A Latvian Food Guide to Riga Restaurants, Riga, Latvia
It鈥檚 not every day that I get an email inviting me to travel to a foreign country as a judge for their 30 Best Restaurants awards. But that鈥檚 exactly what happened one day in January, and a month later I found myself flying聽AirBaltic聽to Riga with a packed agenda of restaurants to try. I was there simply to report back on my findings to the dining arm of Latvia鈥檚 tourism board, but having got to know a little about Latvian food and restaurants, I felt inspired to write something about them for my own聽foodie travels section as well. Although I ate in a couple of places outside the capital, I didn鈥檛 want to make this food guide too broad so I decided to focus on Riga restaurants in particular.
From rye bread to crispbreads, and from flavoured butters to Jackson Pollock-style dipping sauces, Latvian chefs have made their exquisite bread the star of the show.
But before we get into the dishy details, a few observations about Latvian food in general鈥� Unsurprisingly given its long coastline along the Baltic Sea,聽fish features significantly in the Latvian diet. The trout was particularly good, but all the fish I ate was extremely fresh and well prepared. Like its Nordic neighbours, Latvian food is heavily seasoned with dill聽鈥� it crops up in almost everything. And聽cranberries聽seem to be a popular recurring feature as well. Given the country鈥檚 northern nature,聽pickling聽is everywhere in evidence 鈥� presumably to preserve the local produce during the long, cold winters (it got down to -7鈦癈 while I was there). But there are other commonalities between restaurants whose origins are less clear: the聽bread, for instance. As in many European countries, bread appears as standard at the start of the meal, but the Latvians have got creative with both flavour and presentation when it comes to the humble loaf.聽From rye bread to crispbreads, and from flavoured butters to Jackson Pollock-style dipping sauces, Latvian chefs have made their exquisite bread the star of the show. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).
From rye bread to crispbreads, and from flavoured butters to Jackson Pollock-style dipping sauces, Latvian chefs have made their exquisite bread the star of the show.
But before we get into the dishy details, a few observations about Latvian food in general鈥� Unsurprisingly given its long coastline along the Baltic Sea,聽fish features significantly in the Latvian diet. The trout was particularly good, but all the fish I ate was extremely fresh and well prepared. Like its Nordic neighbours, Latvian food is heavily seasoned with dill聽鈥� it crops up in almost everything. And聽cranberries聽seem to be a popular recurring feature as well. Given the country鈥檚 northern nature,聽pickling聽is everywhere in evidence 鈥� presumably to preserve the local produce during the long, cold winters (it got down to -7鈦癈 while I was there). But there are other commonalities between restaurants whose origins are less clear: the聽bread, for instance. As in many European countries, bread appears as standard at the start of the meal, but the Latvians have got creative with both flavour and presentation when it comes to the humble loaf.聽From rye bread to crispbreads, and from flavoured butters to Jackson Pollock-style dipping sauces, Latvian chefs have made their exquisite bread the star of the show. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).
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Guide Name: A Latvian Food Guide to Riga Restaurants
Guide Location: Latvia » Riga
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Vicky Hampton
Read it on Author's Website:
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide:
Guide Location: Latvia » Riga
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Vicky Hampton
Read it on Author's Website:
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide:
- Jacob鈥檚 Barracks
- Entresol
- Riga Central Market
- The Catch
- COD
- Stage 22
- Strada
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