| Product: |
Cili Kaimas |
| Date: |
19/06/08 (41 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Central location, cheap, big portions, tasty, very clean
Disadvantages: Crap home made beer
Cili Kaimas is not so different from the restaurant I reviewed yesterday "Forto Dvaras". whilst it's also a traditional Lithuanian restaurant, it is perhaps more popular than it's competitor and it is part of the Cili chain which also includes Cili Pica. There are several in Kaunas, Vilnius and Klaipeda and the one that I am reviewing is the one in the center of Vilnius located at Vokieciu gatve 8.
Forto Dvaras is relatively large but with quite a lot of clutter and not a great deal of room to move around in where as Cili Kaimas is rather open-plan. The top floor has several rows of wooden tables with heavy wooden seats and a nice roomy aisle which the traditionally clothed waiteresses prance along with heavy loads of large portioned meals which could often be considered as stodgy but are really just hearty and quite often necessary in the thick of a chilly winter or after a long day's sightseeing. If you are only moving from bar to bar then at least it will line your stomach!
In the middle of the restaurant is a large gap in which you can see to the fountains and pools below. There are also tables downstairs but these are generally only opened up during high-season or busy times. Fish (koi carp as I remember) live in the aforementioned ponds, I don't think they end up on the dinnerplate though. Also on the bottom floor are the large and spotless toilets, several urinals and a couple of cabins ensure that it really is one of the roomiest toilets in a restuarant I've ever visited. I can't describe the women's toilets but I'm sure they are equally large!
The restaurant is nicely decorated with old farm tools, wooden baskets and the like, also a cockerel sits in large glass cage on show (until recently it was an old lady knitting)
The food is tasty and on par with Forto Dvaras, I would say. The beer is also some of the cheapest you can find in town, it can be served in glasses or come in bigger sized jugs (the more you buy the cheaper it gets), unless you order Svyturys though you are going to get the homemade beer (by the restaurant I think), which has a strange taste and doesn't really come recommended. Portions are generally pretty generous and the dishes being traditional are typical Lithuanian fare. You couldn't go wrong by ordering what I recommended people to order at Forto Dvaras if you'd like to refer to that review but oe particularly tasty speciality would that is done in this restaurant and that I would recommend is the potatocakes with salmon and sourcream.
The food is well cooked and you'd struggle to go wrong, prices are pretty good - you are looking at about 5-7 pounds per person or perhaps a little more if you are buying a big meat platter and including a big jug of beer.
Overall, I prefer Forto Dvaras but Cili Kaimas is very popular with locals and foreigners and is definitely recommended, just choose Svyturys instead of their cheaper homemade beer which is frankly lousy.
Waiteresses speak Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and English and if you are lucky you might find one that speaks German.
Summary: Superb restaurant that needs to sort out their homemade beer!
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