Forto Dvaras – Vilnius ( Lithuania) en

It’s a chain of touristic restaurants except that 1) the servers are pretty nice 2) it’s a nice place to have a seat, especially in the summer with the patio 3) the national specialties are really well executed.
Perfect for an introduction to the country, a first dinner on the arrival date.

Situated on Pilies, one of the major streets in the center-town, 2 steps away from the big city hall square
Inside the design is kitsch, wooden, a traditional Lithuanian restaurant, but I’ll admit it, it’s charming.

They’re young, not all very knowledgeable of the menu, but in the end we still ended up with some interesting recommendations.

The idea was to try classic dishes. Lithuania is known for its beers, and for good reasons. Don’t hesitate to ask for help when ordering drafts, I ended up getting a really good pint with my meal.

Appetizer
The classic of the classics, the one that you find all over the country, cold beet soup: the Šaltibarščiai. It’s delicious, lightly sweetened, fresh. There are also cucumbers inside. I stumbled on this video that explains the recipe. Usually served with potatoes.

The person with me took a vegetarian salad, which is actually not a typical dish.

Mains
I followed with another classic among the classics, the Cepelinai, named after the evocative form of the Zeppelin. It’s a grated potato dish, that can be stuffed with meat or cheese, often served with cream on top. Here’s the recipe from the same Damian from the video. It’s nourishing, an extremely good example of this type of dish, like a giant gnocchi stuffed with meat. On one there was cream, on another there was a sauce with spirgučiai- minced smoked bacon

Desserts
Apple pie (Obuolių Pyragas) Like many other countries in the east, apples are very popular ( not surprising, there are lots of apples in the area)

I tried a traditional dessert: tinginys, which can be translated to “lazy” because it’s really easy to make. It’s dry biscuits, broken in little pieces, then mixed in condensed milk ( boiled, with cocoa powder), then pressed in a cloth, and then left to sit.It’s very sweet, and pretty heavy I have to admit, but I tried it that one time and liked it. Others will absolutely love it I’m sure, but I’m more on the fence about it.

I tried these dishes elsewhere during my trip, and the ones here were far from being mediocre. Even if a Lithuanian acquaintance made a face when I mentioned this place, I personally think that  it’s an excellent place to get to know the specialties.