Here are three great restaurants in Riga! It is with fascination that I realise how quickly this city has developed. I first visited Riga more than 20 years ago. Not long after Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union, ordering food in restaurants was often met with "sorry, we're out". Today, visiting the foodie city of Riga is a completely different experience. Modern Latvian cuisine makes the most of the country's local ingredients, while the chefs are creative and make eating out a real experience.
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Three great restaurants in Riga, Latvia
Today we will present three really good restaurants in Riga. But don't think that it stops here - soon we will tell you about the two best restaurants in Riga. Believe it or not, there will be even better! Latvian cuisine delivers, so to speak.
Restaurant Valtera
Update in 2023: This restaurant is closed
Restaurant Valtera serves modern Latvian cuisine with ingredients from local producers. Chef Valters Zirdziņš is constantly changing the menu depending on the season and what ingredients are currently available from local farmers, fishermen and hunters. The food was very good and the fact that it was locally produced through and through became apparent when we tried to order black tea - we couldn't "because black tea doesn't grow in Latvia"! This we ate:
- Appetiser: Pumpkin and ginger soup with pieces of black pudding
- Main course: Veal cheek with carrot puree, haricot verts and reduced broth sauce
- Dessert: Sea buckthorn pancakes with chocolate and chamomile ice cream
Restaurant Muusu
Restaurant Muusu has a clean stylish Nordic interior and serves modern European and Latvian food, signed by chef Kaspar Jansons. We were seated under an amazing panoramic skylight and the food was served neatly at the table. When it was time for the appetiser soup, we were given deep plates of mussels and smoked salmon and the soup was then served directly at the table from a pitcher. This is what we ate:
- Appetiser: Smoked salmon soup with mussels and herbs
- Main course: Baked rabbit flavoured with apple cider and mustard seeds (Helena)/Cornmeal casserole with pears, almonds and blue cheese (Peter).
- Dessert: Carrot cake
Restaurant Kolonade
Restaurant Colony is located in the centre of town, close to the Opera House and the Freedom Monument, in a small building with columns. When you walk in, it feels a bit like entering an outdoor pavilion, yet it is cosy and comfortable. Chef Māris Jansons is behind the exciting menu of modern Latvian food. This is what we ate:
- appetisers: Small blueberry yoghurt
- AppetiserCreamy tomato soup with mozzarella cheese
- EntreeFruit sorbet with granola
- Main course: Pressed pork with red cabbage puree, pickled onions and thyme sauce
- DessertCrème brulée with cranberries
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BP says:
In other words, you have added a few kilos if you say so;-)
To be honest, which I always am, I'm not keen on any of the menus. They are far too elaborate for my taste and contain ingredients that don't add up. But luckily the taste is like the pastry. Fortunately, we are all different.
If I had to choose a favourite, it would be Restaurant Muusu because of the starter and main course - the rabbit, but I would have left out a lot.
05 December 2015 - 0:31
BP says:
Me again: Forgot to say - absolutely superb macro pictures, well worthy of a "food blog";-)
05 December 2015 - 0:32
Marina says:
Exciting! I would think that there are quite a few (me included) who still haven't understood how these countries have grown in every way. Nice that there is "modern Latvian food", now maybe none of the menus made my taste buds go so much, but if I had to choose one, it will probably be the last one.
05 December 2015 - 4:53
anita wag agrimanaki says:
Exciting dishes. I would love to try them. Maybe the soup with black pudding tastes better than it sounds. Lovely pictures and what an experience to try some different menus.
05 December 2015 - 8:16
admin says:
BP, it definitely felt like we gained a few pounds in Riga, haha. Of course, the taste is different! I think the food was fantastic, but then I like a little creative dishes. (And the dish with the rabbit and the barley stew were two different dishes - maybe I should clarify?) The macro pictures are taken by Peter, because he is the one who has macro lenses on his camera...
Marina, Riga really feels like a modern city (with history of course) today and not least the restaurants!
Anita, the soup with the black pudding was great, even if it sounds a bit unexpected 😉.
05 December 2015 - 8:27
admin says:
Steve, we had a vegetarian in our party and all the restaurants provided vegetarian options. Yes, Latvia has changed!
05 December 2015 - 9:25
Ama de casa says:
Oh, so much good stuff! Now I have drooled in the keyboard again... Damn it! 🙂
05 December 2015 - 9:46
Steve says:
I'm not keen on veal cheek and baked rabbit, but there are so many exciting things on these menus. No problem getting a vegetarian meal there. How everything has changed since my Latvian years. No memories of the Soviet yoke on these menus.
05 December 2015 - 9:18
Lena says:
Animal cheeks are said to be good, our neighbour here shrimp calf/ pig cheek which is available to buy will try it at some point!
05 December 2015 - 12:36
admin says:
Ama de casa, just don't drool too much! Keyboards usually don't like that 😉.
Lena, the veal cheek was incredibly tender, so it might be worth trying at some point! 🙂
05 December 2015 - 15:40
Ditte says:
How nice to hear and see what you have eaten. Delicious pictures! And it's great that Riga has now made some progress in its food development. The opportunities during and just after the Soviet era were difficult as not much was available. Menu number three would suit me otherwise I think these menus are too strong for my stomach.
(But it's a bit special, the stomach that is).
Great pictures!
05 December 2015 - 19:57
admin says:
Ditte, Riga felt very modern in its food offerings, we thought. And there has been a great development since the Soviet era!
06 December 2015 - 10:32
Maria says:
Yummy how good it looks! I was in Riga a year ago and then we actually had to experience at least two "unfortunately, it's over" at one of the restaurants, they apparently did not really check as we also sat for a very long time waiting for our ordered food and finally had to ask why it takes time before the waiter got out that they unfortunately could not serve that dish today...... And so we had to check through the menu AGAIN to try to order something that actually existed. A bit frustrating when you are hungry 😛 But luckily it was only one restaurant we had problems with, unfortunately I did not remember the name.
06 December 2015 - 20:53
admin says:
Maria, how boring with those "it's over" answers... Probably bad luck with that particular restaurant, but it's a bit boring when you've decided on something!
07 December 2015 - 16:11
Lina says:
So inspiring and lovely pictures!!!!! Looks very good! Hugs
05 July 2016 - 8:46
Ellinor Sjöblom says:
Completely different food that we have in Sweden we can also have meat but not as much in restaurants! And in addition, many people in Sweden have started with vegetarianism and would probably not choose meat on the menu! And the penny called rabbit? ? they are pets in Sweden ?? but does anyone know if there is vegetarian food there? Because will go there soon in a week?
//Ellinor
08 February 2020 - 15:43