Perhaps it is one more tiring sign of globalization that you can actually get decent sushi in all three Baltic capitals. You can also get good Chinese and some good Thai. Is the food here as good as in Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok, or 's dare we say 's New York? Maybe. Maybe not. But here's our take on some of the better and lesser known Asian digs in Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn.
Kinija
A Thursday night is not the busiest time to eat out in Vilnius, but now I will know better than to trust my chances on Chinese cuisine. Next time I'll make sure to have a reservation. Even though the wait for a table in Kinija, was comfortable and the time flew by fast watching the fish swim in a tank, the dinner stretched into two hours. Definitely, this place is better suited for long talks with friends and colleagues over a nice meal than for a fast lunch.
Kinija offers a wide variety of Chinese food from the popular Gongbao dishes to the turkey and ostrich meat and fried frog legs 's almost anyone could find something they like. Yes, apparently not only the French enjoy frog legs, but the Chinese as well. I decided to taste the exotic dish which cost me 34 litas (9.84 euros). Too bad they did not have Chinese beer. I had to stick with an old Lithuanian bad. The menu does offer Chinese plum liquor.
The prices seemed a bit too high at first, but when the waitress brought me my dish I understood why. The dish was so big I could share it with a couple of friends. Maybe I am bad at math, but the dinner would surely cost me the same if I were dining alone or with two more people. Looking around it seems everyone has already figured out the answer. There is not a table with only one person eating.
The frog legs tasted good except for the little bones that made it difficult to eat with chopsticks. But after some training, and the additional reinforcement of a fork, I was doing rather well and wasn't choking on any of the small, sharp bones. I have only half my dish finished when I feel so full I can hardly move. The waitress kindly puts the rest in a bag and hands it over. The next morning's breakfast: frog legs. (J.K.)
Konstitucijos Ave. 12
Vilnius
+370 263 6363
Villa Thai
A visit to Tallinn's one and only Thai restaurant, Villa Thai, proved the old maxim that you can't judge a book 's or a restaurant 's by its cover.
By that I mean it's housed in one of the drabbest-looking buildings in the otherwise dressed-up Kadriorg neighborhood, but once I got through the doors, I suddenly found myself in what could have passed for an art gallery. The interior is an inviting world of carved, wooden dancers, elephant statues, candlelight and warm colors.
Admittedly some of the decor here, such as the framed photos of the Thai royals, may go a bit overboard. Write it off as part of Villa Thai's charm. I especially liked the glass-covered atrium at the back. Lined with bamboo, it has a large, splashing fountain at its center in the shape of Buddha sitting majestically atop a pile of rocks.
My friend and I lucked out and managed to get a table without a reservation, though I recommend booking ahead since this restaurant has obviously become popular with Tallinn's business community.
The first thing I noticed when opening the menu was the little, chili symbols that indicate how hot the dishes are. One chili means phet (hot), two is phet maak (very hot), and three is phet maak maak (you're not serious). Estonians and people from Minnesota will be happy to hear that, upon request, the chef will tone down any dish to accommodate guests used to blander fare.
Another part of the fun here comes from trying to pronounce names of the Thai dishes. The long list of mains, which mostly fall in the 90 's 180 kroon (5.75 's 11.5 euro) range, come with names like Chu Chee Pla Inn See (trout in creamy coconut sauce). I settled on the Kaeng Kiew Waan Pla (salmon in green curry with vegetables), which I decided to get with Phad Thai (fried noodles) instead of rice. Naturally I ordered by pointing.
Not everything here is strictly Thai. My friend ordered spring rolls, which were nicely done. Indonesian satay shows up on the menu, and there's a separate list of Tandoori items available.
All the food we had 's from the fish cakes to the chicken, mushroom and coconut soup, turned out to be excellent. Our only complaints were that the mango shake didn't taste very mango, and that the waitress got miffed when we asked for separate bills.
Overall though, Villa Thai is a definite winner. My recommendation really boils down to this: I didn't quite finish and could still hardly move afterwards. (S.R.)
Vilmsi St. 6
Tallinn
Tel. +372 6 419 347
Tibetas Virtuve
This is arguably the most inconspicuous Asian food establishment in the Baltics, and certainly the most unpretentious. Tucked on the second floor of a wooden house on the corner of Gertrudes and Skolas, you'd never notice it unless you were searching for it. Even then, there's a chance you might walk right by it. The sign on the wall is oddly droll, and the attractive Asiatic sticker on the glass entrance is often covered by a set of brown wood doors.
The interior is also nothing to brag about. There are two rooms 's one with standard tables and a smaller one with couches and pillows and a mixture of Asian bric-a-brac like water-pipes, carpets and backgammon boards. But even a mediocre milieu can be forgiven if the menu is in order, and at Tibetas Virtuve the food is sumptuous.
Granted, you won't be able to pronounce most of the dishes 's Gjatuks, Phak Sha Kha Tsa, Lhang Shamo Nugk Tsa 's but perhaps this is because your tongue should be concentrating on other tasks, like forking down as much food as possible in one sitting.
I started off with Tibetan-style vegetables for 2.95 lats (4.23 euros) and Benghali Sabiji (2.50 lats). Then I moved on to Phak sha Shamo Nugk Tsa, which was pork and vegetables fried in spices and oyster sauce. It was delicious, and included one sweet surprise: three large mussels. I wolfed them down immediately, though the menu didn't mention their inclusion in the dish. When I asked the waitress about the addition, she just smiled as if it was common to sneak an extra ingredient or two into your order.
Anyhow, the menu was full of mistakes. Though this, too, is par for the course in the Baltics, Tibetas Virtuve takes it a bit too far. But never mind. The food is good, the prices are quite affordable, and the service will do.
Footnote: Opposite the restaurant on the second floor is a vegetarian cafe with many of the same dishes. (The two eateries share the same kitchen.) It is only open on week days, but apparently it does a brisk business during lunch hours. (G.P.)
Gertrudes St. 5
Riga
Tel: 371 727 3504
KabukiThere is nothing but cool comfort at Kabuki. The non-smoking section out front is clean and well-lit. The smokers are restricted to the dimly lit area in the back. The rotating sushi bar is decorated with a goldfish aquarium with circular windows. The furniture is straight, wooden and square. The waitresses dress in orange and beige pseudo-kimonos. The music is an undercurrent of pleasant electronic beats.The only problem with Kabuki is the food.Before I go any further, I thought it would be appropriate to point a few things out. I am a terrible undercover restaurant reviewer. I kept my notebook out throughout the meal and took notes. I took several pictures of the restaurant interior, which I tried to do while the waitresses weren't looking, but more often than not, they walked in on me. Every time they saw me I acted like the proverbial horny teenager caught staring at his young hot teacher's breasts. I shrugged, as if to say, "No, no. I'm not really that interested."In other words, if these people didn't know that I was reviewing their restaurant, then they're absolutely hopeless. (Of course, they may have just thought I was an unbelievably rude young American backpacker.)So this would have been the ideal time, if ever there was one, to serve me the best meal known to man. I tried Nippon Goulash, the Japanese take on goulash soup. Somehow, spraying a bit of teriyaki sauce into a goulash, and straining out the thickness does not make for great fusion food.I for one, never like sushi conveyer belts, and so I ordered a full sushi set, number four on the menu. For a full ten minutes, I was a robot, dipping the tuna into the soy sauce mixed with wasabi that everybody loves. And then I dipped the salmon and so on and on. It's not that the food was bad, it was just bland, lacking the full richness that I'm used to at my favorite joint back home in Bethesda, Maryland. By the time I was done, I had eaten everything on my wooden dish. I wasn't full, but I couldn't bring myself to pull a single small plate of sushi off the conveyer belt. I knew none of it would give me satisfaction. (P.M.) Kr. Barons St.14RigaTel: +371 728 2052 Kabuki Fusion Not a weekend goes by for me without a visit to Akropolis, one of the most popular shopping malls in Vilnius. Judging by the crowds here, I know I'm not the only one. After an exhausting shopping experience it is always nice to sit down, relax, and recharge the batteries. Kabuki Fusion seems like the place for that. It's like another world here, made up of quiet music and delicate movements. The minimalist spaces are divided in half. One part of the restaurant is in the mall's corridor and faces an ice-skating rink. The other, made up of five tables, may be a bit small, but it is a good place to hide from the rush of the shopping mall. The kimono-clad waitresses are unobtrusive and speak in low voices. The music plays so softly, you are hardly conscious of it in the background and the Japanese chef prepares sushi slowly, his face the absolute image of peace. No matter how big your order, you always feel like a special guest here. Serenity is not the only thing worthwhile here. The restaurant offers a wide variety of sushi and other Japanese food. The waitress carries a nicely ornamented fish to a neighboring table and brings me my salmon sushi rolls. A set of eight rolls costs 7.40 litas (2.15 euros), but it is more than enough for a light refreshment. A teapot of green tea with jasmine sits nicely on the table, emitting a fresh aroma. The wasabi and the black radish are set next to the sushi rolls so carefully it is a pity to touch them. It seems that the first bite destroys the harmony of the dish. Let's just hope the harmony was transferred to me. (J.K.)Ozo St. 25VilniusTel: +370 5249 7274 SilkI have to admit that when I headed off to check out the Silk sushi bar's newer branch on Narva mnt., I was expecting a carbon copy of the dark, slick, 007-like original on Kullassepa, just off Town Hall Square. I couldn't have been more wrong. The new Silk turned out to be the complete opposite, the yin to the other's yang, if you can forgive Chinese symbolism in a sushi review. Silk's groovy interior really deserves a photo, but as odd as it seems, the manager just wouldn't let me take one. When I explained that it was for a TBT food special, she looked at me like I'd just murdered her dog. Apparently not everyone's a fan. Since photos were strictly verboten, for me anyway, I'll try to paint a picture: The best word to describe this place is "girly." It's a tiny restaurant, packed with cute, square tables and cute, low chairs. Pink sofas with oversized, white polka dots line the walls. Unsurprisingly, I was one of very few customers there sporting a Y chromosome.At the service area in the center of the room, two cooks in black uniforms diligently chop, roll and slice sushi while progressive, synthesized music pulses away on the sound system. A flat-panel TV off to one side plays Japanese cartoons, presumably for ambience.I noticed that the menu here isn't quite so extensive as the one in the Old Town Silk. That doesn't mean it's small, it just means it takes ten minutes to get through it instead of twenty. In the end I relied upon my waitress for some help. She was a true angel and recommended the excellent lime tea. The shrimp maki I had was flawless. For dessert, I decided to skip the more Japanese Gyoza, a ravioli-like construction filled with fruit, and go for the apple cake with berry-vodka sauce. Though it was somewhat slow in arriving, I wasn't disappointed. It needs to be said that sushi is an expensive hobby in Tallinn, and if you're going to spend, you want the atmosphere to be just right. With a group of tipsy women loudly celebrating something in the corner, this wouldn't have been the place for everyone. As a sushi fan, I still give Silk a thumbs up, but based on my experience here, I'll stick to the one in Old Town. (S.R.)Narva Ave. 15TallinnTel. +372 6616099
