FinnBrian
3 reviewsGood, fresh, properly cooked and presented food. Excellent, attentive and pleasant servers. And atmosphere. In that order!
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Reviews (3)
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I had the entrecote and it was very good, as was the fresh asparagus appetizer in lemon butter (a seasonal treat! ). My wife had the salmon soup appetizer and it was delicious, very fresh. Like others have commented, the licorice creme brulee is a must ... very creamy and subtle. Service was excellent and the wine selection was good. Like Kuurna, it is a small but not very intimate restaurant (tables are a bit packed tight), but I find the celler-like atmosphere of Kuurna more appealing. Like most good restaurants in Helsinki, it's expensive, but not overly so. We'll be back!
I've lived in the Helsinki area for over three years, and this place now ranks as the worst restaurant I have visited here. Just awful. As a native of the American southwest, I may have higher standards for what constitutes decent Tex-Mex, but even by the generous standards of Finland, this food was inedible. I ordered a burrito that was stuffed with chicken but nothing else, and covered with a strange cheese sauce that was a cross between diluted Velveeta and thousand island dressing. Just dreadful. The service likewise was slow and inattentive. When I cast my plate to the side, the food barely eaten, the server came by, picked it up and never even asked if everything was OK. Perhaps she was tired of hearing the response. My best advice: Go north, south or east, but stay far away from Cantina West.
I've been here a couple of times for lunch, mainly because it was convenient. The lunch buffet is pretty standard Chinese fare, not bad, not great. It can be crowded at lunch and hard to find a seat. No atmostphere to speak of ... you often have to seat at long tables with others, so not exactly the place to go for an intimate lunch. But, fairly reasonable for Helsinki.