POSITION IN THE TOP 30. The outermost country's resort has a high-level restaurant called Nerija, which every year makes it to the list of the 30 Best Restaurants in Lithuania. For more than 14 years, no other restaurant succeeded in taking the place of this fine dining star.
BRIEF RESTAURANT’S STORY. Every year, the restaurant’s team comes to Nida for a half-a-year’s culinary adventure. The restaurant is open from March till October. During all that time, the restaurant’s owners Jovita and Gintaras, kitchen chefs Jonas, Klaudijus and Lukas who joined the team last year never leave the restaurant. During the other half of the year, when Nida’s Nerija is closed, the team leads a quieter life in Kaunas or Vilnius. However, they mostly use that time for self-improvement, not for the rest. Besides, each year, the restaurant’s team goes on a gastronomic trip abroad. This year, they visited San Sebastian and its best restaurants.
RESTAURANT’S UNIQUENESS. Indeed, there are not many places in this divine location serving good wine and high-level food as well as ensuring top-level service. While this is so important – good food and an emotion which remains afterwards are an integral part of a good vacation!
NEWS. This year Nerija has further expanded its wine list and now has more than 300 different types of wines. By the way, the list also contains names from the list of the top 100 wines in the world. Another novelty is the introduction of new dishes after the training by the famous Austrian chef Thorsten Probost. The kitchen master helped the restaurant team to re-discover the natural flavors of local produce by highlighting them by aromatic herbs growing in Neringa (tarragon, wood-sorrel, thyme, etc.).
BRIEF MENU. In Nerija restaurant, a la carte menu is flexible. A lot depends on the fishermen’s luck. Sometimes, a 10-kilogram sea salmon comes to the restaurant from the sea, while a wild catfish arrives from the Curonian Lagoon. On other days, other fish types. Actually, the kitchen does not use frozen products at all, thus fish here is prepared only if it has just been caught and chilled.
The brightest novelty on the menu this season is the burbot with burbot liver. By the way, in general, as much as possible foreign production is being replaced local. That is the case with meat. This year, lamb that traveled from New Zealand was replaced by a lamb bought from local farmers. The Lithuanian sucking piglet was also added to the menu. Beef used at the restaurant is also Lithuanian, and it’s aged for at least 45 days.
CULINARY HITS. Beef and geese liver carpaccio – 14 Eur, dumplings with shrimp and scallops – 12 Eur and, obviously, local fresh fish (turbot, zander, Baltic salmon, cod, burbot, tench, etc.) which will be available today depends on the success of fishermen.
OWNER AND THE CHEFS. The owner Jovita "holds" all the corners and is always in Nerijoje. Thanks to her dedication to this place, the magical Nida has the restaurant, where gourmet cuisine can be enjoyed during the holidays. By the way, the restaurant's kitchen from this season has not two, but three chefs. Lukas joined Klaudijus and Jonas. Here there is no head chef and lower chef. Everyone has his own responsibilities, they „throw“ their ideas into one pot, taste, discuss, and coordinate. The horizontal hierarchy in the kitchen is not a common format, but Nida is not a regular resort.
SPACE. Prior to the year 2000, when the hotel Nerija was opened, this place had been derelict. Jovita and Gintaras purchased it at an auction. After the hotel had been in operation for four years, the owners understood that guests should be nourished accordingly. At that time, there was not anything impressive in Nida. Thus, in addition to the breakfast menu, soon a more extensive a la carte menu appeared.
