H.E. Vanadziņš. Ziemeļu restorāns — Restaurant in Cēsis

We had planned for months to celebrate our parents’ 80th birthday at this restaurant, expecting a memorable experience based on the many positive reviews we had read. Unfortunately, the evening turned out to be quite disappointing, and we ended up replanning the celebration for the following day.

We arrived just 5–10 minutes later than planned, and were immediately told that the food was already ready. As soon as we sat down, the food was served—cold. It felt rushed and poorly timed, especially for such an important event. Water was placed on the table, but there weren’t enough glasses for everyone. We assumed this would be corrected shortly, but no one came back to check on us. Eventually, we had to get up ourselves and find someone to request additional glasses.

Throughout the dinner, staff seemed rushed, and it felt like we were being hurried through the meal. No one offered to bring the wine we had ordered until we went to ask—by the time it arrived, most of us had already finished eating.

We had high hopes based on the restaurant’s reputation, but sadly, the service did not meet our expectations. We gave 3 stars only because the food itself might have been good if it had been warm. We were also asked to preorder the food due to our group size, but in hindsight, this may have contributed to the rushed and impersonal service. Perhaps if we hadn’t preordered, we could have had a more relaxed and enjoyable...

I came on a rainy day for dinner. It was kind of late but they had space. I sat by myself received a menu and then waited. It took a little while before the server showed up. I decided to go with the tomato soup and trout main course. The soup didn't take too long to arrive. The presentation was amazing! The soup was warm and with a beautiful love of creme fresh. It also came with this beautiful and super delicious cracker with things on it that I didn't recognize. The server did tell me, and I believe it was fish, but am not sure. The server came to ask me if I liked it when she grabbed the empty dish. That should always be done while eating, in case something is off. Then I got the trout, also beautiful presentation with fish foam, veggies and a quinoa broccoli mix under the fish. Once again, presentation was beautiful. The trout was cooked to perfection. I didn't like the foam much nor the quinoa mix, I felt they were tasteless and didn't elevate the dish. Veggies were cooked well and had good flavoring. Would have liked a lemon to squeeze on the fish as it was slightly tasteless, there was also no salt or pepper on the table, and the server, nowhere to be seen, until the end of the meal to check for all these things. Overall it was good, for the price, I expected more flavor and better service. Nonetheless, I would come here again if I were in town. The atmosphere was top notch, with...

Disappointing Service, Not Michelin Standard

We had high expectations for this restaurant, given its Michelin status, but the experience was far from what we anticipated. Service was incredibly slow – it took 10 minutes to place our order, 15 minutes for drinks to arrive, and an astonishing 30 minutes just for the starter. This was largely due to there being only one waitress managing the entire dining area, which simply didn’t suffice.

Despite the decent food, the service overshadowed the meal. We were given paper napkins, and shared starters had to be eaten from the same plate, with no extra small plates provided. It felt far below the standard you’d expect from a Michelin establishment.

Other guests even left in frustration, and honestly, we were tempted to do the same. Overall, this place is not recommended, and we would never return. This is definitely not...