Vilnius

After a long drive we were pretty hungry and anxious to see what Lithuanian food was like. We asked the receptionist at the hotel to recommend something Lithuanian and she recommended "CiliKaimas," a restaurant with elaborate rustic decor and some Lithuanian specialties.

The restaurant is on Vokieciu Street, a great central location in the old section of the city. It also appears to be part of a chain or franchise deal, but that really doesn't matter to me if the food and service are good. The first impression was great with interesting decor and nice atmosphere. One of the first things I noticed inside was a glass cage with a beautiful black rooster inside! There also is a huge fish tank with sturgeons and carps. It's a pretty impressive place!

Unfortunately the hostess that greeted us at the door was extremely unfriendly. She led us to a table without a word (or even a smile!) We seriously considered leaving and looking for something else when she took us to a table for two (for the three of us) with no light above it, slapped one menu on the table and walked away! (Yes, I took a shower this morning and no, my deodorant hasn't deserted me! :-) )I have pretty good vision and it was impossible to read the menu! So, I managed to get us a different table from a friendly waiter and momentarily things got a little better. After about 20 minutes the waiter came back and took our orders.

We asked him to recommend some typical things to eat and he made some recommendations. We ordered some spiced wine, appetizers called "... so that evening deosn't prolong" which included some little meatballs, smoked pork ears (yes, ears), rice crackers and a dipping sauce. This was not a good choice. Imagine dipping Japanese rice crackers in ketchup mixed with mayonnaise! One thing I definitely cannot complain about are the prices. The appetizer cost 7,50 Litas which is really cheap! Less than 3 Euros... But even so, if you can't get it down, it's not cheap! We got the wine after about 15 minutes, the appetizers came about 20 minutes later. We were excited about being in Vilnius, so we really didn't get to upset about the wait. But between the appetizers and finally bringing us our food an entire hour went by! And when it finally did get to us, it really was not good at all... And we're not picky people! Everything was late, cold and pretty insipid.

So... I'd really have to tell my travel buddy friends that, based on my experience, if they head to Vilnius, they really ought to avoid this place! Just for the record, we ordered roast beef with vegetables (25,90 Litas), something called Zeppelins with minced meat (sort of like a giant stuffed dumpling) for 11,30 L. and stuffed cabbage (what I ordered and it was the best of all the different dished we tried). Dinner for three (without dessert or coffee because we were dying to leave the place!) cost 71,50 L. Who knows? Maybe it was just a bad night and they deserve another chance; the location is great, the decor is really fantastic and the surroundings are nice for an enjoyable meal, but they really need to make some changes in personnel! Another positive thing about this restaurant is that it's open very late (Fridays and Saturdays until 2 a.m.) so if you get hungry while out clubbing, this could be a solution!

Just don't expect too much, because if it's even twice as good as it was for us, you'll be disappointed.