A bit of East Asia comes to Old Town

  • 2007-11-14
  • By Kimberly Kweder

SKIMPY SUSHI: Desserts like the soybean cheesecake are excellent, but Sinto could raise its portion sizes.

VILNIUS - What's this... a modern Japanese restaurant right across from a 13th century Gothic church? It's Vilnius. It's Old Town. And why not?
On the cobblestones of Pilies street, a small, circular, red light glows with the Japanese character "Sinto," [Shinto] inviting guests to take a culinary journey to the Far East.
On a recent Friday night, I did just that. I arrived at 7:30, and found that I was one of only two guests. I suppose that's understandable 's Sinto has only been open for one month and competes with three other Japanese restaurants in town.

Regardless of the small crowd, the restaurant was clean, comfortable and everything one expects from a place serving fresh sushi.
In the back of the room, two chefs stood behind a sleek and shiny black-coated bar preparing sushi rolls with their own hands. At the top of the bar, a few wooden boats were waiting to add a decorative touch to some of the freshwater menu items.

The decor, with its Zebra-striped tables and earth-toned seats, brought out images of an African safari. A few small Bonsai trees worked nicely with the enchanted forest theme.
Some of the sushi specialties include the King Size Set (190 litas, 55 euros) packed with California rolls, smoked eels, cucumber and many more treats to satisfy a large party.
If a burst of flavor is what you crave, there are also spicy rolls with crab meat, stuffed salmon, tuna, yellow tail and sea scallops. However, each thumb-sized roll is 7 - 9 litas, so do the math.
The seafood shingle on the menu also looked appealing with its choices of salmon, yellow tail, squid, eel, dorada and prawn, each served with radish and salad (14 - 25 litas).

The menu also had plenty of soups, salads and beer appetizers to choose from. In the soup category (7 - 13 litas), one can order a bowl of traditional miso soup with seafood.
As I waited for my order to arrive, an Asian-inspired flute melody of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Waters" softly played in the air. 

However, it turned out that the pictures on the menu were bigger than what was actually served.
When my hot appetizer of noodles and vegetables (10.60 litas) arrived, it was only the size of a fist. The noodles tasted soft and homemade but the dish was coated with too much oil and thinly sliced vegetables.
Despite the small portions of everything on the menu, the number and quality of desserts and teas definitely made up for the loss. The signature dessert? The "Sinto Cake" (10.90 litas), served chilled with soybean cheese. The chef signs the plate "Sinto" with raspberry kiwi sauce. The menu also offers five different green teas and one fruit tea called "Red Dragon" (3.50 litas/cup, 6 litas/pot). 

Looking outside the window, I saw a few people walking by, slowing down, pausing and staring in confusion at the restaurant before proceeding.
Sinto needs a little more time to develop, and then, perhaps it will be packed on a Friday night.

Sinto
Pilies 30
Open Mon - Thu, Sun 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Fri - Sat 11 a.m. - midnight