed noodle dishes, Banh mi sandwiches and a Vietnamese coffee! You see countless places like it in Vietnam but when you find one in Riga, that’s something. 

Then I observed a Latvian man in a business suit eating his noodles with his son of around 12. They looked as if they do it every other night. Suddenly I was was not in Riga. This was London, Paris, or Berlin, where an eatery like this is nothing uncommon or exotic. Riga needed a place like that, now it has it and it makes me hopeful about this city's future.

The food looked and tasted just like the one you would find in numerous simple street eateries in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. No effort was made to boost its esthetics or adapt the taste. The only complaint is that they seem to be constantly out of pork so you have to choose other types of meat for your noodles.

I did not have a chance to try the hero - Banh mi sandwiches. They are more of a brunch food for me but the place does not work on weekends. For weekday dinner I rather go for noodle dishes. I tried to come here on a public holiday, just for those sandwiches, as their facebook page said they are working. Well, they did not.

So here is what we managed to try.

Deep fried veggie spring rolls (2 Euro) could be mistaken for those just taken out of a huge pot with oil old by a Vietnamese lady in a random street eatery. There was something wrong with the jelly-like consistency of the sauce, though - but only this one time.

Noodle soup with beef (4.5 Euro) was also delightful. For me, broth is the whole essence of Pho noodle soups, and this one had it right. In Vietnam, you would get more greens on top but that's forgivable. 

Mixed noodle dish with beef (4.5 Euro) (pork sold out again) was just pure happiness. Noodles mixed with meat, veggies, peanuts and washed in refreshingly spicy sauce - maybe doesn't sound so but it is heavenly delicious. I wonder how much better can it be with pork.

Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (2.5 Euro) looked authentic in that old-ish dripper but tasted like the one we made at home once - with coffee and the dripper from Vietnam and Latvian condensed milk. It was not amazing and I am still wondering what the secret is.

The whole dinner with a beer came to ~15 Euro. They could definitely charge more if they worked on weekends and made sure they do not run out of ingredients too often.

Final score: 4/5

Tavs Banh Mi

Gertrudes iela 9, Riga, Latvia

https://www.facebook.com/tavsbanhmy/

Sveiks, Švejk

Sveiks, Švejk

A Place to Warm up and Stuff your Stomach on a Snowy Evening

If I image a typical Czech pub, it would be a long list of beer on the menu, being carried back and forth in huge beer mugs and lots of loud, slightly drunk and happy people. At a place like that food is secondary. It should be meaty and filling but it is not the first thing you will remember the next morning. Sveiks, Švejk offers something more.

We visited Sveiks, Švejk on a crowded Friday night and a quiet Thursday but I still find it lacking both coziness and lively atmosphere. Visual references to the brave soldier Shweik do not change that and it just feels like a regular pub with a Czech pretense.

That is until you start checking out the menu. It turns out they carry a selection of strong Czech alcohol, several beer brands and an impressive choice of dishes. The short beer list only proves the point that this is a decent restaurant masquerading as a random pub. No, it is not some forgettable pub. It is a place to study the menu for an extensive period of time, not being able to choose what you want because all of it sounds mouthwatering, and finally stuffing your stomach with this satisfyingly filling eastern European food.

We started with a mushroom soup-puree (3.50 Euro), and it turned out to be unbelievably hot, thick, filling, and perfect in its simplicity. I am rarely impressed by such plain dishes but this one was a hit  - nothing needed to be added.

Our second appetizer was Eggplant rolls with feta cheese (4.5 Euro). Same gentle, unpretentious goodness.

Main dishes were good but did not bring any surprises. They probably were not intended to, it's just the soup and the rolls probably put me into an expecting mood. So what I got, in comparison, was just ok. According to my eating (and life) partner, such a judgment was unreasonable but I feel what I feel - soup and rolls were wonderful, mains - less so.

One of the main dishes we got was the Quails prepared in the old Czech method with King Boletes (8.5 Euro). Trying quails for the first time, it felt like eating baby chickens which made me feel like a bad person. That feeling and lots of dirty hand work required to devour the dish is about all I remember about it.

Lamb Sausage (6.5 Euro) with mashed potatoes and stewed cabbage (6.6 Euro) was predictable but a solidly satisfying choice. The sausages and stewed sour cabbage combination was enjoyed even by me, not a sausage person at all. It actually made me appreciate a sausage for not inspiring any existential self-questioning.

We got an apple pie so that we can check "done" on the checklist for the dessert. It did the job but, really, it was a boring apple pie.


This not so modest dinner (including a shot of Krusovice and couple of beers) came to ~40 Euro.

Final score: 4/5



Sveiks, Švejk

Stabu iela 23, Riga, Latvia

https://www.facebook.com/sveiks.svejk   (but the post twice a year..)

Takeria El Santos x

 The place that brought Mexican cuisine to Latvia but forgot to add its spirit

This is another restaurant in Riga with delicious food but misguided interior choices and lack of character. You can see that they care and they tried but somehow failed to ask for a professional advice when setting the whole thing up. 

Just as Spice Thai Fusion described in my previous review, Takeria is too big for those few random customers who manage to stumble upon it, stuffed with objects of unclear purpose (that grandma’s chair, for instance. Because the place was hardly set up with a "grandma's house" concept in mind), and completed with a name that you will get wrong nine times out of ten. 

But let’s dig into the food. For starters, we got Aztec soup (3 Euro) – a spicy tomato soup with chicken, cheese and few corn tortillas. It was mildly spicy and rich in flavor but the cheese was sticky and clumped together into one solid mass. I suspect they did not go for top quality cheese here, as seemed to be the case in other dishes, too. Well, I am not an expert on what kind of cheese is the right one for real Mexican food but really good one is widely available in Latvia and inexpensive. Just saying. 

Guacamole (6 Euro) with a giant corn chip on top looked impressive and tasted almost heavenly. There could be more chips to accompany the green mass, but then you would have less stomach space for other good stuff.

Chicken flautas (8 Euro) with salsa verde sauce (named just "green sauce" in the menu) was my first choice for the main courses because of the sauce. I am a huge fan of salsa verde,  and whatever it comes with is secondary to me - be it flautas, burrito, hot dog or piece of dry bread. According to an experienced Mexican food eater, The flautas were not 100% authentic with a fluffy soft (possibly flour?) wrapping and not the typical thin and crunchy fried corn tortilla. As for me, just more salsa verde would be great. At least as much as there was "red sauce" on our next main. 

Enchiladas (8 Euro) came in an abundant amount of sauce which was less than impressive. Or maybe just less impressive than the green one. Not that it was bad but a few days later after the dinner, I am having trouble remembering how it tasted, so probably nothing to blow your mind. Lots of the same cheese from the soup didn't add to the score.

Our stomachs were full but the dessert could not be resisted - and it turned out to be the decision of the week. Or the month. There were two options on the menu and anyone who went for churros instead of the fried banana (5 Euro) would never forgive themselves if only they knew what they missed. I will not reveal the mystery of what it is so that you have to go and check for yourself, but it involves watching a banana being set on fire in a bath of vanilla cream and tequila mix. 

But who knows, maybe those who went for churros are telling similar stories. I will have to go and find out.

Dinner, a couple of beers and margarita came to ~40Euro.

Final score: 3/5. 

Takeria El Santos X

Pils iela 7, Rīga, LV-1050

https://www.facebook.com/ElSantoXRestorans/