alelanteri

Four courses for two people are most definitely too much! The otherwise extremely efficient and helpful staff should have warned us against this... On the other hand, it's been a pleasure to sample the fried starters, noodles, chicken and duck! Perhaps it is not "the best Chinese in Helsinki", but we truly enjoyed the food. The decor is somewhat excessive and the urgency with which the waiters keep topping up your water glasses borders on intrusiveness.

I keep going back for more. Great food.

Here I had my first dinner in Helsinki, since it was quite late already and had no idea where I was. .. to say I wasn't impressed with the (undercooked) squid is an understatement. The portion was generous. After eating there, I do not find it at all surprising that the restaurant was half-empty - as it was every other time I passed in front of it.

the pistachio 'pulla' turned out to be a revelation! I only had an early morning take away here, so I can't say much about the service and the ambient, but it all seemed ok to me. stopping by for a quick bite sounds like a very good idea!

the (hunter) steak was well cooked and well presented. the elk meatballs were pretty good, too. the ambient is relaxed and easy going with the occasional rock star dropping by from the club next door. overall, dining here was a pleasant surprise.

A party of three had a selection of makis - eel and avocado, spicy tuna, fried prawn, salmon - plus a set menu of 8 nighiris + 4 makis. The food was superb. Fresh. In fact, very fresh. Well prepared and nicely presented. Hard though we tried, we had troubles ranking the nighiris: all were just SO GOOD! This is possibly the best sushi in town - and most probably the best sushi made by a non-asian cook! Guess what: sushi goes very well with an excellent French white wine (picked by our French friend - sorry, can't remember the name), which turned out to be totally affordable, too. On the down side: in the set menu, you get 8 different and delicious nighiris, but 4 (a bit dull) cucumber makis. For us it was ok, since we had the huge platter of makis, but I can imagine I would have been disappointed if I only had the 12 pieces combo.

Upon arriving in Helsinki, I've been told by many (mostly finns, but also a few expats) that there was no good coffee to be found in the country. .. except, they concurred, at Wayne's. I tried it a few times (also at the Kaisaniemenkatu and Aleksanterinkatu shops) and I found it barely drinkable. The coffee is acid and it tastes like something I can't really pinpoint... only it's not coffee. The recollections from my first breakfast there still haunt me - considering I had a large latte (served almost cold though the shop was empty) and a piece of cake (also served too cold) and ended up paying more than € 10. The guy serving me was very nice, but the whole experience remains dramatically disappointing. At the end of the day, I disagree with my friends: there are places in Finland where you can enjoy good coffee. Wayne's is simply not one on them,

perhaps not strictly Greek, but definitely Mediterranean in a broader sense.
If you're in town for a week or more, you should definitely grab a sandwich here.
Strongly recommended.