No. 18 MEAT

TOP 30 PLACEMENT. MEAT made a triumphant return to the Top 30 last year after expanding its core concept. This year it rockets up the chart, jumping an impressive nine places to number 18.

WHY VISIT? MEAT is that rare beast in fine dining circles – a restaurant with a menu that’s diverse and inventive enough to delight even the most discerning diner, while at the same time satisfying everyone’s hunger. A meal at MEAT is not just full of flavour, but filling. Prices are affordable. In particular, MEAT is worthy of attention from breakfast lovers, says the restaurant’s owner, renowned Lithuanian chef Liutauras Čeprackas. At weekends, Liutauras creates what he calls an ‘Egg Disneyland’. Among the dishes on offer are ten styles of Eggs Benedict, including classic, Korean, Israeli and Mexican, and an appetising children’s menu.

A somewhat shorter à la carte and breakfast restaurant menu can also be found at MEAT in Nida. This flame-cooking, seasonal seaside pop-up awaits guests from the midsummer Feast of St. John to the end of the summer season.

BRIEF MENU DESCRIPTION. MEAT grew from a meat-themed restaurant into an establishment that specialises in cooking with fire. The focus of its à la carte remains the careful preparation of quality meat. Recent visitors, however, have also enjoyed the fine section of fish and seafood including oven-baked fish, octopus, shrimp and other delicacies. Vegetarians are also well catered for, homemade cheese prepared on the fire, risotto, and other dishes. In creating the menu, chef Artūras Butkūnas and restaurant owner Liutauras Čeprackas decided to leave their guests the freedom to select their own combination of side dishes and sauces, all of which are included in the price.

The secret behind MEAT’s appetising menu – and the restaurant’s greatest distinction – is the largest meat-aging cooler in the Baltics, where the meat’s flavour is allowed to slowly develop. Lithuanian beef is aged for approximately 28 days, with some varieties being matured for up to 70 days.

CULINARY HITS. Wagyu beef burger (EUR 11); classic burger with aged beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes and caramelised onions (EUR 9); oven-baked shrimp in butter (EUR 11); Belgian or Asian-style beef tartar (EUR 8); baked octopus (EUR 27); salmon baked on red cedarwood (EUR 18).

CHEF. Chef Artūras Butkūnas has headed the kitchen at MEAT since the restaurant opened. Previously, he worked at one of the highest rated restaurants in Lithuania, La Esperanza. As executive chef, Liutauras Čeprackas is not in the kitchen every day, but prepares each menu together with Artūras and supervises quality to maintain the restaurant’s high standards.