Riga - Part 2

Without wishing to sound like a patronising idiot, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the restaurants in Riga and in this post, I'm going to round up three places that I'd happily recommend to visitors to Latvia's capital.

The morning after the wedding reception felt like hell. I eventually roused and after a walk around Riga's charming Old Town met up with some of the guys in a bar-restaurant called Kalku Varti for a spot of lunch.

Pretty much everyone went for the venison burger and chips with hair of the dog to drink. At the time, the burger tasted like the best burger ever but in reality, I doubt that was the case. That said, I recommend this place for its abundance of outdoor seating.

For dinner, the newlyweds excelled themselves and arranged a group meal for all those who had travelled from the UK and further afield. The venue was Salve, which means welcome in Latvian, and this charming traditional restaurant certainly made us feel very welcome.



I'll let the photos tell the story but suffice to say, we all enjoyed the hearty fare on offer. I had the chicken liver pâté with apple puree to start, fishcakes to follow and filo orange & apple dessert to finish. However, I wish I'd started with bacon with beans and had the three-meat sausage as a main.

On the last night, Mr Pak Choi and I dined at the trendy KID restaurant (also in the Old Town). This was a Modern European joint that wouldn't have felt out of place in London. Mind you the service was too good and the prices too low for it to be a London eatery.

There were amuse bouches but other than the sorbet, I can't remember what they were. I enjoyed my Asian-style fish consommé and PC liked his starter that looked like a dessert. My beef fillet was perfectly cooked, as was PC's lamb with celeriac jenga (my description) and both went really well with an excellent bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. A civilised end to an otherwise largely debauched weekend ! 

Some Travel Tips

If you're planning a trip to Riga then I recommend flying with Air Baltic with its twice-daily service from Gatwick. My flight cost a mere £85 including a check-in bag. Other options include Wizz with services from Luton and if you must, Ryanair from Stansted. 

I stayed at the Old Riga Palace Hotel – this was very convenient and a short walk from the Old Town. However if you want to bling it up then the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija with its 26th floor sky bar looks like a decent option.

Riga - Part 1

I should know better at my age. I mean what would you do if you had just arrived in Riga for a wedding ? Of course the sensible thing would be to have a meal with a few gentle drinks before turning in for an early night. That's a bit boring though, much better to go mad and sample loads of turbocharged Belgian beer. Mercifully the groom was more sensible and knew when to stop drinking.

About the only wise decision I made was to share a metre of traditional Latvian sausage. This was top notch as was the accompanying salad, gherkins, and dips. Particularly worthy of mention was the potato salad.

I woke up the next day with a terrible hangover and the 50km coach trip to the wedding venue wasn't much fun although it was enlivened by some stunning scenery. The gods were on side for this big fat Greek-Latvian wedding as there wasn't a cloud in the sky for the outdoor ceremony.

As I'm not of the fairer sex, I lack the writing skills to describe the proceedings but needless to say El Greco and Mysterious Miss A's wedding went off really well. I particularly enjoyed the traditional games, customs, and challenges that the newlyweds had to go through.

I was still feeling a little tender so I was glad that there were nibbles with the champagne and I was double glad that these were substantial nibbles. None of that vol-au-vent nonsense – instead we had the Latvian take on the sausage roll as well as bread rolls with fillings such as bacon, egg, and mushrooms baked inside the roll. These were all excellent and strangely reminded me of Chinese bakery albeit with different fillings.

Onto the wedding breakfast and the speeches. These were expertly done with El Greco's newly acquired Russian language skills going down a storm with his in-laws. I also learnt some Russian that day, the word gorko. Whenever this was chanted, the bride and groom had to stop what they were doing and kiss until the chanting stopped. And by kiss, I mean properly kiss. I'm not sure the newlyweds finished their food as there were so many chants of gorko - even the usually repressed Brits eventually joined in (once the booze had kicked in).

For the meal itself, there was salad to start and tiramisu to finish but inbetween we had a selection of grilled meats, fish, and vegetables. These were passed along the long tables and I was very anxious as these platters were resting far from my grasp. I managed to bag my fair share and the accompanying sauces were tasty too. I particularly liked the tomato gravy thing but I didn't find out its name - give me a break, I was off the clock !

To drink, I kicked off with some white but switched to red for the main course. There were also bottles of Jameson whiskey and Russian Standard vodka. I wasn't going to touch the hard stuff but then Uncle Vodka came over. This guy was a force of nature, as he roamed from group to group to ensure we all toasted the newlyweds. When he came round to our group, I sipped my vodka. Whilst I didn't understand what he said, his look of bemusement tinged with disappointment said it all. There was only one way out and I quickly drained my glass. His mood immediately lightened and he seemed to take great pleasure that he had sent me on a one-way trip to oblivion.  

Consequently, the rest of the evening was a blur and I thought I'd dreamt some of the games and elaborate dance routines. At one point, it seemed like I'd gatecrashed a hallucinogenic drug fuelled fancy dress party, as the newlyweds were being driven on a pretend bus with dancers dressed up in costumes. The English commentary just made it seem more surreal and I was convinced the Village People were going to make a guest appearance.

Despite being a bit worse for wear, I still seemed to have the blog on my mind. Why else did I take a photo of the supper buffet ? I remember eating some fruit, as of course a few slices of melon and pineapple was going to save me from another hangover.  

Most of the other photos I took aren't really suitable for the blog but this one of the happy couple is. I should take more photos using the 'balloon' setting on my humble Casio.

All told it was a cracking wedding and everybody had a great time. So if you have a glass handy, please raise it to El Greco and his beautiful wife, the Mysterious Mrs A. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you if it isn't neat vodka and don't down it in one !