September 26, 2018 – Thefoodiefetish

Located in the basement of Latvia’s most outstanding baroque architectural monuments -The Rundāle Palace, is the Café Ozollāde. As one of the three restaurants on the premises, Café Ozollāde offers Latvian cuisine at an affordable price. It is an ideal place for a quick bite or a coffee break. The palace is situated in the village of Pilsrundāle, 12.5 km from Bauska.

I was on a private tour of the palace. I arrived around lunchtime. My guide and I stopped by the cafe to grab a bite before commencing our tour. The waitresses were dressed in Latvian folk dress. You order at the counter, and food will be brought to your table. However, there is quite a wait when it gets busy because the waitress who takes the order also makes the coffee. So if a customer orders a coffee, she will make the coffee first, pass it to the customer then take the next order. This practice is quite common in cafes in Latvia.

There are five different menus – A’la carte, kids, snacks, tourist groups, and those in a rush. Details of each menu can be found on their website.

My initial plan was to get a coffee and a slice of cake. However, as I was waiting to order at the counter, I saw a waitress holding a dish of what looked like some pancake. My tour guide told me it was potato pancakes, a traditional Latvian dish. We both ordered the potato pancakes with cranberry jam (€ 3.80), and I also ordered a Cappuccino (€ 2.50).

The Cappuccino was served in a pretty floral porcelain teacup. A poached pear filled with cranberry jam sat atop the potato pancakes, garnished with a sprig of red currants and microgreens. The pancakes were not too bad; they were quite filling.

During peak season, there are a lot of tour groups. I recommend going early or later to avoid the crowd. If you plan on lunch, I suggest having lunch first before exploring the palace because it is quite a big palace.