Reijosfood

Gaijin is Japanese word meaning “non Japanese” or “alien. As well as Farang is a Thai word for foreigner and especially for Europeans “non Thai”.

These both words are used in the restaurant names of Farang and Gaijin, second restaurant of chefs Tomi Björk and Matti Wiberg. Gaijin offers flavours by combining traditional Japanese and Korean dishes with foods from North China. Most of the dishes have been designed to be shared, usually two set menus with possibility to order wine packages. Because Gaijin is popular place you must prepare to reserve table enough early. And restaurant seemed to be full after 5 PM.

Restaurant was honoured with Bib Gourmand by Michelin Guide next year after opening in April 2011 and again 2013. It is located on the corner of Bulevardi and Yrjönkatu next to third restaurant of Björk and Wiberg, Boulevard Social.

We decided to trust on Chef’s skills and ordered tasting menu named MENU GAIJIN. BUT … table reservation started at 5PM and after  2,5 hours we should leave. BUT… we just finished and asked for coffee/tea and got 15 minutes extra time. BUT… after dining several times at so great Farang we were a little bit disappointed with the intensity of flavours. BUT….

MUSSEL

green shell mussel, yuzu-mirin dressing, pickled noodle

Excellent performance by the chef. One of the best experiecens of the dinner.

PORK BUN

pork belly, kimchi mayonnaise, pickled cucumber, soft bread

Quite big soft bread made wonder if this was fast food but it was not. Nice!

SASHIMI

sashimi of the day

Sashimis were great. Finns and Japanese are close to when it comes to raw fish. Could eat more….!

FOIE & UNAGI

glazed eel, duck liver, nori-bread, cherry

Lady is not keen on foie gras, no problem. Otherwise quite tasty portion.

MISO SALMON, APPLE & LEMON

‘saikyo’-miso marinated salmon, apple, cucumber, pickled daikon, lemon jam, walnut, marinated roe, truffle-dashi broth

For Lady most prefered dish. OK for me, but expected more flavours.

CHICKEN UMEBOSHI YAKITORI

grilled chicken marinated in sweet plum soy

Chicken was pretty OK but it lacked some taste. Unfortunately two pieces were raw

SESAME, GINGER & SOY SCALLOP

fried scallop, sesame-soy dressing, spring onion, seaweed caviar

Again, nice BUT……You can create more taste of scallops if you fry them a little bit more

MONGOLIAN LAMB HOT POT

braised lamb neck, grilled and smoked fennel, lamb broth

Great meat especially in Easter!

GREEN TEA & WHITE XOCO

green tea flavored white chocolate mousse, meringue, granny smith apple, szechuan pepper

Dessert was best part of dinner. Usually Japanese do not eat dessert but these were really delicious

Restaurant Gaijin is cozy and relaxing place to eat. If you decide to order Menu Gaijin, best time to enjoy it is after 8PM. We started dinner at 5PM and should leave at 0730PM. There are dining slots for customers as in many other restaurants today. We were too slow. Go to Farang if you like spicy food, dine at Gaijin if you prefer milder tastes; beginning of journey to more spicy world.

Service is great as you could expect and served by copy cat cute waitresses. They know wines and food which is important.

REVIEW: FOOD 4-/5 – SERVICE 4,5/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4+/5

http://gaijin.fi/?lang=en