Snacks

Visit Sala Bakery for delicious cakes and cookies. You can also have a really good lunch there.

Sala is in the building next to my work so I visit it quite often for buying cookies, cakes and other pastries. I am a bakery fan, one of Sala’s regular customers. If you try any bakery here in Latvia, you will see what I am talking about. It is fantastically good here. From Sala bakery I like the spinach rolls and cookies with seeds … njam… njam.

I can not just pass this bakary without buying anything. But still, even if it weren’t on my everyday way to work, I would go a long distance for a good bakery anytime.  

I have many opportunities to try a little of everything they have. When you stand at the cookies and cakes, you’ll be overwhelmed by all the options, but don’t give up and try something. 

There are more great bakeries like Sala in Rīga, check out “Mārtiņa Beķereja” – delicious!

Cakes in small doses are good for your smile!

New year, new season and Ticket to Heaven is open!

If you are in Riga during the warm season which is from late Spring till early Autumn check out this bustaurant.

I discovered this place on my walk around Andrejsala two summers ago when I came across this bus. Since that time everyone who is visiting me has to go for a hot chocolate with me to bustaurant. Ticket to Heaven was put here not for taking passengers to Great Britain, but for letting people dream.

Bustaurant is a two floor cafe with a terrace. I like the interior, maybe I’m wrong, but to  me it is something like eclecticism – different styles in one place, ensuring a cozy atmosphere. At different tables and on different chairs and couches, they let you day-dream. It shows that there are no boundaries to creativeness and fantasy and this is what I like here.

Call your friend, take a walk to Andrejsala, go to the Bustaurant, order tea, coffee or any other drink and converse and relax. From here you can see the Old town. Boats will pass by- making high waves and interrupting your dream for a few seconds. When the boat is gone and the water is calm again you can dream again, and maybe your dream will come true. 

Coffee Inn is a place where tasty beverages, lovely music, creative people and relaxed atmosphere meet. This coffee shop is situated in a convenient place in the city center and it is always welcoming you to serve you a delicious drink to go or have on the spot. A lot of my sunny afternoons are spent on the Coffee Inn terrace just enjoying the day.

This coffee shop has an incredibly friendly, co-operative staff and a menu that will please every taste. Whether you only drink the occasional coffee or you enjoy it on a daily basis, you will be thrilled by the varieties Coffee Inn has to offer. A variety of black and white coffees, iced lattes, smoothies, frappuccino’s and many more are available.

If you’re hungry, ask for a panini with turkey and curry (they’re going to warm it for you, worth every santim) and a cheesecake – a perfect combination for a quick lunch.

My personal favorite ‘Coffee Inn’ is the one on Terbatas street, because it’s the least crowded even though it’s located in the city centre. But now there are four or five other ‘Inns’ to try the best cheesecakes in the city. 

Ask yourself – what to do when your tummy is totally empty in the middle of the night after a great party but still you are not sleepy enough to end the ball? Or another one – you are just eager for a delicious and generously decorated pizza?

Here is a tip that always works for me – take yourself to the LuLu, pizza LuLu. It is chain of pizzerias located all over the Riga. Most of them are working 24/7 so you don’t have to cross all city to visit this one particularly, although this is my favorite. They have a few varieties of pizza ready to eat for those who can’t wait a minute for a special order.

LuLu offers three different kinds of pastry as a base for those richly decorated pizzas so you can choose multigrain crust, thin crust or classic crust and you can order your own built pizza via their website. Glad to take a bite indeed, my friends.

Late Saturday morning and it’s raining, but not a lot. The streets are quiet and people are hiding somewhere or have left city for a weekend in countryside.

My rain jacket is reliable, and so are my wife’s and son’s jackets. Despite the fact there is no sun and the weather is a bit chilly for this time of a year we are enjoying our family walk through Agenskalns. It’s a fantastic place to wander and wonder around.

There is a cute wooden house with welcoming wooden doors. Open it and what a surprise! Fazenda – a cozy cafe that feels more like a lovely Grandma’s house from my childhood memories. With freshly baked cakes and cookies as well as meals cooked from locally grown products, it made my day.

Fazenda was almost full and the folks seemed joyful and happy there. I was pleased to share that feeling and the lemon tart at the end of our lunch almost made me sing in the rain heading back home.