PasMusRestoranas — Restaurant in Vilnius

I've had an opportunity to try this chef's menu at another restaurants (e.g. Nineteen18 when it was at Hotel Pacai), which was memorable experience and I was really looking forward to this dinner at a newly-opened spot. It was definitely something I talked up to my friends.

Although the food tasted nice, and there were surely no faux-pas etc., it still felt a bit of setback with experience being not as good and tastes leaving largely forgettable impression. The plates rightly done, seemed quite linear, without any highlights/multi-layers one would expect in a such caliber restaurant. For instance, the duck (soft, melting, colorful - not overcooked, tasty) was simply put in umami-taste sauce and that's about it. Bread in other plates were disproportionate and overshadowed the rest of the tastes, especially, given small, almost canapé style bites.

It also seemed a lot of stuff were prepared (e.g. fermented, cold plates) in advance and only assembling was left. Having had a short stunt in the restaurant industry, I understand some inventories management intricacies and peculiarities, however it would have been interesting to see more dishes that require on the spot cooking. Finally, the breaks between the plates were definitely too long, it felt that there was an implicit pressure to prolong stay for more wine refills. Maybe, it was a wrong impression, but it felt a bit sneaky.

Having said this, even though the primary motivation was gastronomy, I think the weakest link is the sommelier part. The difference is especially vivid if compared to the previous sommelier at Nineteen18 - Simonas Jonaitis (currently at Senatoriu Pasazas?), both knowledge- and service-wise. I understand, the restaurant wanted to have a homey/casual vibe, but your sommelier wearing a summer hat, untucked shirts etc. was a bit much. It seemed more like a prep for a fishing trip. Nobody expected to see strict outfit, but at least being a bit more professional in this regard would have made a better impression. The wine list is short for now, the suggested bio vines tasted too astringent and we stayed with more neutral rose.

Overall, it was ok, but definitely quite far from 5-stars' experience. However, it is surely not a bad restaurant worth visiting once in a while given chef's previous experience. In Lithuania, so far the best multi-layered tasting experience I have had was at Amandus, Džiaugsmas. For all gastro afficionados and wanderers, I would recommend trying out those places.

In the meantime,...

Extremely disappointing experience! Kinda suspected it from the moment the waitress said ‘we don’t really have a menu’ - cool, don’t get it but let’s give it a shot. The second red flag was - ‘our tasting menu takes around 3.5 hours’. WHAT?! My friend and I asked for a shorter version of it and so it began. It was also a bit disappointing as they didn’t have vegetarian replacement for some of the meat dishes (after the waitress specifically offered it). Anyway, the first course was a tiny bowl of some strange selection of their speciality pickles. Didn’t get it at all - a piece of cucumber and a strawberry cut in half and some weird extremely sour Lithuanian fruits. Second course - muffin shaped rye bread with some burnt butter and salt. Not bad, nothing special either. Third course - some fancy brioche bun and butter served with something similar to onion tartar. Didn’t get it, but ate it as we were starving. 3 tiny courses (pickles and 2 types of bread) in one hour - not great. Fourth course - a bowl of radishes with some weird cream with not much flavour (had to ask for some salt). That was already the point where I was guessing how much we were going to pay for radishes, onions and bread?! Fifth course sounded kinda exciting - ‘scallop pizza’(yes, finally some fancy ingredients to pay money for!). And guess what? As I was taking the first bite I found someone’s hair inside the pizza, showed it to the waitress, she took the plate away and never replaced it (gave us a free wine top up later) - cracked on with the sixth course - duck. Had a bite, was way too fatty and at that point I was completely done. I’ve been traveling quite a bit as well as working in London’s restaurant scene, however, some places still surprise me. This whole experience took almost three hours and we left hungry. The dessert was good, the wine was not great. Once again they have this hip idea about working with very small, independent wine makers etc but you can go really wrong with it. And looks like that’s exactly what happened. Considering that they don’t have a menu and everyone has exactly the same food this experience shouldn’t take longer than 1.5 hours and yet it’s rather the opposite. I genuinely try new places every time I come to Vilnius and really want to support locals. However, this time it was...

Having dined at numerous Michelin-starred restaurants in all over the world and the region, I had high expectations for this experience. Unfortunately, it fell short in several critical areas.

From the start, the service was underwhelming. Despite arriving promptly, we felt overlooked and had to explicitly ask whether we were being ignored, as guests who arrived later were already served drinks. This created an awkward and unwelcoming start to the evening. Throughout the meal, the staff never once asked for our feedback on the dishes. When we took the initiative to share our thoughts on certain courses, there was no acknowledgment or accepting reaction. This lack of attentiveness further reinforced the feeling that the staff did not care about the guests’ experience—a sharp contrast to their claim of making diners feel like welcomed guests at a host’s table.

A key issue throughout the evening was the complete absence of menus. Without any information about the dishes or pairings, we were left in the dark, unable to connect with or fully appreciate what was being served.

The 9-course tasting menu itself was inconsistent. While a few dishes showed creativity and reflected Michelin-level ambition, most felt unfinished and lacked the depth and refinement expected at this caliber. Additionally, while the wines served were good on their own, they often felt poorly paired with the dishes, failing to complement or elevate the flavors.

Attention to detail, both in service and execution, was missing. It seemed as though the restaurant was aiming for an average score of 6-7 out of 10 for its courses—far below the standards set by other Michelin-starred establishments. Combined with the inattentive and unengaged service, the evening felt disjointed and uninspired.

There are far better just Michelin named restaurants that consistently deliver exceptional food, seamless service, and genuine hospitality. While this restaurant promotes itself as a place where guests feel welcomed and cared for, the reality was far from that.

While I can appreciate the quality of the ingredients and a few bright moments in the meal, the overall execution, mismatched wine pairings, and poor service make it difficult to recommend...