101. Regional Travel #1.2 - Helsinki's ravintola scene
The word "ravintola" means restaurant in the Finnish language. Helsinki restaurants are a bit of a change from what I've grown accustomed to in Russia. The city has many restaurants that serve traditional Finnish cuisine, as well as Sami (Laplander) cuisine. Fresh fish and other seafood, berries, and reindeer meat were common on menus. Of course, with the recent changes to my diet I had to try the reindeer. It tasted similar to venison and made for an enjoyable meal. I think that the dish was served with cranberries, but it's possible they were actually reindeer noses.
Many blocks in the city center contained both a Japanese restaurant (primarily, sushi) and a Nepalese restaurant, often next door to each other. It was quite amusing how common this juxtaposition was. The Nepalese restaurant we chose for dinner one night (across the street from our hotel) had a menu that seemed more in line with Indian cuisine, but the portions were large and the meal was delicious.
I was surprised to see an almost complete lack of Russian restaurants in the city center, as Russia is only a few hours away and this area was until 100 years ago under Russian control. I've lived in a border area once before (El Paso, Texas - just across the Rio Grande from Juarez, Mexico), and almost all of the restaurants there (circa 2002-2003) had a clear Mexican influence. This is definitely not the case with the Finnish / Russian border area, as far as Helsinki is concerned. For that matter, I've never noticed a Finnish restaurant in St. Petersburg either and certainly not seen reindeer on any menus in Russia.
The cost of living seems to be a bit higher in Helsinki than in Russia - restaurant meals were about 50-75% more expensive than in St. Petersburg. On the flip side, tipping is not expected, and anything more than a 1 or 2 euro gratuity on a dinner bill would be considered unusual (according to our waitress at dinner on our first night in Helsinki).
We also took advantage of an excellent breakfast buffet at our hotel our first morning there. My wife thought it was one of the best she'd ever had. There was the standard range of muesli, porridge, fruits, meats, cheeses, and breads, but everything was fresh, homemade, and there were several traditional Finnish items. Finnish Karelian pies (Karjalanpiirakka) were my favorite new breakfast food: rice porridge surrounded by a rye flour crust, and then baked until slightly browned. I think I ate three of these at the buffet, and another one again the next morning (with egg salad on top). I ate them so quickly I forgot to take a picture.
Many blocks in the city center contained both a Japanese restaurant (primarily, sushi) and a Nepalese restaurant, often next door to each other. It was quite amusing how common this juxtaposition was. The Nepalese restaurant we chose for dinner one night (across the street from our hotel) had a menu that seemed more in line with Indian cuisine, but the portions were large and the meal was delicious.
I was surprised to see an almost complete lack of Russian restaurants in the city center, as Russia is only a few hours away and this area was until 100 years ago under Russian control. I've lived in a border area once before (El Paso, Texas - just across the Rio Grande from Juarez, Mexico), and almost all of the restaurants there (circa 2002-2003) had a clear Mexican influence. This is definitely not the case with the Finnish / Russian border area, as far as Helsinki is concerned. For that matter, I've never noticed a Finnish restaurant in St. Petersburg either and certainly not seen reindeer on any menus in Russia.
The cost of living seems to be a bit higher in Helsinki than in Russia - restaurant meals were about 50-75% more expensive than in St. Petersburg. On the flip side, tipping is not expected, and anything more than a 1 or 2 euro gratuity on a dinner bill would be considered unusual (according to our waitress at dinner on our first night in Helsinki).
We also took advantage of an excellent breakfast buffet at our hotel our first morning there. My wife thought it was one of the best she'd ever had. There was the standard range of muesli, porridge, fruits, meats, cheeses, and breads, but everything was fresh, homemade, and there were several traditional Finnish items. Finnish Karelian pies (Karjalanpiirakka) were my favorite new breakfast food: rice porridge surrounded by a rye flour crust, and then baked until slightly browned. I think I ate three of these at the buffet, and another one again the next morning (with egg salad on top). I ate them so quickly I forgot to take a picture.
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