Muru

I had American guests visiting me here in Helsinki, and of course for me one important thing was to show them great restaurants. Gaijin was one of the restaurants I took them to, and Muru was the other one. Muru has been hyped, and is very popular right now. They always have a set menu, but you can make changes / adjustments to it.

I started with the reindeer carpaccio with beets, and even though I regret to say I'm not a fan of beets I absolutely loved it! perfect texture, and reindeer really goes well as a carpaccio because of its strong taste.

 

I chose whitefish with beurre blanc and fried zucchini flower as my main course. Unfortunately I was a little dissapointed. Whitefish is soft in texture and taste, and so is beurre blanc. There was really nothing to break the soft texture. The fried zucchini flower was intended to be a crispy component, but it didn't really work. It wasn't crispy enough, plus frying is another fatty component in addition to the beurre blanc. The taste was good, but I was missing a WOW experience.

I finished the meal with a bay leaf crème brûlée with apricot sorbé, and that wasn't my favorite either. I love crème brûlée as is, and maybe that makes me a little partial. I didn't feel like the sorbet was needed, a little too sweet, and the bay leaf didn't give enough taste. 

All in all, I thought Muru had an interesting idea, plus most people in this country can't be wrong. Maybe I'll give it another try, but I wasn't that impressed and neither were my American friends. It's not my favorite restaurant, and I haven't been back since. Maybe it deserves another chance?