http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31722 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31722 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31721 their wallet empty because of it, there is affordable vegetarian food at Indian bistro Rāma. The whole place where you will find Rāma is called the Hare Krishna centre – there is an
Indian shop in cellar with incense sticks, cosmetics, food, pictures of deities, jewelry
etc. There is also vedic yoga centre, the girls working there are wearing saris and the
place is filled with Indian chants. The vegetarian food is light and tasty – rice, cutlets, salad, buns, snacks, vegetarian pizza, lassi, fresh juice
and a big variety of teas with a special accent on yoga teas. Happy hour if from 18.30 – 19.30 during which time you get hot dishes with a 25% discount and if buying yoga tea you can get any of their Eastern sweets for free.
Even without these discounts you will pay around 2 -3Ls (£2.50-£3.50) for a good meal. Sounds good, no? This place invites you to get your inner balance while eating.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31721 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31720 people returning home from a night in the Old Town – one of their bistros at the
Old Town works till 4am!
Here you can get two types of cold dishes, two types of soup and six types of dumplings (‘pelmeņi’ is Latvian word for dumplings) - with different types of meat, with cheese and vegetables. For 1-3Ls (£1.20-£3.50) you get an entire meal, and then you're ready to enjoy the city. One of XL Pelmeņi bistros is located right in the heart of the Old Town, another one at the shopping centre 'Galerija Centrs' and another at
shopping centre 'Origo' (Central Train Station). Oh, and they have even happy hours
there: at the shopping centres from 2pm – 10pm, but at the heart of the Old Town (Kaļķu
Street 7) 12pm – 4am(!), that’s when you can get all kinds of dumplings and salads for just for 0.69Ls (£0.85).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31720 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31685 If the shop already takes you into a little dream world where everything around you is a piece of art then the restaurant Istabas Bufete on the first floor allows you to dwell longer in this little La Boheme world. I think the best thing to order here is a glass of wine, although the food here is prepared by one of Latvia’s most popular local chefs Mārtiņš Sirmais. Here is just a small daily menu and if you want to eat something the chef himself will come and consult you what to order. That’s also the reason why it’s not possible to know how much money you have to take with you. You can get soup, fish, meat and vegetables for around 3 – 8Ls (£4-10) not the cheapest place, but the food there is always fresh, ecological and high quality – these are the values of the chef.
People admire or hate this place. Some of them go away from there totally unsatisfied with the service – no menu, no big choice, just what the chef offers, but mainly people leave with smiling faces and always return there to enjoy its atmosphere and celebrate life with a glass of wine and intellectual talks for hours.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31685 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/27790 A seasonal menu offered mainly Latvian-influenced food, but it was presented in a contemporary fashion and with first rate service. The wine list was impressively varied, with some bottles from 10 Lats.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/27790 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22692
The array of seafood ranges from Mediterranean octopus carpaccio or seafood and sesame seaweed salad to steamed turbot with cauliflower puree, basil sauce and tomato tartar ‘to die for’. The results are simply executed, gently sauced and super-fresh.
There are meat and vegetarian alternatives alongside the seafood and a more informal menu is available in the bar.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22692 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12578 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12578 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8134 Not cheap by Latvian standards but brilliant food and service. Great lunchtime menu as well.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8134 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6519
As you walk through the glass entrance that provides the only natural light to the restaurant, you enter a warm world of wood, stone and glass. The potential unfriendliness of bare brick and rough plastered walls is successfully offset by exposed wooden beams, ventilation running through polished wooden conduits, and locally hand crafted stained glass lampshades.

A carved wooden partition separates the smoking and non-smoking areas and provides some intimacy for those who end up with tables in the center of the restaurant. The overall effect is of a warm and comfortable environment.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/6519 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5338
The menu does not include anything not around in medieval times, which means you get the interesting choice of pheasant soup and rabbit stew among other culinary delights of a bygone age.

It's expensive by Riga standards, but still good value for the experience you get. Especially if you're there on a night when the aforementioned dressed-up staff give impromptu live music performances.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5338 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3316 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3316