Currently travelling around Europe and I'll be visiting a bunch of fine dining restaurants ranging from 0 stars to 3. In particular though, I enjoy shedding light on places that don't perhaps get all the accolades, but none the less produce a really enjoyable experience.
I was drawn to Ertilio Namas because I have a love of history and the idea behind the restaurant is taking dishes from Lithuania's past and reimagining them as a modern dish. Each course came with a story that told a little bit about where the dish originated and its importance in Lithuanian history.
My overall thoughts:
A really great value fine dining experience at just €63 for 6 courses. I did find they rushed the "story telling" element a little, but they were maybe a bit understaffed on the night I went. All courses were very tasty, in line with what I'd expect from a 1 star restaurant. Sadly one of the dishes I was looking forward to (the moose) had to be swapped to venison as it was mating season, but that's not the restaurants fault.
Dishes in order –
"Chefs Compliments" – flavours of mushrooms as an appetizer. A very pleasant combination of flavours that set the tone well for the evening. Visually appealing and nice to highlight an ingredient that is so integral to Baltic cuisine.
"Sturgeon, eel, crayfish with beetroot" – very pleasantly surprised by the subtlety of this dish. I must admit, I'm not the biggest seafood fan, but this was extremely well balanced with the saltiness complimented by the sweetness of the beetroot rose.
"Pheasant as a mushroom – pheasant paté and meat, apples, parsley..sponge(?), rowanberry sauce". Really enjoyed the novelty of this dish as disguising one ingredient as something else was a big part of Lithuanian upper class culture in the 14/1500s. I would have perhaps liked pheasant in a more "solid" form but otherwise very well balanced flavours.
"Beer and bread soup with veal" – and absolute highlight of this meal, the dark ale and rye bread in the soup combine to make something akin to liquid gingerbread, complimented really well by the richness of the veal. Yum!
"Poularde with swede, carrots, cabbage, and cabbage sauce" – a tasty dish, this was probably the most forgettable for me. It tasted like what it was, an elevated chicken and veg. Enjoyable, but not really anything I hadn't had before.
"Venison (normally moose) with chard, turnips, and boletus sauce" – An excellent way to cap off the savoury courses that would only be made better by the addition of moose as an unusual centrepiece. The chard pancake was a nice twist, and the richness of the veal and the sauce was well complimented by the fresh veg.
"Pear with plums, and Jerusalem artichoke icecream" – another reference to the last with pear being made to look like an apple, the Jerusalem artichoke icecream was a subtle contrast to the sweet and tart notes from the mousse, berries and compote.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Hope you enjoy my first review!
by Sadoraan