Summer drink Aperol Spritz arrived in Helsinki

24 03 2014

Aperol Spritz - reijosfood.com

Amazing coinsidence, was able to taste Aperol Spritz same day in two different places…..but where?

Aperol Spritz is Italian drink and aperitif which became famous already in 1950’s. When preparing drink, it is important to mix it with right amount of beverages. If you add too much Aperol, drink will be too sweet. On the other hand insufficient amount of aperitif makes Spritz too dry. So, below you can find instructions:

Add ice to fill red wine  glass or tumbler

Add 3 parts of Prosecco

Add 2 parts of Aperol

Add 1 part of Soda

Mix with a long spoon

Serve immediately

Enjoy!

First Aperol Spritz of the day was tasted at Wine Expo 2014. Importer had they own stand which was refreshingly colored compared to other “standard” stands. Drink was excellent but maybe a little bit sweet, a dash too much Aperol.

Aperol Spritz at Viini Expo 2014 - reijosfood.com

Second Aperol Spritz of the day was enjoyed at new Italian restaurant Presto (review follows later). This time the drink was much too dry, almost could not taste Aperol at all. I think the mix must have been prepared by using formula 3/1/1, which is the ratio in some incorrect recipes.

Aperol Spritz at Presto - reijosfood.comAperol Spritz at Presto - reijosfood.com

As Aperol is not so strong it really is excellent summer refresher, alternative for Cava Sangria. When you add ice and soda, alcoholicity is less than in glass of wine, under 10%.

In order to get the most out of the drink, it must be mixed properly. Otherwise it does not make sense to ruin prosecco with add on’s.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol: 11,00 %
Extract: 250 g/l
Sugar: 250 g/l
Energy: 160 kcal / 100 ml (670 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: metal screw cap

http://www.aperol.com/int/en/aperol-spritz/aperol-spritz/ready_to_spritz





Wine Expo 2014 in Helsinki – Champagne tasting hour

22 03 2014

Champagne tasting - reijosfood.com

Wine Expo (Viini Expo) is arranged every two years in Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention Centre. When noticed there would be opportunity for champagne tasting on Friday, signed up right away.

Tasting event was guided by Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of the World 2007 and Finnish Essi Avellan, MW. Essi Avellan specializes in champagnes. Her appreciation reflects in the fact that she very recently appeared in Christie‘s world encyclopedia of champagne & sparkling wine book. To do the revision of the third edition, writer Tom Stevenson chose Essi Avellan, the second person from the Nordic countries to gain the coveted Master of Wine qualification. http://www.essiavellan.com/.

Essi Avellan - reijosfood.com

Tasted champagnes and short notes:

Champagnes - reijosfood.com

Ayala Brut Nature (NV)

Really dry, no sugar (zero dosage), 50% Pinot Noir grape – because of dryness and amount of PN grape, bouquet and palate not in balance, even disturbing (would not buy)

Overall grade: 2,5/5

Henriot Blanc De Blancs (NV)

Brut, less than 10g/l dosage, 100% Chardonnay grape – balanced aroma and taste, blanc de blancs is always structured (would buy, affordable price compared to what you get)

Overall grade: 4/5

Henriot - reijosfood.com

G.H.Mumm Bland De Blancs – Mumm de Cremant (V)

Brut, Grand Cru Prestige Cuvee, 100% Chardonnay grape – luxorious style, bouquet and flavor in equilibrium, blanc de blancs continues the triumph (must buy)

Overall grade: 4,5/5

Mumm Blanc de blancs - reijosfood.com

Pol Roger 2002 (V)

Extra Cuvee de Reserve, Blanc De Blancs (100% Chardonnay grape) – precious, balanced bouquet and palate as blanc de blancs typically have (would buy)

Overall grade: 4/5

Pol Roger 2002 - reijosfood.com

Henriot Millesime 2005 (V)

Blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grape, dosage less than 10g/l – elegant on the nose and on the palate, PN brings out some side bouquet but does not disturb in taste (would consider a little bit because of the price tag)

Overall grade 4-/5

Henriot Millesime 2005 - reijosfood.com

Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose

Color of the bottle label reflects the 100% Pinot Noir grape used, method used takes best out of this grape – best rose tasted so far, elegant color, fresh bouquet, fruity taste (must buy – our opinion: best of all tasted champagnes)

Overall grade: 5-/5

Laurent-Perrier rose - reijosfood.com

All champagnes were tasted in an hour, which was a little bit short time to really dig in. Serving temperatures were perfect because each champagne was poured one by one in glasses. Both presenters were professionals, no doubt about that.

Tasting room was half empty or half full (like wine glass can be). Maybe the time 6PM on Friday was not the best one, but at least we enjoyed tasting champagnes and listening interesting facts and backgrounds of the wines.

Champagne glasses - reijosfood.comChampagne at Viini Expo - reijosfood.com





Wine review: Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut – keenly priced champagne in certain Helsinki restaurants

16 03 2014

Nicolas Fauillatte - reijosfood.com

HOK-Elanto restaurants have tempting offer which is valid until 31.3.2014. A bottle of champagne for 37€, which is the cheapest price for bottle ever seen at restaurants in Helsinki.

Last year same restaurants offered the whole year bottle of champagne at a price of 39€.

Promoted champagne was Nicolas Feuillatte Brut which is basic champagne from Centre Vinicole-Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte uniting 82 cooperatives in Champagne.

The non-vintage Brut Champagne is aged for at least 2 years in cellars. Wine is made from Chardonnay 20%, Pinot Noir 40% and Pinot Meunier 40%.

THE LOOK

The color of wine is pale yellow and you can see a ribbon of fine and delicate bubbles

Champagne - reijosfood.com

THE NOSE

Whitefruit aromas like apple and pear brought in mind Solero ice-cream/sorbet from the childhood, the sorbet part of it

THE TASTE

Delicate taste with same fruits which were already sensed with nose. Mixed feelings because of temperature of the wine, it was too warm. Wine was tasted at restaurant Kaarna lounge bar.

The problem with these offers has been that champagne is stored in too warm wine cabinet. So when it is served you can not find the best palate out of it. Difficult to say if this champagne would have got better points, if stored correctly, but this time it did not got more. 20% of chardonnay grape is not usually enough but typical for basic Champagnes.

Would invest a little bit more and buy Reserve or Grande Reserve if considering Nicolas Feuillatte to be enjoyed at home

OVERALL REVIEW 3-/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK ( restaurant price) +++ / +++

http://www.hok-elanto.fi/syo-ja-juo/ravintoloiden-edut/nicolas-feuillatte/

http://www.nicolas-feuillatte.com/en/home





Wine review: Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut

2 03 2014

Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut - reijosfood.com
House of Moët’s iconic champagne, Moët Impérial.

Moët has been associated with the sparkle of success and glamour ever since the House was founded in 1743 by Claude Moët.

Moët Impérial is the House’s iconic champagne. Created in 1869, it embodies Moët & Chandon’s unique style, a style distinguished by its bright fruitiness, its seductive palate and its elegant maturity. Wine is made of Pinot Noir 30-40%, Pinot Meunier 30-40% and Chardonnay 20-30% grapes. Chardonnay completes the freshness and stability of this wine.

THE LOOK

The look of wine is golden straw yellow with green highlights, plenty of small bubbles.

Moet Imperial - reijosfood.com

THE NOSE

Green apple and citrus fruit, the freshness of mineral nuances and white flowers, the elegance of blond  notes. Second glass brought up interesting bouquet…

THE TASTE

White-fleshed fruits (peach, apple), the alluring caress of fine bubbles, the soft palate of citrus fruit

Facts & Figures:

Alcohol: 12,00 %
Extract: 25 g/l
Acidity: 5,9 g/l
Sugar: 9 g/l
Energy: 80 kcal / 100 ml (320 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: natural cork

Moët Impérial can be served throughout the meal, from aperitif to dessert and pairs perfectly with: shell fish, white fish, white meats (such as chicken) and dessert fruits.

We paired it with scallops, antipasti and chicken skrewer with rucola salad. Best match was with scallops but as mentioned earlier, wine really can be served with all dishes during lunch or dinner.

Scallops and Moet Imperial - reijosfood.com

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4+/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK +++ / +++

PS. Moet Ice Imperial reviewed 15-09-2013 at reijosfood.com

http://www.moet.com//





Restaurant review: Yume – modern Asian cuisine

28 02 2014

Restaurant Yume - reijosfood.com

Restaurant Yume is part of Kämp Group, which also operates legendary luxury hotel Kämp. Yume serves asian flavours and dishes in a modern decor and is located in the same building as hotel Kämp. Inspired by the Jack Yoss Experience pop up restaurant which was at Yume in July 2012, restaurant’s menu changed and offers today a wide variety of modern asian food.

We arrived early at 5PM when restaurant opens. Reason for early arrival was Michael Buble concert, where we should be at 8PM latest when the warm-up band or actually accapella group Naturally 7 should start singing. Although we would have a little bit more than 2 hours to eat, we decided to order longer tasting menu

Menu Tiong Bahru

which included 7 dishes. Shorter menu would have included one dish less.

First two dishes were brought to the table at the same time

Fresh Spring Rolls

Fresh veggie spring roll, sweet chili sauce and black vinegar

Yellowtail Sashimi

Yellowtail sashimi, sweet soy-chili sauce

Veggie ment mainly sprouts which made first dish one-sided although rolls were delicious with sauces.

Sashimis were perfect, two pieces of soft fish for both. Suitably flavored sauce and vegetables made the dish masterpiece. We used chopsticks for sashimis as they were an option to be used for eating.

Sprubg rolls and sashimi at Yume - reijosfood.com

Third and fourth dishes were again at the same time on the table.

Pork Ribs

Pork Ribs and thai-chili sauce

Som Tum Salad

Spicy green papaya salad with cucumber and carrots

Pork ribs were juicy, crunchy and crisp at the same time. Sometimes candied pork, which is usually offered in modern asian restaurants, can be dry. These ribs were not candied and the way the were prepared was new for us. Extremely scrumptious, if you happen to like a little bit greasy pork.

Salad supplemented well this combination, better than rice would had. Noticed that kitchen had not yet served any rice which was good idea. Sometimes you might eat too much if rice is all the time on the table.

Pork ribs and salad at Yume - reijosfood.com

Pork ribs at Yume - reijosfood.com

Hot Stone

Beef/Lamb/Tofu tai Tiger Prawn

We chose tiger prawns instead of meat. Waitress instructed us first to fry prawns on the hot stone, then dip them to the sauce and add salt and chili powder. Understandable, because otherwise whole restaurant would have been filled with stick smoke as most of the tables would have used hot stones.

Tiger prawns at Yume - reijosfood.comTiger prawns on stone at Yume - reijosfood.com

Whitefish “sweet and sour”

Roasted whitefish, black sweet and sour sauce, fresh herb salad

Whitefish was best of all portions. First fish was roasted perfectly and then placed to the sauce in in order to get more flavor. Mint and other herbs completed this taste of heaven. And if you would still be hungry big bowl of rice would take it away. You could choose whitefish also from a la carte list from “warm dishes to share” section but for two I would suggest to order two portions. You would not like to share this one 🙂

Whitefish at Yume - reijosfood.comWhitefis and rice at Yume - reijosfood.com

Passionfruit Pudding

Passion pudding, coconut sorbet

Dessert was one of the best in asian type of fine dining restaurants. Not too asian but still asian flavors. Means that sometimes different type of vegetables and herbs used in desserts make them almost snack or main course, not dessert.

Pudding at Yume - reijosfood.com

Interesting detail was the location of extra cutlery. They were hidden in a small box under the table, but only on one side.

At 5PM restaurant was still empty as it has just opened it’s doors. At 7PM most of the tables were occupied although Canada played against USA in Sotshi Olympic Ice-Hockey games. Unfortunutely Finland had just lost to Sweden and will play for bronze medal.

Cutlery at Yume - reijosfood.comYume - reijosfood.com

For wine we chose Gysler Weinheimer Riesling Trocken 2010 from Pfalz, Germany. Dry, but not too dry riesling with enough acidity and fruit flavors paired well with oriental tastes. Also had glass of pinot noir from Bourgogne, France with ribs. This wine would have been served if you would have ordered matching wines with tasting menu.

Yume is one of the best “gourmet” asian cusine restaurants in Helsinki. As it is in the center of the city, next door to Hotel Kämp, it’s location is also perfect. Modern rhythm music is not too loud and most of the tables are not thick on the ground, which makes discussion possible. A little bit more spices in some of the dishes and then food would have also scored 4,5. Service was professional as expected.

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

http://ravintolayume.fi/en/





Wine review: Cono Sur Single Vineyard Block 23 Riesling 2012

24 02 2014

Cono Sur Riesling - reijosfood.com

Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery was founded in 1993, with the vision of producing premium, expressive and innovative wines that convey the spirit of the New World. The name refers to the company’s geographic position, representing wines proudly made in South America’s Southern Cone, on whose western edge lies Chile and its gifted wine valleys.

Single Vineyard wines should be of exceptional quality in which each variety comes from a specific block of grape vines with singular characteristics.

Cono Sur Single Vineyard Block 23 Riesling 2012 is selected for its extreme southern origins and cold climate, the Rulos del Alto Block is part of the Quitralmán Estate and contains the oldest vines planted in the Bío-Bío Valley. Experiencing some of the lowest average temperatures during grape ripening, along with its red clay soil, add to this Riesling´s freshness and impressive minerality.

THE LOOK

Cono Sur Single Vineyard Block 23 Riesling 2012

Wine is bright yellow but not golden as in the picture. Flash light changed the color a little bit.

THE NOSE

Fruits and acids, elegant bouquet. Riesling should be like this wine.

THE TASTE

Crisp and fruity, apricot and lime. Slightly petro-flavored with some minerals. Nice and balanced taste.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol: 13,50 %
Extract: 28 g/l
Acidity: 7,3 g/l
Sugar: 6 g/l
Energy: 90 kcal / 100 ml (360 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: metal screw cap

Wine is suitable for aperitif and paired extremely well with whitefish, which was prepared with asian style. Means that is suits with spicy food but also with white fishes and meats.

Would definitely purchase again because the price of this wine is not bad at all compared to value for money.

OVERALL GRADE: 4/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK +++ / +++

http://www.conosur.com





Home cuisine: Asian style whitefish

23 02 2014

Asian style whitefish - reijosfoo.com

Whitefish, one of the best Finnish fishes, can be prepared in a myriad of ways. This time made whitefish with asian style, one of our favourite cuisines.

First of all you need fresh whitefish. If you want to take a shortcut, purchase scaled and fish bones removed ones. Less messy and it saves time.

Whitefish - reijosfood.com

Recipe:

1 whitefish fillet for each diner

Rice (used whole grain instead of white)

Sauce: water, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, cane sugar, red chilli, ginger, fresh mint and coriander

Salad: carrot, cucumber, sweet pepper, fresh mint and coriander, balsamic vinegar

Riesling - reijosfood.com

Instructions (30 minutes preparing time, step 1 not included)

1. Take whitefish out of the fridge 1 hour earlier, add salt and pepper for both sides

2. Prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients depending how spicy you want to make it. You might want to add more sugar but tasting is important.

3. Prepare salad in separate bowls by using peeler in order to get thin chips and add sweet pepper and herbs

4. Boil water and add rice according to instructions on package (boiling time 10-12 minutes)

5. Put whitefish in the oven for about 15 minutes, 220C degrees (depending on the size of fillets)

6. Serve immediately; first rice on the warmed plate, then fish fillet and herbs. Pour sauce on top of the portions at the table.

Whitefish and rice - reijosfood.com

This dish is healthy and palatable. It is your choice how spicy food you like. This can be really spicy if you add plenty of chilli, ginger and herbs. It also can be dilute without those spices.

Suitable wine for this dish is white wine from riesling grapes. Tried Cono Sur Single Vineyard Block 23 Riesling 2012, which has enough acidity and character; therefore it paired perfectly. Wine review will follow later.





Restaurant review: Lumbini – Nepalese cuisine

11 02 2014

Naan bread at Lumbini - reijosfood.com

There are 28 Nepalese restaurants in Helsinki. Yes, 28 which is amazing amount! (source: Fonecta). Means that Nepalese cuisine is the second most popular ethnic kitchen after Chinese.

Lumbini is one of these restaurants serving traditional food in their dining room but also with take away opportunity. Nepalese food is affordable as well as few wines they have in their list.

Dinner at Lumbini starts always with Nepalese crackers. Crispy, well seasoned thin crackers increase the feeling of hunger appropriately.

Crackers at Lumbini - reijosfood.com

As portions are quite big we ordered for starter only one Deep Fried Chicken to be shared. Crispy pieces of chicken breast, not swings, were appetizing and with mint sauce the end result was perfect.

Fried chicken at Lumbini - reijosfood.com

Main courses always include Naan bread baked in Tandor oven, Basmati rice, Mint sauce, Raita and Green salad as side dishes. Portions at Lumbini are generous because the actual main courses are in separate bowls. Most restaurants serve them in the same metal plate as all side dishes.

Naan bread is really delicious, better than Indian version.

Food at Lumbini - reijosfood.com

Ordered for main courses our favourites Butter Chicken Chicken cooked in coconut-cream butter & tomato sauce and Spinach Chicken Chicken with spinach sauce.

Tender pieces of chicken in well-seasoned sauces are palatable. Thick sauces actually make the dishes what they are. If you do not like this type of sauces, you do not like Nepalese cuisine.

butter chicken at Lumbini - reijosfood.comChicken Saag at Lumbini - reijosfood.com

Wines are not so typical drinks for Nepalese food but this one pairs extremely well. Basic, affordable Gato Negro from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes makes the dinner complete.

Gato Negro - reijosfood.com

Nepalese or Indian desserts are not our favourites, therefore we were satisfied for starters and main courses.

Actually it does not make sense to compare Continental, Scandinavian or Finnish cuisines with ethnic ones because they are totally different. However, you can always judge food, you like it or not. We like Nepalese food, therefore score is high. Service is always polite, thoughtful and humble. Sometimes you are not so happy about too familiarity and effusive freshness which new fine dining bistros present.

REVIEW: FOOD 4-/5 – SERVICE 3+/5 – OVERALL GRADE 3,5/5

http://www.ravintolalumbini.com/





Restaurant review: Blue Peter – all year round open yacht club

2 02 2014

Blue Peter - reijosfood.com

Blue Peter, covered by snow and ice, is a restaurant in Lappland…….Not exactly, but snowfall during the past 24 hours made me imagine so.

Blue Peter - reijosfood.com

Actually Blue Peter is situated on Lauttasaari island by Gulf of Finland 4 km from Helsinki city centre. In the summer time it is really popular due to large terraces and HSK sailing club members. Restaurant is open all year around hosting private events also in the winter time. On the evening we dined, there was a private party for 140 people. Not bad at all for summer restaurant.

For starters decided to order Smoked salmon mousse with malt bread and Thai-salmon soup from Soup and Salad menu, which ended the same day we dined.

Smoked salmon was more like hash than mousse because it was quite dry. Otherwise tasty starter. To add asian style spices to salmon soup is brilliant idea and must try also at home.

Smoked salmon mousse - reijosfood.comThai-salmon soup - reijosfood.com

Main courses were Reindeer fillet with game sauce and potato gratin and Whitefish, soy-ginger sauce and jasmin rice.

Reindeer was soft and tender and perfectly prepared. Potato gratin, I think, might have been more or less convenience food or not. Whitefish could have been fresher than it felt and sauce seemed to be more soy than ginger based. But whitefish is always delicious, choose it always if it is available in restaurant you eat.

Reindeer at Blue Peter - reijosfood.comWhitefish at Blue Peter - reijosfood.com

For desserts had to order the favourite one; Crepe with strawbarry jam and vanilla ice-cream. As the only lactose free dessert was sorbet we asked if kitchen could prepare something else and they did; Chocolate muffin with vanilla ice-cream.

Crepes are best in Helsinki, as I have stated in previous reviews, and can confirm it again. But pimped dessert was bull’s-eye, just baked muffin with ice-cream was really a sweet. We even suggested that restaurant should add it to their a la carte list. Let’s see if that will happen.

Crepe at Blue Peter - reijosfood.comMuffin and ice-cream at Blue Peter - reijosfood.com

For wine we had Weingut Liebfrauenstift Riesling QbA Trocken which is guaranteed safe choice. Suitable amount of acidity and minerals.

As you will get Geisha and/or Fazerin Sininen chocolate with coffee and bill that might be enough for dessert. Or nice take away to pamper yourself later.

Wine at Blue Peter - reijosfood.comCeisha chocolate - reijosfood.com

Blue Peter is especially summer restaurant but it does not mean that in can be cozy also in the winter time. Evening we visited there were decorations from past DTM, German Touring Car Masters, race in Helsinki. Wonder if there was some kind of remembrance earlier on coming next weekend?

???????????????????????????????Fireplace at Blue Peter - reijosfood.com

Desserts earned 4+ for Food but unevennes in starters and main courses dropped points. Our waitress forgot one of our orders, but as we got espresso and green tea for free, it corrected the event.

But it is great that there is stylish dining place outside of Helsinki centre because it is not easy to survive all year round. Especially in the summer one of the restaurants you should visit.

REVIEW: FOOD 3,5/5 – SERVICE 3,5/5 – OVERALL GRADE 4-/5

http://www.bluepeter.fi/articles/632/





Wine review: Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut

1 02 2014

One of the best Cavas ever tasted!

Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut  - reijosfood.com

Spain´s sparkling wine, Cava, is part of a controlled appellation (D.O. Cava), which is concentrated in the Penedés region, just south of Barcelona.

Freixenet sparkling wine house has a long history that began in the early 1200s. Production of sparkling wines of Freixenet company began in 1900 as early as Ferrer and Sala winemaker families merged. Freixenet is now one of the largest producer of cavas which are made with champagne method.

Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut includes Chardonnay, Macabeo, Parellada and Pinot Noir grapes. Macabeu is the most popular grape in Penedes region, but Chardonnay makes this Cava special.

THE LOOK

Shape of the bottle is elegant, more stylish than basic Cava bottles.

Color of wine is pale yellow. Small bubbles last long.

Cava - reijosfood.com

THE NOSE

The bouquet is balanced without disturbing side scents. Pleasant, elegant aromas like ripe pineapple and peach can be found.

THE TASTE

The palate is soft and appealing to start, opening into those same flavours, combining a clean, crisp acidity, and developing into a long balanced finish. No disturbing savors.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol: 11,50 %
Extract: 22 g/l
Acidity: 5,4 g/l
Sugar: 7 g/l
Energy: 70 kcal / 100 ml (300 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: natural cork

Elyssia is perfect for aperitif and pairs well with mildly spiced food. As bottle was received as a gift, bang for the buck can not be reviewed, but it is worth of it.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4,5/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK N/A

http://www.freixenet.com/index.asp





Restaurant review: Pastis – French bistro

26 01 2014

Mussels at Pastis - reijosfood.com

Pastis is an anis-flavored liqueur and aperitif from France, but it is also French style “fine dining” bistro in Helsinki.

Pastis was opened in April 2013 by restaurant Muru celebrity chef owners. Similar concept but focus in French kitchen. Always available a la carte dishes in changing list are mussels, snails, sausages, fish and meat from France. On Fridays and Saturdays you can also enjoy fresh oysters for 5€ each or 12€, if you take 3.

Tables are located on two levels in small dining rooms but you could also try to pop in for a look if there is room by the bar counter. Reservations are for 2 1/2 hours which is just enough to eat three couse dinner. This is nowadays typical custome for popular “gourmet” bistros.

Started the dinner with Pastis, of course, Ricard. First hesitated a little bit to order ice cold aperitif, because if was freezing outside, around -13C degrees.

Ricard at Pastis - reijosfood.com

For starters we ordered Roquefort gratinated Bourgogne snails in pastis butter and Smoked mackerel, cucumber and fennel salad, marinated red onion.

Usually you get snails in snail pan where all snails are in small cups but Pastis served them in small open pan. Taste of Roquefort was perfect because if it would had dominated, starter would have been to salty. Mackarel was served with toast instead of brioche, as we asked it too be without lactose.

Snails at Pastis - reijosfood.comMackarel at Pastis - reijosfood.com

For main courses ordered only available fish portion Catch of the day Antiboise. Fish, “Cliff sole” was accompanied by tomato-based sauce/stew and by one of the 3 side dishes, Mixed salad with sherry vinegar, which had to be ordered separately. Also ordered large portion of Mussels á la Pastis with curry and Truffle salted french fries for side dish.

Fish was fried in oil and the level of maturity was perfect. It was a pity that it was over-salted. Mussels were smaller than you usually see, which was good as the big ones are chewy. About 10 had already came loose from the shells. Salt in fish and mussels under the broth were minor grievances, but took one quarter point out of the Food scores.

Fish at Pastis - reijosfood.comMussels and fries at Pastis - reijosfood.com

Dinner had to be ended with Calvados Domfrontains which is mix of apple and at least 30% pear. Had only tasted apple Calvados earlier and noticed that pear makes the flavor softer. Also ordered one House chocolate, which was truffle.

Calvados at Pastis - reijosfood.com

Restaurant or bistro Pastis is refreshing piece of French kitchen in Helsinki. Concept, which might by expanded to another locations, is French from decor to music. Chansons sang by Edith Piaf and check in a nice tin were the frosting for the French dinner.

Wines come mainly from France, of course, but it would be convenient to list also those which are available in glasses. Asked recommendations for wines for dishes ordered. Pinot Noir for snails was good choice but white wine for salty macarel not so felicitous. Riesling Vignoble d’E, Domaine Ostertag  from Alsace for both main courses was excellent choice.

Extra + for overall grade comes from the well planned and implemented French concept.

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

Pastis - reijosfood.comCheck at Pastis - reijosfood.com

etusivu

https://fi-fi.facebook.com/pages/Ravintola-Pastis/249978811804861





Wine review: Château d’Arche 2006 – pairing with Runeberg’s tarte and cheeses

24 01 2014

Runeberg tart - reijosfood.com

How sweet white wine Château d’Arche 2006 pairs with traditional Finnish coffee bun, Runeberg cake or Runeberg’s tarte? And with Finnish and French cheeses?

Château d’Arche is located on the heights of the village of Sauternes in Southern Gironde.  This 40 hectare vineyard stretches across the prestigious Sauternes appellation. Wineyard produces only few wines with focus on sweet ones.

Chateau d'Arche - reijosfood.com

The grapes of the wine are Semillon and Sauvignon making the wine easy to enjoy. Wine could be stored even for 20 years if you have enough patience.

THE LOOK

Golden yellow, close to resin.

THE NOSE

Interesting observation or THE NOSE lied again. Found bitter almond, which was odd as it should not be there. Maybe piece of Runeberg cake on the small plate already mislead sense of smell. Anyway, honey and noble rot was there as they should be.

THE TASTE

As you can notice from the chart below wine is not so sweet as many of its cousins. But again taste of noble rot and apricot were obvious.

Facts and figures:

Alcohol: 14,00 %
Extract : 160 g/l
Acidity: 5,6 g/l
Sugar: 120 g/l
Energy : 140 kcal / 100 ml (590 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: natural cork

First tasted wine with cheeses: Finnish blue cheese Peltola Blue and French ones; white cheese Levasseur Grand Livarot from Normandy and 16 months ripened organic Gryerere, Comte, from Jura mountains (on the left). Port wine is maybe the most common wine for cheeses but would say that Château d’Arche 2006 paired quite nicely. If you would have had more sweet white wine it would have destroyed the taste of cheeses. Of course port or red wines are more safe choises but can recommend this one for salty cheeses.

Cheeses - reijosfood.com

Then tasted wine with Runeberg cake. Cake is available only from mid January to 5th February, when the birthday of our national poet and writer J.L.Runeberg is celebrated. As cake includes punch as humectant, it really is challenging dessert for wines.

Runebergintorttu - reijosfood.com

Result: Runeberg cake requires more sweet wine like Tokaji or Eiswein which have around 200g/l sugar. Also as cake has some strong ingredients it requires stronger wine to accompany.

With or without wine, it is always pleasure to enjoy the Runeberg cake or two!

And when it comes to cheeses, would say it was unbeatable threesome. Livarot being maybe the best white cheese in the world.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK  ++ / +++

http://chateau-arche.com/





Wine review: Matua Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012

19 01 2014

Matua Pinot Noir - reijosfood.com

I am not sure if THE NOSE lied but when wine was poured in to the glass it smelled first like butterscotch. After rotating the wine in the glass the scent changed totally! Any similar experiences with this wine?

Matua was the first wineyard in New Zealand to plant Sauvignon Blanc in 1969.  Their produced first bottle in 1974. However, this is not about Sauvignon Blancs, which is not our favourite grape. First wine review (not first wine enjoyed) 2014 concerns Pinot Noir.

Tested wine was Matua Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012. Wineyard claims that wine is it’s best Pinot so far.

THE LOOK

First of all the color of the label is different than usually on wine bottles, turquoise. Maybe that was the reason it caught my eye at Alko.

Wine itself is light red, close to mature cherry.

THE NOSE

This was surprising! Usually when tasting wines I do not smell the aroma of wine so carefully before rotating it. This time did and was surprised by the smell of butterscotch. The bouquet I did not expect to find from Pinot Noir. But it made the wine really fascinating and forced to focus on THE NOSE more specifically than ever.

After rotating the wine in the glass strongly, aroma changed significantly. Now we found cherry, more typical pinot noir characters and some tannins.

THE TASTE

Maybe tannins dominated, as acidity was quite low, because wine tasted a little bit acrid. Not that it hindered but that was the first feeling. Anyway, this wine was the most savory pinot noir ever tasted. As they are usually quite tawdry, Matua Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012 is not.

Facts and Figures:

Alcohol: 13,50 %
Extract : 30 g/l
Acidity: 5,4 g/l
Energy : 90 kcal / 100 ml (380 kJ / 100 ml)
Closure: metal screw cap

Tasted wine with asian food and match was perfect. Mixed flavors of strong spices and sweet seasonings are difficult combination for wines. Also paired well with pizza which was spiced with tabasco and jalopenos. Conclusion: wine suits better with spicy foods than avarage pinot noirs, mostly because of tannins.

REVIEW: OVERALL GRADE 4-/5 – BANG FOR THE BUCK ++ / +++

http://www.matua.co.nz/en





Restaurant review: GOCE Bar & Kitchen – “gourmet” tapas in Helsinki

16 01 2014

Tapas at Goce - reijosfood.com

After vacation in Spain it was important to arrange smooth return to everyday life. Especially as winter arrived in Helsinki the same day. Therefore we decided to dine at new “gourmet” tapas place GOCE Bar & Kitchen.

Restaurant was re-opened in new premises in November 2013. We made reservation on 6th Jan and noticed couple of days later that a la carte list had shortened. Only two main courses and desserts. Reason why we decided to try a big bunch of tapas portions, which sounded delicious and were familiar from previous visits to Spain.

Chose 9 portions from the list. 10th, Grilled Secreto and Sofrito, was recommended by waitress. All portions looked well prepared when they arrived to the table.

Goce menu - reijosfood.com

First we got Pimientos de Padron, which were exactly as they should be. Warm, soft and not too salty.

Pimientos de Padron at Goce - reijosfood.com

Then arrived Gambas Plancha, see the burning flame in the middle of the plate! Delicious ones, but only three pieces.

Gambas Plancha at Goce - reijosfood.com

Annoying events started at this point.

As we were early diners, in fact the first ones, after restaurant had opened at 5PM, kitchen decided to prepare everything at once. That might be typical for affordable tapas bars, but at GOCE‘s price level, you expect to be able to enjoy warm dishes warm.

Our gambas were still uneaten when we got Patatas Bravas and Beetroot to the table. Both were delicious especially beetroot but we were now confused; which portions to eat next?

Potates and beetroot at Goce - reijosfood.com

We already had 4 dishes on the table and got 5th, PulpoOctopus. This one was not so successful as previous portions. It should have been more crisp or solid, but instead was too soft.

Pulpo at Goce - reijosfood.com

We managed to fill up our small plates in a hurry with mixed selection of 4 tapas portions but during we emptied plates came Boquerones, Chorizos, Iberico -pork and soon after that Green salad and Manchego cheese. It was easier to take a picture of all of them than to try photograph portions one by one.

Unfortunately we had to send back sausages and Iberico -pork because they were already cold when we started to focus to eat them. However, had tasted pork plate and did not want a replacement for that because meat pieces seemed to be mostly pigskin. Would not have done that, but waitress had encouraged us to order it.

Sausages were juicy as they should be and Manchego was ok. It could have been a little bit older compared to the price.

There was a pile of croutons on green salad which is odd, is it then green? As we were served fresh bread to start with, it would have been enough.

Goce tapas - reijosfood.com

Green salad at Goce - reijosfood.com

Restaurant and dining room are huge compared to any other bistros or tapas bars. Decoration is stylish, one of the most elegants in the city for concept GOCE has.

Goce Bar & Kitchen - reijosfood.comGoce - reijosfood.com

If we would have had enough time to enjoy tapas portions, GOCE Bar & Kitchen would have earned better scores for service. Waitress said that she tried to slow down the speed kitchen had. Therefore suggest to take couple of tapas to start with and then try main courses. Also would have appreciated if our plates would have been changed once or twice. We were asked if we want clean ones when we had only one piece of cheese left….

Would also hope that there would be more affordable choises for wines in the glass. At least found interesting basic tempranillo, Disco 2012, which paired well with all tapas portions.

REVIEW: FOOD 3+/5 – SERVICE 3/5 – OVERALL GRADE – 3,5/5

http://goce.fi/





Restaurant reviews in Helsinki 2013 – breakthrough of “gourmet” bistros

10 01 2014

SPIS - reijosfood.comRestaurant Muru - reijosfood.com

Year 2013 ended up too soon. Did not have time to visit all those restaurants had planned. Anyway, breakthrough of “gourmet” bistros highlighted the year.

Bistros are relaxed, unformal dining spots with decent service and food.

In Helsinki, there has been established during couple of last years “gourmet” bistros, which compete with unique decoration, good service and well designed, delicious dishes. They also have short a la carte list and one or to menu alternatives. We could call some of these bistros restaurants, but part of them do not use that naming.

Example of “gourmet” food can be found from picture below which is taken at Spis. Whole portion consists of fresh vegetables but also of fish, which is uniquely prepared.

Salmon at Spies - reijosfood.com

As we were not able to visit all “gourmet” bistros in Helsinki, results were as follows:

1. Spis 13,50

2. Gastrobar Emo and Grotesk Winebar 13,25

3. Glogatan 4,  Meche and Muru 13,00

4. Farang  12,75

From these restaurants I would say Spis, Gastrobar Emo, Grotesk Winebar, Meche and Muru are so called “gourmet” bistros. Add also PureBistro which got 12,50 points and we can really call year 2013 “year of bistros”. 4 of the restaurants above have link to Michelin star restaurants, can you guess how?

Glogatan 4 is more restaurant than bistro and Farang serves asian gourmet kitchen, which you can not miss.

How Spis differs from other “gourmet” bistros? It serves greetings from kitchen between courses which others do not. That is one reason why it took the first place this year. It also has longer menus than others (full review at reijosfood.com)

Snacks - reijosfood.com

Why Grotesk Winebar succeeded although it is quite new? It serves rare delicacies which you do not get in other bistros. It also provides professional wine pairings with dishes (full review at reijosfood.com)

Quail - reijosfood.com

Why Gastrobar Emo earned 2nd place although it is one of the newest restaurants in Helsinki? It is partly owned by Pekka Terävä who owns Michelin star restaurant Olo. Olo might be the next 2 Michelin star restaurant as Chez Dominique closed down it’ doors.  (full review of Emo at reijosfood.com)

Halibut at Emo - reijosfood.com

Year 2012 results can be found from blog page Restaurant reviews – rankings.

Year 2014 will continue with review of “gourmet” bistro or tapas bar Goce which was opened in November 2013. We also might visit some of the most prestigious restaurants although “gourmet” bistros have modified restaurant field a lot.

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