A restaurant with no name - The quest for great food at an affordable price

There's a new place in Punavuori on Pursimiehenkatu 16. It used to be Old Anchor, it has changed now and the place has no name yet.. Yes it's a little weird. Anyhow me and my friend decided to go there yesterday for dinner. We had sort of assumed it to be a nice cosy place in style of Bar N0:9 or Lungi.

Atmosphere wise it was great, also alcohol was fairly priced at like 5-6€/glass, bottles around 30€.
Food wise.. well the prices were nuts! Tiny salads for starters at 12€/each. Dinner plates were around 22-30€.

The  actual menu was a on piece of paper, yet prices more fine dining and through the roof! With the restaurant not having a name either, it seemed like they were a bit lost about the concept..

 I got the Arctic Char (Nieriä) with cauliflower purée. The plate wasn't big but had a nice pricetag of 22€. It tasted good, put pricing was totally off.

 My friend got the Veal Cheek with potato gnocchi. Once again, wonderful taste but overpriced and tiny portions.

Also, the waitor got our orders mixed up, so we had to wait longer for our food. As an apology he did give us free glasses of wine. That was great service and I really appreciated it.

Would I go back? For food - no way! For drinks, absolutely. This restaurant needs to come up with a name, get their concept together, and lower their prices on food. Otherwise they will go bankrupt within months.

Patrona Helsinki - The quest for great food at an affordable price

On Tuesday me and my friend went to try out Patrona. A fairly new Mexican restaurant in Helsinki. I was really excited to try the food, because there are no Mexican restaurants in Helsinki.There's texmex (like Santa Fé), which is good too though.

First off, service was so friendly! They immediately asked what we wanted to drink, and explained about the food. I was a little apprehensive about the drinks. I'm not a fan of Tequila. OK, who am I kidding, after a very drunken night 8years ago the thought of tequila makes me vomit. I'm sure you've all been there.

My solution to the problem was to ask for a drink that isn't for a tequila lover, but a drink that could make me a tequila lover. This is what i got, the patrona. An amazing drink (margarita style) with tequila, lime and guava juice. The edges were covered with half salt half chili.. I must say the drink was amazing, for the first time in 8years I enjoyed drinking tequila. I even had another one.

My friend got a tall drink with passionfruit, this didn't even taste like tequila, but was of course wonderful none the less. Drinks were a little expensive around 9,8€. I say that because prices on food and wine were much lower, so I feel 7€ drinks would fit the concept a little better.

We started by sharing two appetizers, the chevicé (with whitefish and shrimp) and guacamole with tostodos. This ceviché was very different from what I had before, soaked in lime juice and served with a side of habanero sauce. It's actually a brilliant concept, because this way you can regulate the amount of heat yourself. I used a lot of heat - love spicy food. The guacamole was amazing, and their home made tostadas so incredibly good! Seriously huge points, and appetizers were between 7-9€ and that's a fair deal since there was plenty food.

For our main course, we shared the tortillas with braised pork belly and pineapple salsa (which is actually a warm starter) and also the chicken tortilla with mole sauce (a main course). The pork belly tortillas were amazing, and especially the pineapple salsa. They were overshadowed by the chicken tortilla with mole sauce though.

Molé is a chocolate sauce, this one contained five different types of chocolate, and also peanut butter and chili. Though it looks like a dessert, it most def. is not. This was my first try of Mexican Molé sauce and it blew me away! So incredibly tasty!! Apparently a lot of finnish customers don't appreciate this dish, since the server warned us it will be different... But damn it was good though!

At the end of the day, our bill was about 40€/person, which is ok. Especially considering 20€ of that was drinks.. Had we taken wine, a bottle would have been around 30€. Was the food Mexican? I have never been to Mexico, hard to say. However, it's def. not texmex, and  just like Mexican restaurants in NYC. Either way drinks and food, both delicious! I would go back anyday!

Umeshu Helsinki - The quest for great food at an affordable price

As me and my friends somewhat reluctantly have transferred into working fulltime, we have realized that we spend less and less time with eachother. In college we would always meet, everywhere and at least for lunch. Now we have to take the trouble of picking up a phone and making a call. One of my friends had a brilliant idea, let's automatically meet every other Tuesday for afterwork/dinner. This was our first Tuesday, and since we all love sushi, Umeshu was our restaurant of choice.

The best way, and really the only way to eat Sushi, is to get several items on the menu and share with your friends. My absolute favorite Maki at Umeshu is the Yaki Shake (slightly grilled salmon) and Shiromasu (smoked white fish). Ebifurai (fried prawns) is amazing, but they use breadcrumbs so it's not a gluten free option.

These are also good Sushi to start with if you've never had Sushi before, because they are cooked. It's easier to transition into raw fish once you know what to expect. Personally I love raw fish, so adding Spicy Shake (spicy raw salmon) and any other Maki is not a problem for me.

 

One of my friends is on a low carb diet, and even though rice is not as bad as wheat, she's trying to stay away from all of that. That's another good thing about Umeshu, it's not just sushi, they have other japanese style foods as well. 

 She opted for a salad and some lightly grilled salmon with apple and fennel.I guess the only negative thing was that her food didn't come at the same time as the rest of our sushi, so we had to wait a fairly long time.

 

I've been to Umeshu several times, and new to their menu is the dumplings. Their dumplings are incredible, full of flavor. Traditional dumplings are often made with rice flour, but I believe these had wheat in them, so if you're gluten free - double check! 

All in all I would argue that Umeshu has the best sushi in Helsinki. I feel their price range is pretty good, a bottle of wine for 32€, Maki rolls for around 6-8,5€ (there's 8pieces in each) and I get full for about 2 - 2 ½ rolls. We had somewhat an OD on Sushi this time, but you can easily get away with around 30€ (including wine). 

The only downside is the service. I don't think I saw the server smile once, and we litterary waved for 10min without anyone looking our way. This restaurant is tiny by the way... Finally we had to raise our voices and say excuse me. I feel that's so humiliating to do, and I didn't appreciate being put in a situation where you have no choice. I can't blame this restaurant alone, ususally this is the standard still wherever you go. It is assumed you as a patron, want to be left alone.

All in all, great food, pretty good price, but horrible service :) I will be going back though, for the food, and just hope for better service..

Mange Sud

Me and my friend had both received gift cards from Mange Sud, 2 menus for the price of 1. So we decided to invite 2more friends and go to dinner there. For anyone who is interested in that deal, you can still claim it here. The gift card is valid until the 28th of February.
 

 We started off the evening at my place, had a glass of wine and some Cheese. Actually white wine is better with fat cheeses like Brie and Chèvre, but ultimately my filosophy is to choose whatever you're in the mood for.  These were both organic cheeses, and I actually feel like putting an extra euro in to cheese is usualy (= read always) worth it. I served the cheese with some crackers and apricot jam. A great mix, another favorite is figue jam.

After some gossiping we left for Mange Sud at Tehtaankatu. We had reservations at nine, another good reason to meet earlier and have a small bite of something. After looking at the menus everyone chose Menu Mediterranea. Otherwise gluten free, but has a Cannoli for desert, the staff was more than happy to exchange that free of charge to Créme Brûlee and offer gluten free bread.

Going back to scallops... I think these are the best scallops I've had in my life, served with fried bacon with a very nutty taste. They've probably used walnut oil or something. The purée was sweet potato flavored with truffel oil. Amazing!

 

For main course we had the Duck Confit, and though texture wise and taste wise it was amazing, I believe the chef must have been in love. At least my plate had a little too much salt, and since I'm a salt addict that's saying something. Otherwise a perfect dish

 There was a cheese course in between that served Brie and Roquefort. Personally I'm not a fan of Roquefort, plus I prefer starting or finishing with cheese, and we had already had some.. For dessert I had the Crème Brûlée. Perfect in taste, a perfect sugar crust, but whyyyy the red currant purée on top?! I scraped mine away because it completely overpowers the delicate taste of a Crème Brûlée.

All in all though I really enjoy Mange Sud, great food, great service, and one of the few restaurants in Helsinki that's loud! A lot of laughter and you can see all patrons enjoying themselves. I def. recommend, especially since you can get the great deal all february: 2 Menus for 1

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?

Ravintola Sunn

Last weekend, a bunch of us got together to celebrate. We had booked a cabinet at Ravintola Sunn, I believe there was about 17 of us. Ravintola Sunn is located near Senaatintori, I hadn't been there before so I was excited to taste the food. Because we were so many, they had prepared a limited menu for us.

The service was great, and I really feel this is something that needs to be pointed out. We ordered some sparkling wine, it arrived immediately. I don't know how the waitress did it but everything worked,no one was left without a glass and there was no fuss even though we were more than orginially expected.

The food was good too, I had the smoked eggplant salad for starter and Tournedos Rossini as my main course. The beef fillet was cooked to perfection and the duck liver with black truffel divine.

One minus was that the side dish came later, and in a separate bowl. There was not very much of it, and it became confusing if and how to share.

The biggest issue however, was the price. The Tourneados Rossini was not sizeable, which is ok, but priced at 35€. Plus the starter at 11€ made a dinner bill of 46€. Had I added a dessert, prices would have been up at above 50€. Considering that you can get a 7 course tasting menu at Gaijin or Boulevard Sociale for that price, I would say that Sunn is slightly over pricing their food in comparison.

It's like my friend said "you only have so many euros to spend, this will not be one of the places to spend it".

I am prepared to pay for great food, but I felt like this would be food I could make myself. Though the salad was good, I feel it's too much to pay 11€ for three pieces of cheese on lettuce. If Sunn gets their price range right, I would go back. But for now, my money is going elsewhere.

Gaijin

Gaijin is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Helsinki. I am partial, because some of my friends work there. I have been to Gaijin more times than my wallet would like, and soon I will have to go again. The food is amazing, no doubt, but so it is in several places. The number one reason why I love Gaijin is because I really feel like the experience is different every time. Also, the chefs use ingredients that sometimes I've never heard of, and other times in ways I never could have imagined.

I'm not a trained chef, so to see such creativity and exquisit talent in a restaurant is such a joy. I always get inspired to think in new ways, and combine new tastes.

Mussels

The first time I went, we chose the Menu Gaijin. A difficult decision because both menus looked amazing. At the time, the menu had 9 courses starting with mussles. I'm a seafoodie, and these are among the top mussles I have ever had. Sweet, yet savory with an orange and vanilla flavours.

Scallops

 One of the reasons for chosing Menu Gaijin, was the scallops. I have a love hate relationship with scallops (kampasimpukka). Because if you cook scallops the wrong way, either too little or too long I really feel that they taste beyond discusting. However when could perfectly, there is no greater food joy. Of course, these were cooked to perfection, a major reason for me to come yet again.

Foi & Unagi

 Traditionally I'm not a fan of eel, but I love fois gras. I was most apprehensive about the Foi&Unagi dish. This dish truly split opinions, I loved the foi, didn't care too much for the eel (probably my own fault though), but my major issue was the lack of texutre. Both main components were soft, there was some crunchy nuts, but not enough. I might be a freak of nature though, some of my friends loved it.

Pork Buns

Then the pork buns came out. I took a bite, and I was sold. I have had food all over ther world, in several places, and something about these pork buns made them climb to the top of my list. I can't describe it, try it to believe it. This is my absolute favorite.

Baby Back Pork Ribs

Baby back pork ribs. It's so rare to get good ribs in Finland to begin with, these were flavoured with a sweet soy sauce that took the best features out of the meat. The meat was so tender it fell apart, just like it should. Baby back ribs, a winner!

The best thing about Gaijin's menu is that they know when to stop. Had the menu finnished with a heavy cake, I probably would have died. Instead it was light raspberry and pistachio sorbet. A perfect fresh finish, to a heavy meal.

Another thing that annoyes some diners, but that I appreciate, is that they bring out the food as they please. I love this attitude! Food is meant to be shared and enjoyed, they bring it, you eat in the pace you like.

Finally, one thing you can't skip if you go to Gaijin is the drinks. Start with one, finish with one, ask the bartender - he'll know you're favorite.

Rafla Helsinki - The quest for great food at an affordable price

The food culture has changed so much in Helsinki during the past few years. It's more and more common to go out to eat, and these days table reservations is a must for weekends. At least to some of the better places.

My personal opinion is that restaurants in Helsinki have had average food at high prices. Nowdays, most have excellent food at high prices, which is a great development. The only problem is that for a food culture to florish, there should also be places with great food at low prices.

I was living in NYC this past summer and fall,  one of my favorite places in Soho, Tacombi, had amazing Mexican food, and fish tacos for around $4. In New York City, one of the most expensive cities. One major issues still in Helsinki, and with the finnish food culture in general, is that when you go to a restaurant it's expected to be uptight. High-class, high prices. Food you would normally cook at home, simply can't be served in restaurants.

 There are some exceptions: bar No9, and Tori both serve comfort food. Unfortunately still at prices that are too high, at least in my opinion. Some would disagree with me perhaps, but being able to eat a dinner for $9 makes you wonder why everything here is at least 17€.

Yesterday was a perfect example of a restaurant market gap. I went out for a beer with my friend to Los Cojones, neither of us had eaten. My other friend joined us, and we decided to eat at Rafla. A normal thursday night, nothing fancy, just friends.

All in all, the food at Rafla is amazing. All three of us shared two appetizers, then  I had the steak with bernaise sauce and we all shared a bottle of wine. I was wondering why we don't go out eating more often with my friends in the middle of the week. I did that all the time in the U.S.

Time for the check. Price tag for the night? 50€. Then I rememberd why I don't go out 4 times a week here. Quick calculations: 4*50=200€/week, four weeks in a month, food budget 800€/month. Maybe not. Fine. Don't drink the wine, or have just a glass, no appetizers. Yes, several solutions to the problem. However how come I never had to make those choices in the U.S? Or in most European countries.

Would I recommend Rafla? Absolutely, great service (which is still rare here, to American standards), great wine, great food, love the atmosphere. Will it top my list on where to go a casual Thursday? Perhaps not.

I shall continue my quest for great food at affordable prices!