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Despite a bar’s shortcomings and even considering the inherent limitations, I always have a soft spot for a bar geared up for absolutely nothing except one thing – drinking. For a start, the simplicity but also it sets the expectation level for the one thing it does do, pretty highly.

This is Lithuania, and even more provincially than that, Kaunas, so there’s a silly bar name. Sorry about that, but don’t let it put you off just yet. At first glance at the name you might expect just some awful mid 00’s funky house bar with plastic seats and Corona bottles behind the bar. Thankfully this isn’t it.

Nisha is a pretty tiny corner bar, really like an updated 21st century version of an old fashioned French/Belgian drop in joint where a working class man would pop over for a smoke and a beer. The update is to turn it into a smart, very compact but effective venue for local beer and quite a generous side helping of craft ale.

It is so intently beer focused that despite two of the four walls of the entire venue being the bar area, the remaining walls are stocked to the gills with various beers under the sun.

Talking with the owner, bizarrely they had formed a connection with Leeds Brewery and were serving Leeds Pale on tap. I thought about it for the novelty value, but after a quick reminder how awful Leeds Pale is even in Leeds, thought against it. Nevertheless, I humoured him and it was a nice exchange of opinions about the bar scene in our respective home cities.

I eventually settled on a Sour Pale Ale, in a craft style by a Vilnius based brewery which was delicious. The price was very reasonable for a craft beer, but in Lithuania it isn’t quite as cheap as you may think, so don’t be surprised to be paying 3 euros 50 cents upwards in a lot of mainstream venues just for one of their main lagers.

There isn’t much action going on in the afternoon, which shouldn’t have been surprising to me visiting on a shrivelling bleak November weekday, but you may find more joy in the evenings, as it is on a very doable pub crawl along some of Kaunas’ local bars.

The seating is mainly bar stools and the drinking mainly over ledges, so take a while to consider where Nisha fits into your drinking plans. Be assured though that it’s a high quality representation of Lithuania’s modern beer and bar scene, with many good beers to try and a willing participant in beer and bar chat if you’re flying solo.