Restaurant review: Taqueria El Rey

24 04 2016

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El Rey is small Mexican taqueria in Southern Helsinki. Restaurant was opened about a year ago and today is so popular that table reservation is required.

Menu is short consisting of starters, tacos, 1 enchilada and dessert. In Mexican restaurant one can of course enjoy tequila and even mezcal. Wines are not not main thing in Mexican cuisine, only house red and white available.

If you have not tasted Mexican food before, it might make sense to order tasting menu La Reyna, which includes 6 different goodies from the menu.

For starters had:

Guacamole fresh avocados, tomato, onion, chilli & coriander. Served in a traditional molcajete with home made tortilla
A large serving enough for sharing.  The taste was fresh, and the consistency, thick with some pieces of avocado in it.  Perfect as a topping for the tortilla chips, and add some salsa for an even better taste.
Chips are made in the restaurant, so you do not have to eat those supermarket nachos which are served in tex-mex restaurants
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Sopesitos de Chorizo 3 small market corn sopes, topped with smashed beans, chorizo, lettuce, crème fraîche and queso fresco
Excellent combination, spicy and greasy taste of chorizo crowned the dish. With salsas one of the best Mexican restaurants starters in Helsinki.
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For main courses had:

Gringa de Pastor 3 big flour tortilla tacos made of spit-grilled pork meat marinated in a combination of dried chillies & grilled cheese. Served with pineapple salsa

Portion was big but amount of pork was not sufficient. It was difficult to find pieces of pork but the quntity of pine apple salsa was overwhelming.
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Enchiladas verdes 3 corn tortilla enchiladas in green chilli sauce filled with beans served with red cabbage

Not meant to be a vegan dish, but they were nice and tried to give a good version of the dish.  Beans replaced the chicken, but some lettuce and tomatoes could have been added.  Too much of the tomatillo slasa made the tortillas a bit soggy.  The red cabbage was a strange topping for a Mexican dish.
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Beer suits often better with Mexican food but wine lover always has to try wine list. although it was the shortest ever seen.  Red house wine was from Argentinean Bodega Norton.
Wine was red in color, sweet and spacious aromas reminding of black pepper. Fruity on the palate, with sweet and harmonious tannins. Paired well with dishes eaten.
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Taqueria focus is on authentic tacos. This was also noticed by local newspaper Nyt, as it gave El Rey best points for Cochinita Pibil taco of reviewed Helsinki taco restaurants.
Starters were perfect. Portions are big and prices affordable, bottle of wine was only 29 euros. Some improvement for main courses and it would be easy to give 4 points for food.
Service was professional but maybe little bit timid. However, waiters had time to explain what dishes consist although place was full of hungry customers.
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REVIEW: FOOD 3,5/5 – SERVICE 4/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4-/5

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Restaurant review: The Cock

2 04 2016

The Cock is an Eatery, Rotisserie and Bar. Restaurant is open all day, serving food and drinks from breakfast until late night. Restaurant consists of two dining areas , one at street level and one in the basement, which is reserved for bigger groups and private parties.

Breakfast menu is served from Monday to Friday 7.30-10.00. Lunch buffet is served up- & downstairs 11.00-14.30 and for dinner kitchen opens daily at 17.00 and orders can be placed until 23.00 every night.

At dinner chose for starters Caesar Kale, quinoa, avocado and parmigiano and Broccoli tempura Avocado and wasabi

Caesar salad usually consists of simple romaine lettuce but this one was lavish when it came to vegetables. Healthy dish without croutons but also vegan if you leave parmigiano away. But then it would not be Caesar salad anymore
The tempura took the strong taste of the broccoli, and together with the avocado made for a very interesting dish.  You can’t really taste the wasabi, but the dish didn’t need it.  A nice addition to the dish, just lightly salted, and crispy enough, were the kale chips.

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Main courses were Rotisserie grilled chicken Frites and house salad and Saigon bowl Rice noodles, lemongrass, sprouts, market greens, peanuts, coriander and thai basil with Choice of Jalo basil tofu or Veef

Chicken portion was simple but tasty. It makes differece how you prepare meat and in this case way of grilling was successful. Fries were also delicious not to dry either soft.
Veef was the one chosen for this main.  Veef  is a combination of chickpeas and grounded grains. The consistency is very meaty, but it takes the taste of the dressing.  The market greens included carrots, zuccini, and spinach.  Overall a nice crispy, fresh dish.

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For wine tried Château de Bel La Capitane 2011. Wine was Full-bodied, tannic with berry and oak notes and also aromatic. Wine is also available from Alko at a price of 20,30€ from sale-to-order selection.

Note the wine glasses, not the typical ones.

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When it comes to tables at street level, do not accept the table by the door. Door is partly open when people wait in line in. Might get cold and someone is standing by the table all the time. Not our table, anyhow.

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The name of the restaurant, The Cock, might be a topic of interesting discussion. From the bill you can find even more confusing messages. The owners of restaurant might have written it on purpose….or accidentally with small C.

As The Cock is part of Royal Ravintolat (Salutorget, Strinberg, Sasso, Savoy,….), it is a huge change in chain style. More relaxed, more trendy.

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

http://thecock.fi/

 


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Categories : Bar, Food, Food and Wine, Helsinki, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Travel, Wine


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