The Green Man, Grantchester

Fish & Chips, can I say more about the traditional British dining? Well, I guess all of us have had terrible dishes, which have been called by that name. I was lucky to have a great meal in the small local pub The Green Man near by Cambridge in Grantchester. 

Our entourage had walked about one and an half hours on the fields and forest in the British rain. We were looking for a warm place to have a lunch. When we arrived to The Green Man, we were informed that the gas was out so the only dish they could offer as was the traditional fish and chips. That worked fine for us and all of us ordered the same meal. 

I have to say that this meal was probably one of the best in UK. Haddock was good and fresh, not too oily and chunky chips were home made and well cooked. The cherry on the top of this meal was mashed peas, which was also fresh and tasty. 

The portion was so big that some of us couldn't finish it. If you ever happen to go to Cambridge, I do recommend to take a walk (or a taxi) to Grantchester to visit the pub and Orchard Tea Garden near by. 

Siltanen

Siltanen is a nice trendy bar/kitchen/club in Kallio. The atmosphere is laid-back and relaxed.
It's always a good place to go either in late night (it closes already at 2am), if you want to get your feet on the dancefloor, or earlier in the evening for a beer with your friends. If  you fancy something to eat with your beer, it's also possible to get something from their kitchen.

Yes, eating is possible in Siltanen and the couple of time we've used that opportunity to enjoy their service. Unfortunatly we are here to talk about another story, a Saturday night experience.

A famous sandwich chain has a saying for slogan "eat fresh". Well, it seems that in Siltanen you can eat a bit too fresh. But let's not spoil the story from the start.

Saturday evening after seeing a good play with friends, we get an idea: how about heading to a place to get a beer, grab some simple food and listen to good music? Siltanen here we come.
Siltanen is located on Hämeentie, one of the main road leaving from city centre, in a old brick building next the Academy of Fine Art.

Inside white wooden floor and high ceiling testify that you are in an old industrial building. Cosy sofas and stylish DJ bar will make you forget the weird feeling given by the dentist lamps on the ceiling.

Anyway let's talk about food: Once you've got in and your table is found, there's only a direction to the counter. The friendly English speaking staff show you were are the menus. We all go for the pizza plate, vege for some, chicken for others and beer for all.

As expected the beer comes right away, we're told that the food will take 30 minutes more. That's fine it's weekend in a bar, not in a fast food place at a gas station. But time suddenly take a different dimension and after asking the staff about our food, it comes...after 45min.

At first, for hungry eyes, the plate looks good. The fresh goat cheese on the vegetarian pizza was yummy yummy. The First bite feels quite good. After few more bites there is a surprise; the freshness I talked about earlier. The pizzas were not enough cooked! Grated cheese has not melted on the vegetarian pizzas, leaving a bit the feeling to eat a frozen pizza straight from the carton box. Chicken pizza has also its part of surprises; as the triple, sorry the quarter of cheese and garlic layers. This resulted in pizza dough covered by the regular tomato sauce, few piece of chicken and 1cm layer of garlic covered by an at least as thick layer of not totally melted cheese.

Come on guys, we know that only Jamie Oliver knows how to cook in UK but do something, learn how to use an oven! I understand that it was a weekend evening. Maybe in the rush guys might have got a Saturday night fever, but still, this was a disappointing experience.

Luckily this is not the end for Siltanen, we'll talk more about them later as they also serve brunch on weekends, so stay connected for the update.

Serendipity - art cafe & pub

Karjaa's hidden treasure is a small cafe called Serendipity. I've been told by local people that this place has been there forever. The building is an old wooden house in the town and "some unspecified time ago" it has been modified as an cosy cafe and pub. 

You can have there small homemade hamburgers, which gets their taste from the furnace. There are also few different kind of toasts, salads and sweet desserts. Their menu is not long, but it doesn't matter. If you do things well, that's enough. And they do. For example French toasts are sweet and tasty. Made like your mother would have made them. At Serendipity they don't hesitate to use real butter. 

If you happen to visit Karjaa (nowadays Raasepori), pay visit also this place for a cup of tea, a homemade hamburger or a pint of beer. Check also the art exhibitions by local artists.