Vilnius – Dirty Duck

I’m not sure that I can count this as a genuine Lithuanian experience given that the pub name is the Dirty Duck. However, it’s in Lithuania, so that’ll do.

It’s a sports bar and there’s live music, but I carefully checked to see that there wouldn’t be any bands or the like on during my visit.

The whole design is quirky, but there’s a fun feel to the pub.

Some of the beer selection.

I’m not entirely sure which dark beer I ended up with, as there were a few named on the menu and I didn’t know what any of them were. I’ve only just got the hang of the dark beer options in Poland, it’s not a quick process to pick a favourite. I’m pretty confident though it’s as the glass suggests, as that beer matches the price on my bill, which is Vilkmergės Tamsusis.

With the beer, the friendly staff member asked if she should just surprise me and that seemed a good idea, with her choice being a rather good one. Lots of deep flavour, slight notes of coffee and Greggs. I’ve made the Greggs bit up, I’m just missing them.

I had rather low expectations of the cod and chips when I ordered, but I thought I’d give the food a go. The environment is quite dark, as is perhaps evident from the photo, but it’s clean and comfortable.

The food exceeded my expectations, it was well presented and at an appropriate temperature. The batter was bubbly and had a great flavour, without it being mushy or greasy. The cod came away in flakes, with the French fries being just as I’d want them.  The portion size was generous and the service time was around ten minutes, so I wasn’t left waiting.

Overall, the whole visit was better than I thought it’d be, as it’s no doubt designed to appeal to tourists and that’s not always positive. However, it all worked for me. The food and drink cost around £9, I was quite happy with that pricing given the location. The atmosphere in the pub was calm and relaxed as well, with a community feel which suggests it’s not just visitors to the city who are the customers.