I’m an Englishman visiting Vilnius. What’s the custom here? Eat the bread or not?

30 comments
  1. I’m not sure what you ordered there but it’s not a common or national dish. The only custom I can think of to help you is to order 3 times as many food as normal person eats in one meal, then finish it all and regret your decisions.

  2. It’s an old timey medieval thing in whole region apparently, using bread as bowl for soup.

    Apart from some restaurants actually offering this as a bit gimmicky thing, it’s not considered a national dish, but otherwise we DO eat most of our soup with black (usually rye) bread (and grietine/sour cream when it fits) – unless it’s like šaltibarščiai then we eat them with boiled or fried potatoes.

  3. Hmmm.. forest mushroom creamy soup..

    Up to you- when I’m hungry, I would eat it. If I’m full- I’d leave it. It is a waste of food not to eat it tho..

  4. You will be shamed, beaten and, quite honestly, just trhown the fuck out of restaurant if you decide not to waste food.

  5. I usually just scrape the inner sides (mushy parts) with the spoon after I’m done with the soup.

    If you feel like eating part of it or the entire thing – go for it, if not – its also fine leaving it completely untouched.

  6. I never actually had this *in* Lithuania, but I always eat the bread.
    Flabbergasted that people don’t default to that

  7. As an FYI, you can sometimes get this in Britain too where it’s called a trencher. Often in places that market themselves as olde timey.

  8. I usually eat some of it, but it’s way too much bread if you try to eat the whole thing.

  9. I am Lithuanianman and I have no fucking idea where you even found this dish. But either way – if it doesn’t taste like shit, eat the soup soaked bread.

  10. Dude, I was born and raised in Vilnius. I ate this stuff once in my life, in a restaurant and was asking myself the same question.

    I ended up scraping some soft and wet bits from inside while eating.

    On the aide note, I am not even sure if this is a national dish at all. Just some gimmicky stuff that wastes food products and looks ancient.

  11. Usually you eat the bread first and then go for the soup… but there are no strict rules, you eat what you like and when you like

  12. Do as you wish, we won’t judge.
    As per comments before – some do, some don’t, but I think it’s safe to say this type of soup bowl is not in our lists of usual daily meals, so depends whether we/you like the taste of it or not.

    I don’t think I’ve eaten a soup like this in over 5 years, at least

  13. Don’t.

    You must take the bread home and leave it on the balcony. Wait until the birds turn it into a nest and then start collecting rent from them.

  14. Eat it, we usually eat soup with black bread so this is made specifically for eating the bread together with the soup

  15. Eat the soup, eat some of the bread with the soup, and I guess eat more of the bread with meal, y’know, “Don’t fill up on bread…”

  16. If you don’t eat the whole bread you will be considered weak. And it shows. Any lithuanian who will see your face in the street will point at you and say: “look, that guy didn’t eat the whole bread. How weak.”

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