bear! lovely. Drunk.

Those were my key words for the last nights visit to the Helsinki located restaurant Savotta. For those of you who are challenged with the Finnish language, savotta refers to the logging and wood harvesting. Sort of a theme restaurant for old Finnish popular culture, with food from the old times. It was a work thing as we had our Norwegian colleague along us. Nevertheless it was my first visit to the place, so I liked the idea of going there.

The location is a rather good one, just close to the Senaatintori with great access to public transport. Altought I'm not sure if I'd come with own car as the parking might be a bit tricky.

The place itself looks the part, the decor is mostly wood, with lots of old newspaper clippings. Vintage adverts and news. I bet there are thousands of theme restaurants like that, so this isn't really that special. Except that the theme is Finland. We sat at the cellar floor which was actually really nice. Had the table at the back of the room, which felt a bit seclusive. Wasn't expecting any silverware and certainly didn't get any as the collection of table ware was a mixture of all kind of old Finnish glass work and cutlery. They fulfilled their place and added to the atmosphere.

For the starter I had the Delicacies of the hunter as in game terrine served with crowberry sauce, elk tartar and wild boar set in aspic. Curious mix of forest delicacies as it really was hard to tell which was which. I'm pretty sure I got the elk tartar correct, but I'm still not 100% sure. Wouldn't have minded a bit more info on the subject. Then again, was a bit drunk at that time, so the info might have passed me.

Never before had any bear for dinner, but was curious enough to try it as the whole table choose to have Patron’s bear Wallenberg as main course. It was served with Savoy cabbage rolls filled with barley and chanterelle mushrooms and creamed Finnish mushrooms. Can't realy say was it really worth the extra cost as the taste itself wasn't the special. But of course I understand that eating bear meat is an experience itself, so suppose it was money well spent. Not that it was my money, but still. The side dish of cabbage rolls was excellent.

To complete the menu I had the Blueberry pie served with milk chocolate mousse and white chocolate ice cream. The milk chocolate mouse was curious and would have never known what it was if I hadn't read the description. Wonder how they managed in that, but still, the blueberry pie itself was decent. Disappointingly small piece thought..

Would I go there again? Hmm.. I suppose so. It was a really nice theme restaurant and had some Tapio Rautavaara playing at the stereo. You rarely get that. The food was good, although not exquisite. Wine like vise. If you have foreign quests who appreciate the trip to wonderland of old Finland, I would even recommend this highly. A great place to have a experience, but there are several restaurants that make at least as good food, than Savotta. Service was humoristic and fit the place spot on.

I feel like cheddar cheese

It simply can't be bad.

Jätä väliin

Lauantaina voisi viettää hauskan päivän jalkapallon ja ravintolaruon parissa. Ei mitään kovin erikoista, mutta klo. 14.45 näyttäisi tulevan kuumoittavan kiihkeä ottelu telkkarista. En ole varmaan koskaan nähnyt Burnley vs. Sunderland peliä, enkä usko sen nousevan kovinkaan korkealle jalkapallon merkkitapahtumien joukossa, mutta voisi olla ihan hauskaa.

Sitä paitsi olen periaatteessa jo maksanut sen päivän ruoka-annokset, sillä minulle kun noita lounareita tuntuu vielä riittävän. Voivat tulla tarpeeseen vielä tulevaisuudessa, mutta eipä sen enempää siitä. Harvinaisen harvoin tulee edes käytyä ulkona syömässä. En tietenkään laske tähän mukaan lounasta, sillä kuluneen 5kk:n aikana olen käynyt lähes päivittäin jossain lounasravintolassa. Merkkipaalu sekään ei tietysti ole, mutta tulipa kuitenkin mainittua.

Pitäisiköhän käydä sienimetsällä?

p.s. Pablo on kohta kaupungissa :)

Midsummer menu

Todays menu:

- Salad with lettuce, spring onion, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds. Topped with cottage cheese.
- BBQ chiken, marinated with olive oil, ginger, soysauce, caper and chili sauce
- Spring potatoes cooked in a aluminion foil, with onion, tomatoes and butter.
- Fresh bread
- Champagne

Tasted good. 7/10 for the chiken and 9/10 for the potatoes.

The great war and a cup of hot chocolate

I've been a busy boy. Just finnished tagging all my posts for this blog and have also been preparing for the nazi assault in Hearts of Iron 2, computer game. I'm plaing as France and now have been able to secure my position against the German agression, in 1939.

As I had the advantage of knowing what really happened in the second world war and in what order, I made preparations. It's just sad that they were not enough, atleast not enought to force Nazi Germany in to peace. As she attacked Poland, I laid my invasion from the west. My plan was to force her in to a two front war, but that was not enough. Poland was secured by the German forces, and now I'm facing all her might on my own. My forces have managed to invade in to her soil and they are currently at the outskirts of Nürnberg, but can't get any further. Germany simply has too many divisions, compared to my French divisions. The positive aspect is that, I've managed to secure the provinces with the Siegfried Line fortifications. The battle is still undecided.

Last friday, I had a blast. A friend of mine, Miss V, was visiting Helsinki for the day and managed to secure few hours for me. We met at Narikkatori, infront of Kamppi and then made our way to Cafe Fazer. Only to find it out of order. Suppose they are improving their glass gabinets, for all the coffee cokies and other delicacies, as the whole cafe part was closed.

We eventually found our way to Strindberg's cafe and managed to secure a large glass of hot chocolate for both of us, and traditional laskiaispulla. That's the Finnish sliding day bun for those who are challenged in Finnish language. I also had a nice rye bread with lox and a hard boiled egg, sliced. I felt peckish, as my lunch managed to skip my schedule for the day. All the treats I had, were really nice and are worth trying. The rye bread in the lox sandwich wasn't maybe the best possible bread for that, as it was a bit too hard for a club sandwich type solution.

But when compering both Fazer and Strindberg's, the decition is a tough one. In my oppinnion the cakes are far superior in Fazer's cafe, but the hot chocolate is only decent. It's expensive and they only serve it, on a small coffee cup. In Strindberg's, the hot chocolate is served in a tall Collins glass and is a bit cheaper, even when you get more of it.

I suppose my quest for the perfect cafe, is still on. Or maybe I'll buy a piece of cafe to-go from Fazer, and eat it in Strindberg's with a nice cup of hot chocolate and whipped cream.

Fish, potatoes and pesto

I had the nicest lunch imaginable. Smoked salmon with fresh boiled potatoes, seasoned with pesto sauce. Still enjoying my newly found passion with fish. Will need to find out a good fish restaurant in Helsinki.