A worker with plates with lunch dishes running among tables.
Long, but quickly moving queue on lunchtime.
Barely heard music.
Freshly made carrot juices.
Examples of folk art (i.e. wicker lampshades).
No tray system – all dishes are served to your table.
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Most of Vilnius residents have heard some myths or legends about a canteen established in a factory "Montuotojas". So I have decided to visit it and check how it really is. As I entered the factory, I realized it was quite tricky to find the canteen. But there I saw a map hanging on the door and showing the way to the lunch place, so I was saved. As I got there, I saw a queue that almost reached the door of the canteen. So I prepared to wait for my own tray with lunch. I didn't have to wait that long, as canteen workers were very fast. If one of them was taking orders near the cash-register, the other was running with plates and bowls looking for beetroot soup, cold beetroot soup (lt. šaltibarščiai) or potato pancakes with meat (lt. žemaičių blynai) and shouting out served dishes: "Who ordered two steaks?" I must warn you - if you like to have your lunch quietly, the canteen "Montuotojas" is not for you! Diners can have their lunch in one of two rooms of the canteen. Both are the same: grey walls, brackets with wicker lampshades, massive tables and chairs with cutaway hearts on their backs. I settled near the fridge full of refreshments and just after a couple of moments I got my cold beetroot soup served. While enjoying it, I noticed you could meet wide range of people here: mounters, postmen, students from the faculty nearby, men in suits and lots of other different people. I was still eating my soup when I got my second dish that was Chicken Kiev. I got it after the cook shouted: "Who ordered a Chicken Kiev???" for three times. Everyone here willy-nilly have lunch fast, because you might feel like you are in a stock exchange where everything is madly dynamic. Sometimes you can imagine that you hear the rate of French fries going up or beetroot market going down. If you get dishes delivered to your table, it doesn't mean you can leave the empty plates there after lunch. Dishes should be taken to a special window and pushed through a small yellow curtain.
The motto of this canteen definitely should be "you came - you ate - you went away", no doubts! Food:
It is obvious that the specialization of this canteen is fried potatoes (so called French fries). They are served with anything - cold beetroot soup, herring or cutlets. Or you can get just a portion of fries, too. On a day of my visit I ordered challenging dish of any canteen - a Chicken Kiev. And I got a cutlet of a size of my palm. It was well fried; maybe I just missed some more butter inside of it. To sum up, the Chicken Kiev exam is passed! Compote:
I was very tempted to order fresh juice instead of a glass of compote. But compote of berries is also quite nice - refreshing and pleasantly sweet. |
