Vilnius Lithuania Restaurants

After the expensive restaurants we found in Scandinavia (poor price/value if you ask us), we were excited that the restaurants in Vilnius were much better restaurants than we expected and were reasonably priced when compared to their Scandinavian counterparts.  We ate at the following places

Telegrafas. This restaurant was in our wonderful hotel (see hotel below). As it was pouring cats and dogs, we decided to give it a try and were generally pleased with the food, and very pleased with the service and the sommelier. We began with an Amuse (goat cheese with balsamic vinegar and apricot coulis), and dined on two locally-sourced entrees. Pan-fried zander (pike-perch) with sautéed chanterelles, artichoke puree, herb emulsion, seaweed “caviar” and a chive/parsley/shallot/caper sauce, which Joyce enjoyed more than Tom; and Roe Deer with potato dumplings, sautéed boletus mushrooms, blueberry gel and red wine sauce, which Tom enjoyed more than Joyce. We both, however, enjoyed the wine the sommelier recommended to pair with both dishes—a 2011 Masi Borgi Fedrigotti Teroldago from northeastern Italy.

St. Germain, a French-influence Lithuanian restaurant where we had another very good meal. This consisted of baby squid in coconut curry sauce with potato and celery mash; and sautéed veal liver with potato and zucchini gratin, onions and port wine truffle sauce. For wine, we chose a 2013 Rhone Valley Gigondas.

Dublis where we had a three-dish lunch/dinner that began with tuna tartare (mixed with avocado, cucumber, seaweed and capers). Next were seared sea scallops (with carrots and peas) and a ribeye with pepper sauce and portabella, potato and tomato. Wine was a 2011 St. Emillion Grand Cru from Saint-Lo. All very good.

Zouvine. We had time only for a small lunch after a late ending tour our walking tour. This fresh seafood restaurant seemed to be the perfect ticket, especially after the frito misto of baby octopus, calamari, king prawns, shrimp and mussels with a sprinkling of vegetables on the menu caught both our eyes. Unfortunately, the concept was much more attractive than the execution. The shellfish was overcooked and dried out. Even after this experience, however, we would have been willing to give the restaurant another chance for its specialty: a broad selection of fresh grilled, broiled and pan-fried fish.

Vilnius Lithuania Hotel

We stayed at the Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square. This is truly a 5 star hotel in a great location in old town, right by the Cathedral. The staff was exceptional and very well trained. Not only were they extremely helpful, but they also remembered you. For example, when you ran into the person who recommended a restaurant, you were asked how it was. When you went into breakfast, they remembered if you drank tea or coffee. We had a standard room on the 5^th floor. The good point was that it had an incredible view of the city from the window which opened so you could stick your head out or take great pictures. The downside was that it was a dormer room and due to the slanted ceiling, you couldn’t stand upright when getting out of the side of the bed by the windows. The other negative was the shower was in a bathtub, which is OK, but the splash door only covered 1/3 of the tub. When you tried to get close to the shower head to keep the water from going all over, the tub had a slant to it which made it difficult. We would stay there again in a heartbeat but request a different room. The room had a coffee and tea pot in the room, scale, high quality linens, bathrobe. Excellent breakfast with a wide range of foods and sparkling wine if you wanted it. And of course, wifi was very good.