Crustum

It's already few weeks ago we went to have a brunch in a German style of bakery/ cafe in Helsinki. I love Berlin and I miss its old sofas and arty cafes. Unfortunately there isn't any like that in Helsinki. Or is there? 

Well, not really, the atmosphere is closer to Charlottenburg than Prenzlauberg...or then a finnish version of it! Anyway the place looks good with its cosy and a bit strict German feeling, and the breads and cakes available from the bakery side make you hungry before you even sit. But actually getting a table for a sunday brunch isn't an easy thing. The place is easily crowded and perhaps because of this success it is also packed of few tables too much. Luckily the very friendly and effective staff will do its best to find you a chair somewhere.

Let's talk about the food: Lots of different home made breads, mostly all with seeds in them. The Finn of us of course regret the lack of dark bread, but honestly the 4 different kind of bread I tried there were good. Then all the basics are there: cheeses (edam slices, brie and blue cheese), veges, hams (even some tasty chorizo), smokes salmon...for the salty and yoghurt, fruits, dry fruits, cereals and pies for the sweets! This did not remind me Berlin bohemian café but a more general German feeling was there.

So as a results the brunch was good, it makes you happy for the rest of your day, and it is definitely a much better value than some other place suppose to be an institution in Helsinki.

Maruseki

Japanese restaurant Maruseki in Tampere had disappointed us some years ago with unfresh fish or the feeling that you might be eating fish, which is not fresh anymore. Now we wanted to give a second chance for this restaurant, which had moved to a new, bigger (!!) place in Tampere. I was pretty sceptical   beforehand - why restaurant moves to a bigger place, if they can't make good and fresh food in the small place, how they could do it in a big place?

Well, First May we went to give it a try.

For a starter we all took misoshiru, a miso soup. Nice and tasty soup for a starter or along your nigiris and makis. For the main course we had different kind of sushi sets plus some extra favourites like avocado makirolls, roe nigiris etc. As a drinks we had different kind of Japanese beers and ginger tea.

So what is the verdict? We took different kind of sushi set. One went for a fish free set, the other for a fish set.
The sushis were huge, maybe too big actually (needed 3 bites to be abbe to swallow a Inari sushi!) and the rice spent maybe too much time in the vinegar. But then the vegetarian sushi set (with some maki, avocado sushis, Inari, tamagoyaki...). Despite of their huge size most of them were pretty good. Only the tamagoyaki got a red card as the omelette definitly seemed to be escape form egg powder bag and not made out of real eggs.

But then, when it is about the usual essence of sushi, fish, things turned bad. Salmon sushi were ok, but not the best ever. then the ebi or the shiromis definitly did not look or taste fresh. And that's the sad thing. Maruseki has kind of monopoly in the centre of Tampere and does not make the needed effort to propose the best sushis in town to its customers. Moreover, the restaurant decoration itself give the same feeling: at first it look nice with all the separate rooms, but then when you look closer it looks that it is not finished or that it has been made in a very cheap way. The service though is very friendly and professional.

Tampere definitly deserve a better sushi place, so if you know one feel free to tell us which one! We love Tampere and we love sushi, would be great to love them at the same time!

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.  

Sushibar

Sushibar on Uudenmaankatu 15, Helsinki, Finland.

Miso soup and kim chi salad. 

Lunch set of 10. 

Sushi - maybe the best thing, what comes from Japan. It seems that eating sushi has been the thing to do at your lunch time (and when ever) in Helsinki already for some years. There's a pretty new sushi place called Sushibar on Uudenmaankatu, very centre of Helsinki. The district (Punavuori) is famous for it's luxury design shops, small food places, bars and nice, old architecture. 

Sushibar's interior decorating is modern, "cool" in the Nordic way. If I've understood right, it has been created with some young Finnish designers. I have to say that it's fresh and not too cold, as these kind of places too often happen to be. At least at the lunch time the stuff working in the restaurant is very warm and friendly. They wish you welcome already, when you are opening the door and their smile seems to be authentic. 

At the lunch time you can choose between two nigiri & maki sets. Small one is with 10 different nigiri and maki and it costs you 10,90 euros. Big one contains 15 nigiris and makis and it costs about 13 euros. You can also get some miso soup (3,50) or very tasty Korean salad Kim Chi (4,50). Sushibar is also offering white and red wine with your lunch. With 3,50 you will get a glass  of wine, which makes your workday even more hilarious. 

Miso soup is very average. It's rather small, but the cups where it's served are nice. On the contrary kim chi salad is superb. Very tasty and it brings smile on your face. It's a dish, which will make you to come back to this restaurant for sure. Sushi sets are basic and fine. The rice is not as good as you could get, but the lunch is generally good. A bit pricy, but it makes you happy. The nice thing is also that this might be the only sushi restaurant, which keeps the doors open also in the weekends and it won't close at six o'clock in the evening. 

Gran Delicato Cafe

Here we are! Gran Delicato. We went couple of times in Café Delicato in the past, the italian team make some of the best espresso and cappucino in Helsinki. But since they temporary closed the place and made it bigger, explaning the "Gran" Delicato, we never took time to check it again.

The place has double size than earlier but managed to keep its very friendly and southern Europe atmosphere (but we are still in Finland, don't expect to find the same kind of café than in the middle of Emilia-Romagna). The staff is still the same very friendly, smily and joking. One appreciable thing for a café in Finland: you pay when you leave not when you make your order!

About the food. We just went there for a quick lunch on a working day, so nothing too fancy. The place offer very nice and affordable salads, and different kind of chiapatas. We went for chiapatas, and for 6,40€ you get a basic (artichoke, cheese tomatoes or chorizo, chèvre, tomatoes) but much more tasty sandwich, with an excellent bread, than other snack places around. Their speciality is the way they rap your sandwiches - you won't get a tomato on your trousers while you are trying to eat to bread. 

Of course if you are a Shrek type you'll always prefer the big sandwiches chain...but isn't it better to eat well than too much? Delicato is definitely a great place to enjoy a espresso or a cappucino and meet your friends. We love it!