Trakai Restaurants

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After a 2-3 hours visit to the Trakai castle I started to look for a restaurant for late lunch or early dinner :-). I was looking for a restaurant with tables outside, a nice view over Galve lake (with the castle on an island), good atmosphere and surely Karaims food. First I thought over a restaurant located next to my parking lot but it was over-crowded and looked somewhat too touristy for me.

When I walked a little bit more to north I found Restoranas Karaliskas Sodas which exactly fulfilled my requirements.


KARAIMS
Tatars and Karaims are people of Turkish origin who have been living in Lithuania for over 600 years. They both belong to the oldest Turkish tribes - Kipchaks.
The Great Duke of Lithuania Vytautas brought several hundreds of Karaims from Crimea at the end of the 14th century. He settled them between the two castles of Trakai (area of Karaimu street now). Official statistics say that 257 Karaims live in Lithuania, of which 65 in Trakai. Source: here.

Favorite Dish: KARAIM FOOD
Lithuanian Karaims survived their traditional cuisine, easy to find in most (all?) local restaurants in Trakai. Just a few typical dishes:
1. Tutmac - thin noodle soup with meat,
2. Kybynlar or kibinai (sing. kybyn or kibin) - a leavened paste cake having the form of half-moon and the lamb or beef filling, baked in the oven or on the tin,
3. Sislik - a steak of lamb (or beef, veal).
More: click here.

Good apetite :-)

Restaurant Karaliskas Sodas was located by southern shore of Galve Lake, a few meters above the water level. It assured beautiful view over the lake with a castle on an island - look at the cover picture in my intro taken from my table in that restaurant.

Well, the tables and wooden benches were not the most comfortable but I couldn't complain, the place, service and food were great. Credit cards were accepted (at least of Visa system).

Favorite Dish: We ordered:
1. Kibinai su kiauliena (Kibinai with pork) - 5.99 Lt,
2. Kibinai su vistiena (Kibinai with chicken, not mentioned in the menu :-) - 6.99 Lt,
3. Cenakai (stews) - 7.99 Lt,
4. Saltibarsciai (national cold betroot soup) - 3.49 Lt,
5. Lietuviska duonos gira (Lithuanian bread kind of surd drink) - 1.00 Lt,
6. Svyturys 0,5 l (Lithuanian beer) - 4.00 Lt

Total: should be 29.46 Lt (€ 8.87; US$ 10.75; 41 Polish zl) but it was 25.97 Lt written on my bill. Our waitress forgot to add a soup and excuse, I didn't check my bill that time. Hmm... I should... She had to be tired...

Simply it was a very good restaurant in my opinion, one of the best I visited in Lithuania.

SERVICE
Our young (and pretty) waitress was nice, smiling and fast. Well, she knew English only a little bit but she knew Russian a little better. But I can't complain. She gave us bi-lingual menu: in Lithuanian and English language. At the end she invited us again and gave us a business card of the restaurant with a its photo and calendar for 2004.

HOURS
Daily 11.00 am - 10.00 pm

Favorite Dish: I ordered this non-transparent, yellow-brown liquid on the left on my picture. It costed only 1.00 Lt (€ 0.30) and was called gira (Lietuviska duonos gira in the menu).

Gira was traditional, Lithuanian, non-alcoholic, a little bit fermented drink made of bread. Very good option for drivers and... more adventerous tasters. I never tried it before and I liked it a lot. Although you may love it or... hate it. It reminded me a little bit (its aroma esp.) not enough fermented beer (pre-beer) I could try when I worked in a brewery once, as a student :-) but tasted much better (a little bit sweet with something like cynammon added).


Add Lithuanian beer number one in my opinion: Svyturys brewed in Klaipeda. It was fine and refreshing pale larger, not strong but... effective :-). It costed 4.00 Lt (€ 1.20, US$ 1.46, 6.40 Polish zl) for 0.5 l (16.91 oz) whereas regular tourist price was 5.00 Lt in, say Vilnius or Palanga. Cheers!

I saw at least two kinds of Svyturys in stores. I remember stronger EXTRA and regular SVYTURIO (1.99 Lt) which was served in Lithuanian restaurants/pubs.

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Cold soups (stored in temperature of approx. +15 C/59 F) are typical Lithuanian, inexpensive dish. They are very refreshing in hot summer days and even in warm spring. Hmm, cold soups are unknown in my = far away off Lithuania, southern part of Poland.

Karaliskas Sodas restaurant offered 2 soups ("sriubos"):
1. Saltibarsciai (Lithuanian, national cold betroot soup) - 3.49 Lt (€ 1.05),
2. Sultinys (broth) - 1.49 Lt (€ 0.45).

Add soup of the day for 2.49 Lt (€ 0.75). Ask the waitress what's that in your day. Hmm... my waitress coudn't explain it to me in English or Russian or just I didn't understand her :-).

Favorite Dish: Cold red beet soup with boiled potatoes (3.49 Lt; € 1.05) tasted great. It was served with additional boiled potatoes with cut green onion and parsley, on seperate small plate. I didn't use to eat cold soups but what a surprice, the ones I ate in Lithuania were always good or very good. And this one in Trakai was the best! It's simply my recomendation :-)

Kibinai (sing. kibiny) was a traditional Karaims dish that was of Turskish/Crimea origin. It was a leavened paste cake having the form of half-moon and the lamb or beef filling, baked in the oven or on the tin. In Karaliskas Sodas they were filled with pork, chicken or mutton.

Favorite Dish: We ordered:
1. Kibinai su kiauliena (Kininai with pork) - 5.99 Lt (€ 1.80),
2. Kibinai su vistiena (Kibinai with chicken) - 6.99 Lt (€ 2.11).
They both tasted great. My recommendation and... warning: the filling was very hot :-).

This dish, on my picture, was called "cenakai" in Lithuanian language. It was called simply "stews" in my English menu. This ceramic pot on my picture contained a lot of liquid (thin sauce) with a few pieces of gently and slowly cooked pork, beef, mutton and various vegetables.

Favorite Dish: Cenakai = stews for 7.99 Lt (€ 2.41) tasted great :-). Simply my recommendation and... warning: the ceramic pot was very hot. Did they take it from a hot oven?

The hotel we stayed in was a fair walk into town so on a rainy evening we chose to eat here. Good choice, plenty to tempt vegetarian Mrs Bonio as well.
Tasty food, friendly service, busy but comfortable retaurant and good prices, recommended.

Restaurant overlooking the lake and very close to Trakai castle. Large outdoor terrace for good weather and plenty of indoor room too. Food very tasty, Mrs Bonio very impressed with her aubergines.
Friendly service and good prices make this a good choice.