Great Scott's take on the best places to eat in Helsinki

[alclark]

INK REMOVED BY ADMIN

Coud you please tell us why - in general terms if you must - so we can think about what we write before we write it?

Nothing destroys a forum faster than 'administration' coming in and deleting posts and no one knows why. A forum should have spontaneity - we lose that - and it's bye-bye.

[ajdias]

This BB can live well without spontaneous links briefly posted by short lived members seeking a modest reward from Google for the purpose of reaching more interest visitors on morgages, <word censor> pills and whatnot other frivolous products

[alclark]

Are you saying that you KNOW the above post was deleted because it was advertising the usual spam crud?

This seems to be a 'small' forum - nothing wrong with that - so I just hope that when posts deleted some kind (just some kind) of explanation is given.

[sudentassu]

Cheap food, big portions,

Disclaimer: not meant to offend anyone but....

Well as soon as I read this bit I switched off and decided any further information would lack validity.

I just hate it when someone says to me, "yes the meal last night was great, cheap and BIG PORTIONS".

When will people understand that:

1. If the portion is smaller, the quality can be higher, still for the same price.

2. People are generally getting more obese in Europe, Belly-Busting Portions don't help.

3. People with a healthy weight:height ratio can get pissed off in restaurants that insist on serving you more food than you should eat in one sitting, you stretch your stomach, resulting in you needing more food to feel "full" in the fufure.

Somone once told me that you should always leave the table knowing you could eat just a little bit more, and it has worked for me so far.

Grrrrr

[jounip]

Finland must be perfect for you then - expensive food, small portions

[Karhunkoski]

Finland must be perfect for you then - expensive food, small portions

To be honest, I seldom eat out here. There are only one or two decent restaurants near me, so to eat there every week would just take the shine off the experience. I take it you like a good "eat all you can buffet" then? Golden Rax type of affair?

[Karhunkoski]

Finland must be perfect for you then - expensive food, small portions

Just to highlight what I wrote.

1. If the portion is smaller, the quality can be higher, still for the same price.

Also if you think eating out in Finland is expensive, I suggest you travel a little bit more, try London first.........

[jounip]

Well the actual cost of the ingredients on a served plate is a small portion of the usual final cost - exceptions of course abound - foie gras, etc.

One can get very good beef tenderloin - wholesale - for about 12 Euro a kilo max - so the difference between a mini-portion - say 90-100 g and a very decent portion 140-150 g is only 60 cents - and yet these meals are usually 20-30 Euro - so what are we talking about?

London is expensive for some strange reason - but I recently had an excellent meal on Paris' Boulevard St Germain for 10 Euros - very large fresh mixed salad starter - huge bowl of fresh mussels - bread - and a big hunk of genuine Roquefort - and surroundings as good or better than any Helsinki restaurant.

[Karhunkoski]

Well the actual cost of the ingredients on a served plate is a small portion of the usual final cost - exceptions of course abound - foie gras, etc.

One can get very good beef tenderloin - wholesale - for about 12 Euro a kilo max - so the difference between a mini-portion - say 90-100 g and a very decent portion 140-150 g is only 60 cents - and yet these meals are usually 20-30 Euro - so what are we talking about?

London is expensive for some strange reason - but I recently had an excellent meal on Paris' Boulevard St Germain for 10 Euros - very large fresh mixed salad starter - huge bowl of fresh mussels - bread - and a big hunk of genuine Roquefort - and surroundings as good or better than any Helsinki restaurant.

I'm sorry, but the difference in meat portion that you quote is 40-50g? To put this into context, one of those tiny burger patties in a maccy D's hamburger (yes the smallest thing they sell) is around 56g uncooked weight. As another comparison 40-50g is the weight of around 1 and a half fish fingers, this is surely hardly the difference between a "mini-portion" and a "decent portion"?

However, I agree that ingredient cost is not a massive proportion of the served plate, however it is by no means negligible as you try to indicate.

Now as far as the France issue, I wholly agree with you. I have always found small, family-run French restaurants to be (on average) excellent quality and super value. They tend to purchase fresh ingredients on a daily basis and how they manage to serve up such delights at those prices, I will never know. Perhaps it is down to the competition or perhaps their premises were paid for long ago,,,,,,,,,,,

[jounip]

I'm sorry, but the difference in meat portion that you quote is 40-50g? To put this into context, one of those tiny burger patties in a maccy D's hamburger (yes the smallest thing they sell) is around 56g uncooked weight. As another comparison 40-50g is the weight of around 1 and a half fish fingers, this is surely hardly the difference between a "mini-portion" and a "decent portion"?

I do really think the difference between a 100 g pc of beef and a 150 g is significant - if you're hungry the 100 g will surely taste like 'more' and the 150 g would really tell you that you've had enough.

Prices are such in Finland that I don't really go to a restaurant unless I've arranged that I am 'hungry'

However, I agree that ingredient cost is not a massive proportion of the served plate, however it is by no means negligible as you try to indicate.

I've been party to doing calculations of 'costs' - and also have a number of books that are aimed at those starting restaurants and ingredient cost of 'usual' food is not considered to be significant in terms of trying to cut back on some percentage of serving size

Now as far as the France issue, I wholly agree with you. I have always found small, family-run French restaurants to be (on average) excellent quality and super value. They tend to purchase fresh ingredients on a daily basis and how they manage to serve up such delights at those prices, I will never know. Perhaps it is down to the competition or perhaps their premises were paid for long ago

Interestingly enough this was a restaurant which was part of some kind of Belgian 'chain' - thus the mussels - and it was a corner location and I have to believe whoever owned the actual real estate was not forgetting its value - just opposite to the Tuileries on the Seine (on St Germain). In any case the place was busy - well appointed - and gave no 'chain' feeling - but all prices were VERY reasonable - and quantities decent-sized - and from what I saw of adjoining tables -- all very attractive plates.

[Karhunkoski]

I've been party to doing calculations of 'costs' - and also have a number of books that are aimed at those starting restaurants and ingredient cost of 'usual' food is not considered to be significant in terms of trying to cut back on some percentage of serving size

Before arriving in this paradise, I spent many miserable years calculating food and ingredients costs for various projects. I sold €10million of food and food products last year (b2b sales).

There are few cost control methods within any reasonably efficient and established business that can be considered "significant". Waste is usually the main one to target.

Back to my original point, I would rather go with this:

- smallish portion of decent quality food in a nice surroundings

rather than this:

- huge belly-busting plate full of poor quality crap.

I know what goes into manufactured/processed "easily-prepared by unskilled kitchen hands" type foods, I spent enough time developing it and flogging it for various food companies in the UK. It is this type of food I choose to avoid and oddly, it is this type of food that predominates in "big portion" type establishments. This may sounds cliche'd, but if you knew what I do, you would probably wish to avoid much of it yourself. Ask yourself what possible motivation I would have for making such a comment apart from the fact the it must clearly be true.

[Karhunkoski]

I noticed that the original comment I quoted was regarding a chinese restaurant.

Ever wondered why chinese restaurant and takeaway food tastes so dammed good? Have a google for the flavour enhancer MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). All major supermarkets and foodservice operators in the UK have in recent years briefed all their suppliers to remove this ingredient from all formulations (this should tell you something). The government always had safety guidelines for what % could be added into factory-processed food. One place where this ingredient is still used? One place where there are no controls for how much can be added into a recipe beyond the wishes of the chef? Yup you guessed it!

[jounip]

- smallish portion of decent quality food in a nice surroundings

The bottom line of my comments (pun intended) is mid-priced rstaurants can make good or bad food - as they like or know how - quite regardless of the ingredient prices - and so can give you a bit larger portion if that would be one's wish

It goes without saying that the MOUNTAIN of french fries offered at Grilli Toro in Tapiola is meant to deceive - the saving grace is that they still have the best tasting beef of almost anywhere.

So when one thinks a restaurateur is making a choice between quantity of food offered and its quality - I think that it's actually pretty irrelevant.

The irony is that the high priced place which usually offers decent fare (they have to at those prices otr someone would call the police) - could actually give you a good-sized portion at the same price without changing their profits by much.

But I would repeat - "eating out" in Finland requires a conscience decision by most as to 'spending money' - so I also tend to use that thinking moment to also arrange my daily eating so as to maximize hunger at the planned restaurant - so indeed would prefer a good-sized portion.

I really doubt that any obesity in Finland owes itself to calories taken in in restaurants of the food eaten (let's leave fast food aside) - the big bellies now seen on most Finns is coming from alcohol and home-made läski sauce.

[sudentassu]

"eating out" in Finland requires a conscience decision by most as to 'spending money'

Only time for a short reply on our discussion, but I quickly wanted to comment that I think Finns need to make a conscious (and lengthy) decision whenever they spend money! At risk of sounding unpopular (and I am half Finnish), I think most Finns are unbelievably tight with their cash! In no other country have I spent so much time being driven by people who insist on slipping the gearbox into neutral at every possible opportunity (rg any gentle downwards slope). It also seems that the coffee-making ceremony invloves measuring out the EXACT quantity of water (and counting out the exact number of coffee grounds) so that each person can have an exact ration of coffee. Woe betide anyone who might wish an extra cup.

Or am I just mixing in the wrong circles?

[superiorinferior]

Or am I just mixing in the wrong circles?

I don't know what this has to do with Great Scott's favorite eats, but when my mother in law still had marbles to spare, she would make the strongest coffee in the world only to top it off with a couple of spoonfuls of instant if it wasn't strong enough.

Everybody got more than enough.