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