The idea behind Grön, which was opened in November 2015, was to create tasty, focused, plant-based and inspiring food that concentrates on high-quality ingredients. All this is prepared in an atmosphere that should make guests feel relaxed, happy and welcome.
Restaurant offers a small selection of à la carte dishes as well as a four course “Grön Menu”. The food is based on seasonal, organic, wild and the Scandinavian produce.
The name Grön (Green) also means that vegan and vegetarian dishes should be in major role. With only about 20 seats, Grön is one of the smallest restaurants in Helsinki. Therefore, with growing popularity, it is wise to reserve table in time.
For starters had vegan ones, Beetroot with beetroot leaves, woodruff flavours and beetroot broth and Broad beans “Nordic hummus”, seeds, sprouts and fermented buckwheat bread.
The idea of serving beetroot in different formats sounds brilliant but the uppermost taste was raw root. Dish was also quite difficult to eat due to long beetroot slices and big salad leaves after broth was poured on the vegetables. Must be careful not to splash red color on clothes.
Nordic hummus consistency was more like mashed potatoes. Not very tasty. What made this dish worth ordering was the buckwheat bread. The consistency of this bread was very meaty; hard to believe it was bread.
For main courses had Smoked chicken with onion, jerusalem artichokes and a sauce of roasted chicken skins and as vegetarian option Celeriac cooked in grain crust with grain “porridge” and hazelnut.
Smoked chicken was cooked properly as it was not dry. Also the taste of sauce was perfect and paired well with vegetables. The amount of potatoes was bounteous and partly concealed the taste of artichokes.
The main course…..Seeing the word “porridge” in quotation marks, made it sound like it would be porridge like, not actual porridge. To make things worse, the consistency was more like baby food. If you’re vegan, make sure to ask to leave the cheese out. It is not included in the list of ingredients, but it was mentioned by the waiter that it was what “made the dish”.
Restaurant has separate wine list in a small notebook and you could enjoy vintage wines, but the prices are not so affordable. Decided to order from “standard” list organic Marcosaras’s Chiopperttino, which tasted like a combination of cigar box and sheep stables. Very organic, very original would say.
Restaurant Grön is trendy place and it’s chef Toni Kostian was chosen as chef of the year at Gastro Fair in Helsinki on 18th March 2016. Gastro arranged competition between cook’s. As restaurant is small, one interesting detail of taking advantage of all facilities, is wine cabinet in toilet.
Service was polite and easy-going. When it comes to food, unique dishes and way to prepare them will keep restaurant busy for many months to come.
REVIEW: FOOD 3+/5 – SERVICE 4+/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4-/5
Reijosfood 
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