spunkmuffin

You wouldn't expect to get a nice vegetarian meal from a Ukranian restaurant (maybe you would? I didn't). But I was posivitely surprised (maybe that's the reason for the rave reviews, as we know, satisfaction is a factor of expectations).

The staff were very nice and friendly, and spoke English as well. For the vegetarian option they had delicious pancakes filled with mushrooms. There was smetana on the side, and a tasty chili tomato sauce. The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but what a savoury and different vegetarian meal!

My boyfriend had the pelmeni with meat filling, and was also very pleased.

The place is small, but I think you should be able to get a table if you're willing to wait a little bit. Unfortunately the place is not open in the evenings from Monday to Thursday, so I'm limited to visiting on weekends.

Not having had African food before, it's a bit difficult to judge it. But it was quite tasty, good price, and there were several vegetarian options available. Most dishes seem to consist of rice and meat or vegetables in a sauce.

The food is not very spicy, but they offer you chili sauce to add at your own discretion. Definitely home-style cooking.

The staff was nice and friendly as well, and able to explain what the different dishes were.

I would recommend this restaurant for the novelty of it.

This is one of my regular places when I need dinner for a cheap buck.

There are several vegetarian options, but most of them are not great. So I would stay away from the woks and sandwiches and salads, and just have the pasta pomodoro or the tomato soup. If you do, you'll be happy! I like my spaghetti with the goat cheese option.

The interior and the atmosphere are great, you can relax, it's always full of chatting people. You can sit here with a latte or a beer, or eat.

My meat eating friends all swear by the limoncello pasta, with lemon, yoghurt and chicken. Never tried myself, but maybe you can?

At the time of writing (August 2012) there is some construction ongoing on the building, but if you find your way through the scaffolding, it's still there, and still full.

I think they don't take reservations, so even if it's a bit crowded, you will probably never wait more than 30 minutes for a table. And you can look at the art on the wall in the meantime.

Remember to order and pay your food from the bar, and they will bring it to your table when it's ready.

The menu is very inspiring, but not everything is as good as sounds inwriting.

That being said, the vegetarian yam burger is quite delicious, which is my main reason for recommending this place.

Other than that, I had a whiskey ginger cocktail which was far too sweet, and the service is painfully slow.

That burger will still see me returning for more though..

There's nothing wrong with the taste of the food itself, but the service is terrible. Some angry ladies serving, who also didn't speak any English. The staff from the thai restaurant next door keep running in and out as well. I guess they share a kitchen and cooking staff.

I had the vegetarian sushi, which was... annoying. Get two inari for 4,50 euro, and they have the audacity to slice one single inari nigiri in half, thus making it two? Also the avocado nigiri were the smallest I've ever seen. I think you can see this on the photo.

The green tea was nice and came in a little pot, rather than a simple teabag as is often the case.

The taste of the food itself was OK, but I will not return on the basis of the price and service.

I think this seems like a sushi place that was just separated from the thai restaurant it used to belong to. Not worth visiting in my opinion.

One of my favorite places in Helsinki now. A small intimate place where you can sit and enjoy a beer or cocktail, or a 3 course menu.

The vegetarian options are excellent too. The banana tacos are delicious; sweet and tasty at the same time. And the lime macaroon cheesecake for dessert is zesty and exciting.

Try the Jackie Chan cocktail with your dinner!

Not the coziest cafe, but quite alright anyway. The food options could use some kind of healthier options, but otherwise the service is nice, and the coffees are good and standard.

I really wanted to like this place, with such great reviews, but I guess I wasn't that impressed.

The vegetarian options were quite limited, with no exciting options. There was a promising broccoli in garlic sauce, which is one of my favorites when I go to China. It came out with the right taste, but rather cold. The rice was similarly good tasting, but not quite hot. The price for just the steamed broccoli at around 15 euro is too high in my opinion.

They only had Finnish beers to drink. Maybe addition of Tsing Tao on the menu would also be good.

Overall the food is good, but it wasn't any better than many other Chinese restaurants in Helsinki, and could still use a strong vegetarian dish, like Dong Bei Hu's (China Tiger) tofu on a hot iron plate.

With the recent years' explosion of sushi places in Helsinki, sushi has gone from bad to worse (Itamae in Forum, Fuji Village in Kamppi to name some of the worst offenders in my view). So Hanko Sushi in Kluuvi was a pleasant surprise.

The food is fresh and tasty. The vegetarian options include nice inari nigiri, and even an exciting new maki roll with cucumber, lettuce and Philadelphia cheese.

The food was maybe not mindblowing, but they have done everything right, so for the price range and type of restaurant, that's all we can ask. Hence the high grade.