Restaurant review: Patrona

4 03 2016

Margarita at Patrona - reijosfood.com

Restaurant Patrona was born on February 2012, after a long and hard renovation. Target was to build a showroom of the rich & colourful Mexican culture.

But Patrona is not only showroom,  it also serves great flavours of the Mexican kitchen, combining street food, market food and traditional mexican food. An important part of mexican gastronomy is the Tequila. Drink menu is based on different tequilas which can be enjoyed by glass or mixed with unique flavours.

Menu is quite versatile consisting of starters, market plates & Masa, main courses & Guisados and few desserts. You can also choose from tasting menus (4, 5 or 6 courses).

Of course started the dinner with Classic Marqarita; tequile, citrus liquor and lime juice. Salt around the glass supplements the Mexican enjoyment.

For starter had FISH CEVICHE White fish, ginger-habanero tiger milk, cucumber, red onion, ice fennel

Fish cheviche at Patrona - reijosfood.com

Nice combination of white fish, herbs and spices. Small side dishes were corn chips with salsa. Might have added more white fish but maybe the portion would have been too big then.

For main course enjoyed CHICKEN ENMOLADAS Roasted chicken with zucchini and carrots, chili-chocolate-peanut sauce, crispy tortillas, cream and fresco cheese, sesame seeds

Patrona - reijosfood.com

This main course was very tasty and all ingredients paired extremely well with each other. Maybe again more chicken but on the other hand the size would have grown.

Wines are not so important part of Mexican cuisine as beers and therefore wine list is short.

Patrona is qenuine Mexican restaurant. You can not compare it to any Tex-Mex fast-food chain places Helsinki is full of. Food is prepared Mexican way and you can not find hamburgers neither Fajitas which are too typical for those Tex-Mex restaurants.

Decoration is completed with Mexican style, the whole Mexico was actually put on display in one picture.

Patrona decoration - reijosfood.com

For my taste a little bit more chili in main course and food review would had been 4,5.  Service was thoughtful and professional.

If you like Mexican food, try Patrona instead of those copy-paste Tex-Mex restaurants.

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

http://patrona.fi/

 


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Restaurant review: Hard Rock Cafe Helsinki

3 11 2012

Visited Hard Rock Cafe Helsinki 3 weeks after opening. At 3PM not so crowded but after 7PM you had to wait in the bar. Decided to analyze quite deeply HRC Helsinki which meant that 6 hours was worth of it. First dining and then at the bar.

Had to taste colourful drinks because they tell a lot. Compare picture on the drink menu and real life, Cosmpolitan and Margarita. Well done!

For starter had huge portion of Hard Rock Nachos Fresh corn tortilla chips piled high with Jack and Cheddar cheeses and seasoned pinto beans. Served with sour cream, chopped green onions, pico de gallo, jalapeños and a side of fresh Hard Rock Grilled Salsa. Big enough to share which was true. Cheese sauce was excellent and nachos still crisp.

For main courses had of course Hamburger; The Big Cheese Topped with three thick slices of your choice of cheeses. Choose from American, Monterey Jack, Cheddar or Swiss. Chose Cheddar and asked steak to be prepared medium. In Finland you can easily order steak as medium because of the high qualitys standards. Burger was great, one of the best have eaten at Hard Rock Cafe’s.  Also ordered Honey-Citrus Grilled Chicken Salad Fresh cut greens tossed with sweet red onions, grilled Cajun chicken and tossed with our Honey-Citrus dressing. Topped with fresh orange segments, spiced pecans, red pepper strips, sweetened dried cranberries and blue cheese crumbles. Salad was the weakest link because chicken was almost missing. Also lay out differed from salads at other Hard Rock Cafe’s.

Would have liked to taste Hot Fudge Brownie Vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on a fresh brownie, topped with chopped walnuts, chocolate sprinkles, fresh whipped cream and a cherry but was already so full. Had to do it someother time and update this blog.

Service was excellent, also at the bar area. Be careful if you pay with credit card and want to tip, pushing numbers on the machine increase amout of tip easily. Recommend to give tip in cash. Salad dropped food grade, otherwise it would have been 4. However, one of the best experiences at Hard Rock Cafe’s. If you have sometime been disappointed to some HRC, try this one.

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

Like especially Elton John’s outfit….

 

http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/menu.aspx?LocationID=627&MIBEnumID=3


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