Tänavatoit Helsingis * Street Food in Helsinki

Üritan selle postituse lühikeseks jätta, kuna see blogi on ikkagi tänavatoidust Tallinnas. Siiski, hea on teada mida maitsvat pakutakse Soome lahe põhjakaldal.

Tegelikult võiks kõik kokku võtta ühe sõnaga: Kallis. Helsingi pole mitte ainult kallis meie standardi järgi, see on kallis linn ükskõik millise standardi järgi. New Yorgis, Amstedamis, Hong Kongis, nendes linnades saab sama raha eest kolm korda söönuks. Ja ärgem üldse alustagem õllehinnast!

Üks väga positiivne asi Helsingis, mida kindlasti mainima peab, on teenindustase. Kuigi me siin vabanesime soviettokupatsiooni ahelatest juba aastal 1991, ei taha soviett-stiilis teenindus siiani kohe kuidagi hinge heita. Teenindustase on tolle ajaga võrreldes muidugi ikka vägagi suurte sammudega paremuse suunas liikunud, siiski aga on tänaseni küllalt kerge ennast Tallinnas leida söögikohas kus personal on ebaviisakas, teenindus aeglane (mida nad ometi teevad seal köögis?) ja toit kehvake. Helsingis on suured naeratused, kompleksivaba jutuajamine ja kiire teenindus. Tore!

Mida siis pakutakse? Ikka päris head staffi.

Näiteks selline koht nagu Cholo (Lönnrotinkatu 9, Helsinki). €9.80 ostab sulle suure jämeda looomaliha, kana, või taimetoidu burrito. Taimetoidu varianti me ei proovinud, kuid nii loomaliha, kui kanaversioon olid väga hästi tehtud, mahlane liha millele lisaks oad, riis, salat, mais, tšilli jne. Soovitame soojalt.

Ja kindlasti tasub ka proovida Cafe Bar No 9 (Uudenmaankatu 9, Helsinki) huvitavat menüüd. Meie valisime menüüst põnevate nimedega nuudliroad: krevetid suurepärases karri-kookospiimakastmes ja teine kiirelt pannitatud loomaliha üliterava tšillikastmega. 9 Eurot portsion tähendab et Helsingi standardi järgi olid need toidud peaaegu tasuta! 

___________________________________________________________________________________

Since this blog is about street food in Tallinn, I will try to keep this short. Still, it's good to know what the street food is like on the other side of the gulf.

I guess we could sum it up with a single word: Expensive. Helsinki is not only expensive by Estonian standards, it is expensive by any standards. Whether in New York, Amsterdam or Hong Kong, the same amount of money will buy you three times the amount of food in any of those cities. And let's not even start about the beer!

A hugely positive thing that definitely has to be mentioned is the quality of service. While in Estonia the shackles of Soviet occupation were thrown off already in 1991, the Soviet style service appears more difficult to get rid of. Sure the level has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two decades, but in Tallinn it is still all too easy to find yourself in an establishment with unfriendly staff, long waiting times (what on earth are they doing there in the kitchen?) and crappy food. In Helsinki it is all smiles, casual complex-free conversation and fast service. Nice!

So what is actually on offer? Some pretty damn good stuff.

Like Cholo (Lönnrotinkatu9, Helsinki) for example. €9.80 will buy you a fat burrito with either beef, chicken or vegetarian filling. Now, we didn't try the vegetarian version, but both beef and chicken were done very well, nice and juicy, and complemented by beans, rice, lettuce, corn, chilly etc. Highly recommended.

Or why not try the rather interesting menu in Cafe Bar No 9 (Uudenmaankatu 9, Helsinki). We tried excitingly named stir fried noodle dishes, one with shrimps in an excellent curry and coconut milk sauce and the other quickly stir fried beef in very hot chilly sauce. And at 9€ per portion they are practically for free, according to Helsinki standards!