Horisont

The chic, stylish and sophisticated - that is how Swissotel describes the Horisont and then they go on to talk about breath-taking views and five star cuisine. Ooooh, I don't think they are being completely objective, since that's where the restaurant is - in the hotel.

I'm not sure from where exactly did they manage to get all these stars? Scissors, cardboard and golden spray paint perhaps, who knows. Yes it is stylish - if you consider design that could belong in any of the thousands of business hotels in a world stylish. Chic and sophisticated is definitely over-reaching.

Expensive with inadequate service and the absolute worst is that the only thing that I remember tasting that night is blood sausage. Doesn't really bring chic or sophisticated to mind or expensive for that matter. And I like blood sausage.

The rest is just a blur, a lot of fluff and plating skills, but nothing worth remembering. Style over substance and so on. Sure, maybe if you need to meet for dinner and it's all business and the food is just an after-thought, it could be OK. Just don't go if you're out on a date or if you want to have fun with your friends.

Kalev Yacht Club

Yes, this definitely does not qualify as fine dining, but same time it's probably one of the best places for eating in the city of Tallinn, at least in the summer time. I personally frequent Kalev Yacht Club quite often, mainly because I have developed a habit of meeting my brother for lunch over there.

He's a busy professional and a family man, so it's actually easier for him to manage a longer lunch break during a week than to tear himself away from his family over the week-end and props to him for that. So that's where we meet.

I have to admit that besides the food being consistently good and the prices very reasonable there's another reason for us to go there. See it's the only place that serves cod liver for an appetizer, at least that we know of and they prepare it just the way Mom did, when we were growing up. It's almost as good today. Well, you have to admit that sometimes our memories are like fine wine, they just get better with time.

During the summer months and there's usually two, alright two and a half in Estonia, Kalev Yacht Club is a relaxing place to sit out-side and enjoy maybe not a very complicated culinary experience, but a tasty one none of the less. You'll get fresh veggies off the grill, good quality simple fish like salmon and butterfish, and I hear some people rave about the pork entrée. Can't remember what it's called right now.

By the way if anybody knows what a butter fish looks like before it ends up on a plate, send me a picture or something...

Oh and just try to ignore the music that they're blasting at the yacht club. That is horrible. Hey, you can't have it all.

Nevskij

Here it goes - Nevskij is my favorite restaurant in Tallinn and even though the food is consistently good or great, that is not the main reason. It's the interior. Every time I'm there it feels like I'm visiting an imaginary great-aunt, a Russian countess, who use to be in the center of all the amazing intrigues in the St.Petersburg's royal court, but then fell into a grave disfavor because of her not so discrete ways. Did I mention - imaginary.

The blue ceiling of the back room, the ox-blood walls, thick gold leafed picture frames and an open cage of a parakeet called Mischa is just so complete. So very nice and luxurious and so very comfortable at the same time.

If you're lucky enough you'll be greeted by Roman, the head waiter and a manager. A perfect combination of friendliness and politeness in one. If you're a repeat visitor, he'll know all your little likes and dislikes. He'll be you're buddy while recommending the wine and telling you what is the freshest in the kitchen, but he will always keep the that little bit of a distance. That is what makes him so good at his job.

They have just recently changed their menu, but here are some of my all time favorites-

Julienne Tolstoy style
Dolma with Spicy Sauce
Crispy Sea-bass in Boletus and Cod Liver
Masha’s Syrniki
Fresh Berries „Zapekanka“

Always and I mean always finish your dinner with the home made Nalivka- a drink made with three different kinds of hard liquor and various fruits. They refuse to give out the recipe, but that does not mean you shouldn't ask for it and if you actually get it , please do me a favor and don't forget to forward the well guarded secret to me.

There have been rumors going around about a total make over for this place. It'll be turned into another ultra modern soulless new -age comfortably inoffensive jazzonova playing lounge type a thing. OK that's a mouthful...

So go tonight before it's gone.

Chedi

I walk by Restaurant Chedi almost every day since it's on my way home from the supermarket and I've been patiently waiting for it's opening. All right - the OPENING SOON sign disappeared from it's door and I had to go.

Chedi is all about fusion and I am not - at least not in the kitchen. I was little hesitant. They claim to be an Asian restaurant and that's not being very specific. Asia is absolutely huge. So they combined some Chinese, Thai and maybe some elements of Vietnamese and Korean cuisines. Maybe.

Same goes for the interior. Made it look Thai without actually being Thai. What's strange is the fact that it works. I can't stand pretentious design or cuisine for that matter, but they managed to make it look formal, casual and relaxed, all at the same time.

All right, here comes the low-point of the experience. The waitress, even though being kinda friendly, decided to try to educate me on food and wine. When I go to a restaurant I'm not looking for education and I should have typed the word try in bold. Let me think how I can put this as delicately as possible - oh yes ...she didn't know shit.

To our question " Excuse us but, what is a Pi Pa Duck?" she answered that it is a name of the dish. For few seconds I couldn't figure out if she was being snooty or slow. Then settled for slow. Perhaps an appropriate explanation that the dish is so called because the bird is flattened to resemble a pi pa - a Chinese stringed instrument would have been asking for too much, but C'mon...

Anyway, we started with Dim Sum and Fried Soft Shell Crab, and even though I prefer Dim Sum little slimier, it was real nice - most definitely best Dim Sum in Estonia. Soft shell Crab was also very enjoyable.

We continued with two types of duck, the now infamous- at least for me- PI PA DUCK and Shechwuan Duck. It was alright, not bad - not great. I understand that chefs need to adopt to local taste-buds, but still, don't we all need a little spice in our lives. What made everything good was a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape that we used to wash down the duck. That was excellent.

Dessert - Passion fruit Parfait, maybe little on a sour side, but nicely presented and it went well with Calvados. I do like Chedi a lot, but I do suspect that company I kept that night had a huge influence on my verdict, I thank her for that. Isn't that the best part of a nice dinner? Somebody you care about, somebody who has the ability to make things taste better and increase your tolerance towards little mishaps in the kitchen and on the dining room floor.

Chedi is a great addition to Tallinn's restaurant scene.

InStudioVinum

Well, people recommended it and they were given a "Silver Spoon" award so I decided to give it a try. Actually- a second try , since I had walked through their door once before. As it turned out the times given on their front door are mainly for the store and not for the restaurant. OK, I got in this time. I would like to explain why I have not been overly eager to frequent this highly regarded restaurant. See it's in a basement and it's not that I'm claustrophobic,well maybe just a little, but I'd rather spend extended periods of time in rooms with windows.

The first impression was a pleasant one, a friendly smile with a greeting and it turned out to be our waitress. Somehow being greeted by a person who brings you food and who you communicate at least on some level for the rest of the night always tops a dedicated host or hostess.

InSudioVinum presents itself as a restaurant meeting a wine cellar and they always have a Sommelier on site. The regular person was not there that night, but the guy helping us was pretty competent and friendly. We ended up with a bottle of Pouilly Fusse and several reds. What kind is slipping my mind right now mainly because of the fact that there was several of them.

For start I chose Buffalo Mozzarella with Tomato Confit. It's basic and a classic at the same time.
I love classics and truly believe that classics should stay classics. There is no need to fool around with them unless you are a absolute genius.

Unfortunately looking at menus nowadays there seems to be a lot of geniuses around. The tomato confit was too sour and I'm not sure if the addition of beets to the whole thing was a good idea. But what really killed it was the pesto. There was no way to taste the mozzarella or anything else for that matter because of it. A miss.

For the main meal I opted for Burgundy style stew. Talk about classics. It was good, maybe even excellent, just the way it should be. Nothing new added, and no pesto. By the way just so you don't get a wrong idea, I like pesto a lot and if anybody's interested in Daniel Boulud's zucchini pesto recipe(one of my favorites) call me up.

For dessert I got ice cream. It was a selection of coffee-chocolate, calvados and Grand Marnier. It was good and creamy, but lacking taste. I asked my companions to taste it and they couldn't even determine which was which. OK, the coffee-chocolate was self-evident. But that's not good, if you can't tell what flavor ice-cream you are having.

All together the experience was a enjoyable one. Friendly and competent service, place was filled with people-at least by Tallinn standards and really good Burgundy Stew. My friends kept raving about their choice - rabbit. There's always next time and there will be next time.

InStudioVinum is good restaurant with a good staff and the prices are not out of this world, so I will be back and so should you.

Ideed bezzef!

Yes I know this is not an appropriate start for a journal about eating out in Tallinn, but I just got back yesterday from Morocco and all the memories are just too fresh to ignore them. I had wonderful time on my journey - drove for almost 1000km from Tangier to Fes to Marrakesh, tried every possible street food, quite often not knowing what exactly I was eating.

Had some really good dining experiences and some bad, but hey, without the bad for comparison, how would we ever know quality. Loved the beautiful country, loved the people and oh yes loved the food.

My adventure started in Malaga( Spain) just for the sole purpose of taking the ferry from Europe to Africa and I was fortunate enough to be directed to a little perfect restaurant just few blocks away from the place I stayed at(El Riad Andaluz), Restaurant Citron. The food was good, I had grilled queso for appetizer and it was just right, nothing healthy about it. Well I tried to be good and had spinach salad as a main meal. It was alright, I personally prefer my spinach to get a quick whirl on a hot pan before ending on a plate, this one was raw, other wise it was enjoyable.

But what I remember the most, was the atmosphere in there, it was pretty late, but it was a mix of everybody. People on first dates, single or divorced dads with their kids, couple of birthdays and few bigger groups of friends having good time with comfort food and good wine, and it was a week- night. Too bad you don't really get a mix of people like that eating out together in Tallinn. Must be a cultural thing...

Next day was possibly the most fun meal experience of the trip, in Algeciras, right before getting on a ferry. A tiny hole in a wall for tapas - had cold beer and wonderful calamari frites plus an offer to buy dope before I was able to finish my first beer. In case you were curious I declined.

Destination - Tangier, Motif Principal du Voyage - unknown. What a great, street-smart, but honest city. There is very little that feels touristy about Tangier, even though it gets boat-loads of them. I was also lucky enough to be there before the season starts. Well, long story short it's gotta be one of my favorite cities from now on.

Except that I had the worst meal of my trip the first night out. The place looked promising, there was a definite possibility that I was a first tourist to sit down at the table in the place that looked like a cross between an old Atlantic City shit-hole casino and a chain pizzeria. I had Gambas pil-pil and it was bad, real bad. Well, enough of that.

The next night though Tangier gave me a real tender surprise in a form of a succulent Bastilla at
a thoroughly unassuming restaurant Agadir. Yes I am aware of Bastilla's Andalusian roots, but some-how the spicy pigeon inside it and cinnamon and powdered sugar on top exemplifies perfectly the way Tangerines mix their spice and sweets.

After a long drive to Fes I was too tired to go and look for a culinary adventure, so I decided to have dinner at the Riad Dar Dmana, which is by the way an absolutely gorgeous museum-like boutique hotel type of facility. The food was excellent if not little boring - chicken tajine. I did have fun with bessara and the other purees on the table, most of them with lovely hints of cumin, honey and cinnamon.

Oh and I should have mentioned this before - The a la Menthe, what a great drink and I thought that bunch of fresh mint only belongs in Mojitos.

Somewhere half way from Fes to Marrakesh was probably the most dramatic dining experience of the whole trip.
The still bleeding carcases of sheep were hanging just inches from me and the others, while we were gorging on grilled lamb and some bread. I will not forget this one, adding to the experience was the 45 C degree temperature all around us.

Reaching Marrakesh was just too late to look for a place to eat so we ended up enjoying couple of bottles of S de Seroua on the roof-top of Riad Amira Victoria and what a view. At that very moment I felt like one of the characters in those great books I used to love as a kid about distant places and intrepid adventurers. Well all this while I was comfortably lounging with glass of wine in my hand.

All together the whole experience of Marrakesh was just one big orgy of eating and drinking. Had lunch with local workers on a lunch break, I think it was tripe. Looked like it, but did not taste like it. Anyway it was good. Stopped at way too many stalls, carts and holes in a wall for you name it - lambs head, dried dates, all kind of sweets and oh yes harira, a simple soup that reminds me a little bit of pasta fagioli from Italy across the sea. Well, I developed a favorite harira cart at Djemaa el-Fna.

The second night after asking for a recommendation from our host, who by the way spoke fluent English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and I assume Arabic, we ended up at a Restaurant Le Marrachki. Let's be honest - a joint for tourists with a belly-dancer and a balancing act that involved a older over-weight lady and a tray with burning candles on it. Needless to say a little scary and not because of the candles.

Here's my menu from that night
Bastilla au Poullet
Boeuf Facon Tanjia
"Knaffa" Bastilla a la Creme
loved the bastillas

For conclusion - there were many other dining experiences in Marrakesh, some good to great, some not so memorable, but one thing's for sure Morrocon cuisine will stand next to Cajun Creole, French, Thai and Italian as one of my favorites.