30. June 2015: Restaurant Gaijin

Once again “Where Chefs Eat” was the saviour. The Restaurant Gaijin was described as a lovely place – and I must admit it was. The idea is to combine a variety of different cuisines starting with Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The “lunch menu” (EUR 37.00) started with “Pork Bun (Pork Belly, Kimchi Mayonnaise, Pickled Cucumber, Soft Bread)” which was interesting due to the softness of the bread but then provided the range of flavours you would expect. It was definitely a good start to trigger your taste buds.

While it is difficult to guess what the second course was because you can barely see it, the “grilled salmon “Shiso & Yuzu” (grilled salmon, yuzu flavoured apple-fennel salad, shiso)” was lovely. The salmon was good but almost cooked a tiny bit too much – and the combination of yuzu with apple and fennel was absolutely refreshing.

My personal highlight of the menu was the “Chicken Tonkatsu Party (Crispy Fried Chicken, Salad Leaves, Pickles, Kimchi, Sesame Dressing, Chili Paste)”. This was a typical Korean dish where you roll all the ingredients you want into a salad leaf (basically like burritos but healthy) …

… and you obviously always but a piece of chicken which is part of the “party” in it. The chance to vary the tastes you want to experience is one lovely component of the dish, the second being the lightness compared to similar concepts.

With the second dish, some “Gohan (Japanese Rice)” was already served which was sticky rice and actually aromatic. Also, it was perfect to soak up the sauces of the previous dishes.

The last course of the menu was the “Almond Geisha (White Chocolate, Honey-Chocolate Ganache, Almond Ice Cream, Caramel Crocant)” which was intense in two flavours – chocolate and almonds. I really like the almond ice cream as well as the honey chocolate ganache but your stomach is definitely satisfied after having had that dessert.

The place has a lovely interior design – somehow Asian style but displayed differently, let me dare saying more modernly with a European twitch. The prices are very fair for the dishes but also for the beverages (i.e. double espresso, EUR 5.50; Beer Hite, EUR 7.50).

The service does a good job – the waitresses are friendly and swift. Definitely nothing to complain there. They are very good orchestrated as you have a head waitress for each table but if the others pass by something which is done, they would still take it with them (which is how it should be and unfortunately does not happen often enough).

To sum it up, I can recommend the Restaurant Gaijin for lunch – very good food, fair prices, and good service in a nice atmosphere!

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Gaijin

Bulevardi 6

00120 Helsinki (FI)

Tel.: +358 10 322 93 81

E-Mail: info@gaijin.fi

Homepage: http://www.gaijin.fi

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.