Terapija Vegan Cafe — Restaurant in Riga

I wanted to really like this place as it is a one of rare vegan restaurants in Riga. It is always nice to see places fully committed to the special dietary requirements. My experience started from the very moment I entered. There was no one behind the counter I could ask about the reserved table. One guy came over took something and left again. I had to wait for him to return and start a conversation first before I got sited. I wasn't given a menu either. The menus are located next to the bar and you have to pick it up yourself. Menu is very good. There many options all of which are decided into appropriate groups - breakfast, lunch, main, salad, etc. On the other side of the menu were drink. It was great to see many locally made sodas and drinks as well as traditionally made with animal products drinks being vegan. When I came to order I was informed about the waiting time is 40 minutes because 8 people just ordered. It didn't matter if I was ordering starter or a main. I ordered 5 minutes later. I was ready for the 40-60 minutes waiting as have been told. I wasn't ready to wait the same time for the tea. It took about 25 minutes and I had to remind a waiter about it. Either way when the food came I asked to confirm that dishes they brought are the right ones. I have been told that it was indeed a miso ramen. Later, after the taste test, I realized that it was a different soup. My tofu burger with a wakame was disgusting I didn't realize until then that I dislike something so much. Proportions were unbalanced and it didn't look presentable, it just slided into to parts as it was put on the table. Portion of fries was made badly and wasn't the fries I ordered. Dill sauce was too thin and tasted of nothing. Falafel burger order by my brother tasted of cardboard. It was all handmade in the kitchen. I have never expected to say that I would rather eat the same products bought in the cheap supermarket. The best part of the whole dinner were nachos which were just really hard to f*ck up and a tea that came late. In summary service was slow and plain bad, there just isn't enough stuff (or enthusiasm) to do the job right. Food is worse than average with some option being plain inedible. There is plenty of choose on the menu so I expect there is something worthwhile but 4 out of 5 dishes I tried were very bad. It is upsetting to see a restaurant that represents vegan population to have provide such a terrible experience. Shame. Don't recommend. Don't understand how you got the rating you got. Stop making...

I've given this place THREE attempts just because of the vegan food - but I've even visited many coutryside nothing special cafes that were actually soooo, so much more special than Terapija with all their speciality food. Don't get me wrong - the food is alright and their cakes are amazing, and they do have an epic variety of ways to make coffee. Where else in Riga can I get an almond milk cappuccino? However, they have a lot to learn about service quality. Vegan label, while still a very viral and a good thing to hang onto in the food business, will never be something that can explain, or rationalize a bad service. The service was terrible all three times, not to mention they don't accept cards as a payment option - prepare for a bad surprise if you bring a group of friends along with you (they lost about 50 € of income and multiple happy customers due to this). It's not even that they don't accept cards - they explained that "we don't support cards". Is this is some kind of a vegan specific trait society isn't aware yet in the modern year of 2017? :) I ordered almond milk cappuccino which took them about 25 minutes to make. I understand being understaffed, that happens if you're generally considered being a cool place - but 25 minutes and the waiter being pissed off that I even asked about my order taking too long isn't acceptable. I even started to wonder whether they're blending their own home-made almond milk (but I saw that Valsoia milk carton, so that was not the case :) ) Waiters generally sound uninterested - in a speciality food cafe I expect to see happiness that people do appreciate good food and something different out of the usual!

I will give them a fourth go - because of the cakes and coffee. I really do hope they will do better, and trust me - clients can be awful sometimes, too. :) I hope next time I will see happy waiter faces, short waiting times for my orders, and a good vibe overall! :) Also, please, please - change the plants. The place is great, the large windows and the furniture overall creates a cute vintage look - but the plants are purely...

I really like the idea of offering only vegan food, but if I'm being totally honest then I'll have to say that quality is gradually decreasing. Prices are only a little bit above average, but if we take into account also quality and atmosphere (like a cheap dinner) then it is quite overpriced: burger costs 5 - 8.5 EUR. That's for just a burger, no fries + sauce (+2.5 EUR) and no drink (starting from 1.5 EUR). I have tried 3 or 4 different burgers - most of them were below average and 1 was REALLY bad. What's more, there is no option to get regular fries or even just normal potato "slices", only option is sweet potato. Sorry, but they aren't even close to regular fries - moist, soft, no crisp. Not a burger material! For me it seems that this place has become "lazy". Either way, I wish you the best and hopefully I won't be disappointed next time I will visit!

P.S. Last time I waited ~1 hour and 40 minutes for a meal. When ordered I was told that it will take 40 minutes max. Of course, no information and no apologies...