A complete list of 30 best Lithuanian restaurants 2018 in Lithuania is announced

Who is the best of the best of the 2018?

The first place according to all criteria in 2018 rating was attributed to the chef Martynas Praškevičius and his restaurant Džiaugsmas. This is already the second such achievement of this chef – in 2016, his restaurant Stebuklai also finished in the list of 30 Best Restaurants in the first place.

Even prior to the final of the project, M. Praškevicius admitted that the last year with Džiaugsmas was the most wonderful for him: „Now I am happy to come to work everyday“, – he said. And almost every second chef of the top 30, asked during pre-interviews where he would invite foreign guests (except his own restaurant), also mentioned Džiaugsmas.

„To have two restaurants (Stebuklai is not on the list this year – author’s note), whose kitchen and customer expectations are different but equally high is not easy. As for Džiaugsmas, my goal here is simple - to serve people with the best quality products produced in Lithuania. I was waiting for this opportunity for a long time, it was my dream“, – the chef says about his second restaurant-bistro and natural wine bar opened last year.

By the way, it coincided accidentally, that the winners of World's 50 Best Restaurants and 30 best restaurants in Lithuania of the top five changed their equal positions exactly the same way. The second-best restaurant of the last year’s list climbed to the first place (Džiaugsmas in Lithuania, Osteria Francescana – in the world), and the first place winners dropped to the fourth place (Gastronomika in Lithuania, Eleven Madison Park – in the world).

Changes in this year's list

Briefly summarizing the results, 8 restaurants from the last year's list of the top 30 this year are gone. However, of course, exactly the same number of new names appeared. Among them, there are even 5 newcomers who were not in 2016 or 2017 ratings: Amandus in Vilnius (7th place), Ertlio namas (17th place), Selfish (21st place), El Mercado (28th place) and Ieti in Kaunas (24th place).

This year we also have 3 restaurants that came back to the top 30, i.e. in 2016, they were ranked as one of the best in the country, and last year even though they almost made it, but dropped out of the list for a year: Böff (20th place), Stikliai (23rd place), MEAT (27th place).

On the final list this year, the highest climb was 18 positions, and was reached by the restaurant Apvalaus stalo klubas located in Trakai. The biggest drop, however without leaving the list, was not more than 13 positions in the rating (restaurant Palanga).

„However, it should be emphasized that all the restaurants rated in this project are the elite of Lithuanian gastronomy, they are unique, creative and exclusive. It is them who this year received the highest score from more than 100 members of the academy. The latter had to take into account the quality of food and the creativity of the dishes, the level of service, the environment, the beverage list, and even more criteria set out in the regulation of the project“, – says L. Petrukaitis.

Who votes?

This project is continuous and aims at bringing together as much as possible the circle of experts in food and drink for a united vote, which will eventually become a starting point for following the map of Lithuanian gastronomy and its changes.

In total, over 100 representatives of the world of gastronomy participate in the voting of 30 Best Restaurants: Lithuanian chefs, foreign chefs working in Lithuania, restaurant owners, industry bloggers and journalists, sommelier and other gastronomy experts.

The project 30 Best Restaurants is organized by the Good Food Academy together with the Association of Lithuanian Hotels and Restaurants, the Lithuanian Association of Chefs and Confectioners, the State Tourism Department under the Ministry of Economy and the magazine Geras Skonis. The main partner of the project is the crockery and interior details brand iittala.

30 Best Restaurants in Lithuania of 2018

1^st place. Džiaugsmas, head chef Martynas Praškevičius

2^nd place. Monai, head chef Vytautas Samavičius

3^th place. Sweet Root, head chef Justinas Misius

4^th place. Gastronomika, head chef Liutauras Čeprackas

5^th place. Šturmų švyturys, head chef Česlovas Žemaitis

6^th place. La Esperanza, head chef Justinas Kapkovičius

7^th place. Amandus, head chef Deivydas Praspaliauskas

8^th place. Dine, head chef Donatas Šatkauskas

9^th place. SOMM, head chef Mindaugas Saulis

10^th place. Gaspar's, head chef Gasparas Fernandesas

11^th place. Nüman, D. J. Pennell, D. Kaupas, P. Zuoza, K. Liukaitytė

12^th place. Apvalaus stalo klubas, mentors’ team

13^th place. Monte Pacis, head chef Rokas Vasiliauskas

14^th place. Momo Grill, chefs Valdas Anusevičius, Vytautas Samavičius

15^th place. Saint Germain, head chef Gediminas Švenčionis

16^th place. Da Antonio, head chef Dmitrijus Babenko

17^th place. Ertlio namas, head chef Tomas Rimydis

18^th place. Ti'ana, head chef Jaroslavas Girdzijevskis

19^th place. Nerija, chefs Jonas Bilotas, Klaudijus Urbonas, Lukas Makarevičius

20^th place. Böff, head chef Mheras Gevorkjanas

21^th place. Selfish, head chef Tadas Vibrantis

22^th place. uoksas, head chef Artūras Naidenko

23^th place. Stikliai, head chef Linas Bražinskas

24^th place. Ieti, head chef Inga Turminienė

25^th place. Telegrafas, head chef Vytautas Alekna

26^th place. Palanga, head chef Raimundas Dambrauskas

27^th place. MEAT, head chef Artūras Butkūnas

28^th place. El Mercado, head chef Martynas Maciulevičius

29^th place. Sofa de Pancho, head chef Vitalis Čižauskas

30^th place. Velvetti, chefs Snieguolė and Remigijus Žižiai