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Ribs & Rock

Restaurants
By Howard Jarvis. 15.05.2011

Save to foursquare Grēcinieku 8, RigaRīga, Latvia Phone: 2669 9966
Email: arita@ribsrestaurant.lv
Web: www.ribsrestaurant.lv
Working hours: Mon-Fri 11:00 - 24:00, Sat-Sun 12:00 - 24:00,

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There’s something primal about attacking a plate of ribs, pulling the rack to pieces to reach the juicy bits, enjoying the crack and tear as the bones come apart. So it should come as no surprise to find a restaurant that matches ribs and heavy rock.

Gallery: Ribs & Rock

Ribs & Rock, located in a dark and cavernous hole in one of Old Riga’s bustling streets, plays rock and only rock. But it’s not packed to the gills with leather-clad, tattooed headbangers. There are no motorcycles lined up outside. The rock being played tends to be retro and radio-friendly rather than challenging or ear-splitting – eighties-centered rather than neo-metal, Aerosmith and Rush rather than Queens of the Stone Age. Take your mother and she’ll soon be nodding along to the beat.
She’ll love the food too. The people behind Ribs & Rock already have the successful carnivore-pleasing formula of restaurants like Steiku Haoss to build on – huge platefuls of meat weighed by the kilo and served up with a delicious range of sauces and optional extras by friendly staff. The Haoss is famed for its massive 1.2 kg steak, which hungry clients so often order and fail to finish.
At Ribs & Rock, the “Rib Card” inside the menu lines up the choices. Rock in Club is a popular dish, a broad rack of juicy pork ribs (€12.70 for 500g; €21.30 for a kilo) served with crunchy garlic toast and Caesar salad. Sir Deer (€19.50) is venison ribs and an accompanying chop that have been marinated in juniper berries and come with strudel and bilberry chutney.
U2 is a heaping plate of pork and lamb ribs, strips of chicken, onion rings, sauces and salad. With the meat weighing in at 1.7 kg, it’s an order for two people only, and costs a very reasonable €30. For all dishes, Ribs & Rock have sauces ranging from Jack Daniels green peppercorn sauce to red wine sauce to yoghurt and garlic sauce.
There’s plenty to look at as you chew. Interior details include polished motorbike parts – exhaust pipes, headlights, saddles – as well as black curtains with metal-chain cords, coils of barbed wire and a battered black piano. But if black’s not your bag, head to the bright, naturally lit seating at the back.