Dominic

This is a place that looks great, has a great location and has a positive word of mouth going for it. So I stopped by for lunch.

Dominic has a really nice vibe about it. Interior is pleasantly unassuming, specially on the cafe side, it just makes you feel comfortable.

I was greeted with a friendly "Hello" as soon as I walked in and altogether the service was great throughout the lunch.

I got a fresh salad to start with and was perfectly happy with it. Everything was truly fresh, it looked nice on the plate and was finished with a pretty well balanced vinaigrette. Oh and they brought fresh baked bread to the table that seemed to be baked in house. One was with sun-dried tomatoes and the other one with walnuts I think. Nice.

Then I got a pasta dish Du Jour and that's when everything went wrong. It was brought to the table and I got suspicious right away. I've never seen pasta sauce that color before, it's hard to describe. Maybe blueish-greenish-grayish would do it justice. It tasted as repulsive as it looked.

I'd like to think that I was just truly unlucky and I will give them another shot. It's just that so many other things about this place I do like. Then again food in restaurant business is king, so it'll be just a shot.

La BOTTEGA

Trattoria Enoteca La Bottega opened this past Wednesday night and considering that places are closing left and right, opening a new restaurant right now could be considered either an act of madness or courageous endurance. So of course I couldn't help myself and I stopped by for lunch.

First of all it looks great. The medieval space has been meticulously renovated, then everything tastefully designed and decorated, theme being that of a trattoria. Don't be fooled though it's a real nice restaurant with some simpler trattoria style dishes on the menu.

It's not cheap, but they consciously set the price limit. Nothing on the menu is over 300 EEK's, some do come close... as close as 290 EEK's close. I think a lot of people will appreciate the fact there are quite a few things that are affordable on the menu. Once again it's not cheap. For example only one pasta dish is less than a 100, most of them are around 150-160.

Now to the food. Chef de Cuisine Nicolo Tanda deffinetly knows his stuff and thank god his not one of these "I'm an ARTISTE" chefs. He's a mechanic, but a truly great one at that. I had Bruscetta, then Gnocchi with Sweet Pepper sauce and then Grilled Sardines. All of it simple, all of it delicious and all of it good looking. No silly looking little sculptures on the plate here.

The staff was friendly, polite, maybe still working things out a little bit, but then again they've been open for two days. Plus they apologized to me in case everything wasn't perfect. Perfect.

Best Italian food in Tallinn right now. Possibly my new favorite place. What it needs now is people, that of course will not be an easy task to accomplish these days. Go now, who knows for long we will have this chance to enjoy high quality culinary offering without any of the bullshit that seems to come with it in Tallinn.

NB! The address is VENE 4.

Fattoria Poggio Gagliardo Wine Dinner at In Vino Veritas

Andrea Surbone picked the wines for the night and his wife ...crap her name is totally escaping me right now, was in the kitchen. You know that I like this place -

In Vino Veritas

- it's homey and unpretentious. So was the whole night. Food that was simple, but mostly tasty, plus some very enjoyable wine accompanying it.

These were the wines up for tasting:

Villa Caiano 2004

Montescudaio Bianco 2007

Montescudaio Rosso 2006

Ultimosole 2003

Rove Chinato 2003

and for dinner the following :

Vitello tonnato

Risotto con ragu al coltello

Capretto al marsala, patate al formo

Bunet

Like I said it was nice. It reminded me of my mothers husbands Anthony Saraceno's cooking, just not as good. Don't get me wrong, that's not putting the nights offering down, because Tony is an excellent chef and nobody in Tallinn no matter where they studied becoming a chef does Italian the way he does. Maybe you need to grow up eating Pasta e Fagioli and Ossobuco. I don't know.

Surprise of the night was the finish: Bunet and Rove Chinato, yes maybe I've had better Bunet, but it was still real good and Rove Chinato - Whoa. They supposedly add somekind of herb concoction to a desert wine that's already pretty funky tasting. The result was stunning. In a very good way.

And I still love this place.

Cooking Pretty - The Worst Offenders in Tallinn.

I'm quoting Anthony Bourdain - possibly the coolest guy who's ever held a Sabatier blade and an absolute definitely in a hypothetical "If you could have five people over for dinner":

"When I hear 'artist', I think of someone who doesn't think it necessary to show up at work on time. More often than not their efforts, convinced as they are of their own genius, are geared more to giving themselves a hard-on than satisfying the great majority of dinner customers. Personally I'd prefer to eat food that tastes good and is honest reflection of its ingredients, than a 3-foot-tall caprice constructed from lemon grass, lawn trimmings, coconuts and red curry. You could lose an eye trying to eat that."

Here they are, where style kicks substances ass on a daily base :

Bocca

Ö

Horisont

Museum

Stenhus Champagne Dinner

Alright, this happened almost two weeks ago on October 30th, but for some reason I did not feel any urgency about declaring my participation to everybody who reads this blog.

Not that it was a horrible, but I have to admit and I do this somewhat proudly that I would call it mediocre. Let's not forget that this is a place that has received more "Silver Spoons" than they know what to do with them. They have been elected to be the best and they are still considered to be the best by many. Not me though...

First of all - it's a HOTEL, second - it's in a BASEMENT, but the biggest problem is in the kitchen - they can not produce high quality in volume. They are not unique in Tallinn when it comes to this. There are plenty of restaurants that can make a good looking tasty plate of food, they just can't do it when the dining room is full.

I'm not gonna bore you with copying the nights menu. It was all filled with phrases like "Chanterelle Duxelle", "Langoustini Tails" and "Black Olive and Vanilla Crust".

Let's just say that the seafood served was not fresh and I will always pick fresh over exotic. The beef had been resting under the warming lights for way way way too long. Well sure, the schedule was running little late, but a good kitchen should be able to adjust and a great one to anticipate. Oh... I did like the "Chanterelle Duxelle" accompanying the beef.

And of course I enjoyed the Champagne, all of it good and probably more than anybody else there. Ahh almost forgot, it was expensive.

Han

I like places that are simple and I like places that serve simple food. So it breaks my heart to write this following. Han, don't you know that first impressions are forever, you don't get a second chance.

The first thing you notice walking in the door is a horrific stench coming from the direction of the mens room, not a good start for a dining adventure. Contrary to my previous statement I did give them a second chance. See, even though it was smelly, the food was good and the service friendly, if not little awkward, the first time around.

But then ...the second time I was proven right, they proved me right. First impressions matter, we should trust our gut feelings and heuristic rules are thousands of years old.

I ended up sitting for 20 minutes with no drinks or the menu for that matter. Only after aggressively going after it myself was I able to wrestle the god damn thing away from the staff.

Then I waited for another 35 minutes before the food arrived and sure some of it was not bad, but by this point it did not matter anymore. Verdict was made - thumbs down, toes down and just about everything down.

Now on top of everything I can't include a link to their web site. Guess what? It's broken. Go figure...Maybe that's what was stinking up their toilet.

Bonaparte

I apologize in advance for being uncharacteristically laconic with this post. Not even sure why, but maybe it's better this way.


Oct.9. fancy-shmancy Game themed tasting menu at Bonaparte to celebrate the beginning of the hunting season. Fix price, fix menu, fix drinks. Everything game with wine pairings.


Beaver bavaroise with baked apples - Louis Tollet ler Cru La Grande Cuvee

Little piece of dark meat possibly manufactured by Michelin in between tiny pieces of white toast that had achieved a new level of staleness under the warming lights. Liked the champagne.


Moose meat consommé with elk liver and mini cheesecake - Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2006 Domaine des Relagnes

Delicious with absolutely gorgeous white, no refilling the glass though - cheap asses.


Wild Duck Terrine with whortleberry glaze - Saint-Joseph " Le Prieure" 2005 Domaine Jean-Luc Colombo

Horribly dry with mouth smackingly sweet paste all over it that would've been at home with a banana split. Good wine though plus by now the wait staff knew that just one glass is just not gonna do it.


Roe deer Carré with A PORCHINI MUSHROOM and some nightmarish white beans stuffed pastry thingy - Châteauneuf-du-Pape "La Roquette" 2004 Vignobles Brunier

Overcooked, with ... no really one tiny piece of a mushroom. Love that wine, always will.


Pomegranate Granitee

Sugary slush that's more sugar than slush, should be the other way around.



Wild Rowan cake with Chocolate Fondue - "L'Arbre du Voyageur" VSOP Martinique

Poundcake like white substance that was extremely dry, excellent chocolate and WOW to the Rum.


Fresh mint tea

It was just effing tea, I was hoping for a Morrocon style The a la Menthe. No such luck.

Ö

Sure they´ve had their share of "Silver spoons" and a lot of folk consider them to be one of the best, if not the best...BUT, I have been reluctant to offer my opinion about them. See the guy in charge loves foam and yes we all love foam - on the beach, in the bubble bath, it is a must for shaving and whipped cream is foam, no matter if you use it in the dining or the bed room.

Right... but he puts it on the plate and then the plate is placed in front of me. Guess what, that is the absolute worst place for the foam to be...No really. I can´t stand it when something like herring or veal for that matter is turned into a foam form. I don´t get it either. Sure, maybe it´s just me and everybody else loves ribs turned into foam, but... On top of everything this is just so five years ago.

Anyway, I decided to give them one more chance and it turned out to be a somewhat pleasant surprise. At this point I have to acknowledge the intricate skills of my date for the night, who managed to recommend things on the menu knowing my foam´o´phobia.

So here it goes. I had.............Dammit...I can´t remember what I had. I wonder if it means anything? I do remember that Conch Chowder I enjoyed almost ten years ago in Boca Raton, I also can remember the best Gnocchi ever with Artichoke Pesto in Monteriggioni about eight years ago and my very first Porterhouse at Peter Luger´s. Now, I wonder if this really means anything. Probably not...

Here´s their link

Best Baristas of Tallinn

If you can live without coffee, can you still call it living? I personally absolutely love a great espresso. You know you have it just by looking at it, the crema is not brownish-yellowish, but dark red mixed with colors of chestnut and butterscotch. Sometimes almost burgundy shade. When you drink it, you taste the sweetness alongside the bitterness without adding any sugar. I don´t like when it´s accompanied with a sour taste. So you get it. I like my espresso.

Here are the best places to have a cup.

Illy Galleria del Caffè - Lai 26

Kehrwieder Chocolaterie - Saiakäik 1

Cafe Chocolaterie de Pierre - Vene 6

Josephine - Vene 16

Well...and my place - Lai 32

Oh, and every office that uses 7 Kohvipoissi machines and coffee. If you think that this is a shameless plug - you´re absolutely right. They are my friends, but that does not change the fact that their coffee is excellent. Give it a try.

Spaghetteria da Vinci

They've been open now under the new name for a while, but I've been ignoring them in spite of their good location and good looking wait-staff. See, they used to be an ice-cream parlor, well in fact a gelato parlor, if that's even appropriate to say. In any case they used to be the best place in Tallinn to enjoy Italian ice-cream or any kind of ice-cream for that matter.

Then they decided to reform and ended up with what they are now - a Spaghetteria da Vinci... Alright...Good news though - they still have the ices, just not all the same flavors. Don't get me wrong, still great.

I don't know what it is about this place, but I like them. They're not over-designed or over-priced or serving "cooking pretty" food. There you go, maybe that's it. Good, tasty food that doesn't end up costing you an arm and a leg.

You can get a fresh salad or/and a reasonably sized pasta dish and be on your way. Wait, don't forget the gelato. Plus, one of the blondes has this absolutely amazingly intriquing little smile that I just can't read. Either she thinks that I'm the biggest idiot or she's flirting with me.

P.S. Best value offering in Mid-Town: Birra Menabrea 66cl - 40EEk

Museum

Perfect location, really really perfect. Nice, but not over-achieving cuisine, at least on paper and potentially people-friendly space. What I mean is that it's not a basement, not a hotel and it has floor to ceiling windows. So far - so good for the Museum.

Now, I really don't want to bitch about the interior...so let's get it over with quickly. Unless you are one of the people who have trouble making a decision about what kind of lighting fixture or a chair you like or a wall color for that matter, you are not gonna like this interior fiasco. I do get it, they were going for the whole retro 70's chic thing, but it turned out like a cheap set for making a mocumentary about the work of John Holmes.

Oh and the whole we have a lounge and a restaurant side. It really would be fine , but why does the restaurant side look like the lounge and vice versa.

Now to the food. I actually visited them several times, I'll explain shortly. The
first visit I ordered Trout Tartar with Avocado in Miso sauce. The trout was quite nice and fresh and so was the avocado. What ruined the whole thing was the so-called Miso sauce that was just mind boggling. They managed to somehow come up with a dark brown gravy that was so sweet that it made my teeth itch and obviously overwhelmed the taste of mango and the trout. Believe me it would have done that to any taste known to man.

After that I ordered Scallops grilled on Teppanyaki with Wakame and Cucumber Salad. I was surprised with the salad and in a good way. It was tasty and fresh and visually pleasing. The scallop was slightly over-cooked, but not bad. The keyword being A SCALLOP. What makes them believe that if you slice the thing crosswise you can call it scallops. What, you think that putting a knife to it is gonna make it multiply. One scallop is one scallop. That's it.

Then before leaving I took another look at the menu and saw that they have a Burger on there. So I promised to myself to be back. So I did. That happened few days later when they were getting ready to close for the night. I had the burger and several Mojitos. Possibly the best Mojitos in town and also possibly the best burger in town.


Still pretty far from a real burger though.

In Vino Veritas

This is not the first time I'm talking about In Vino Veritas, but I figured that everybody likes good news. And the good news is - they finally got their pizza oven up and running. Still testing it out though, but very shortly will be adding various pizzas to their menu offering.

I like this place and I like their food. Both are unpretentious and inexpensive. Plus the food is tasty. Just the place for my liking. The main guy in the kitchen does not consider himself an artist, but a craftsman. And he or she is a good one at that.

Simple, but delicious, homey tasting pasta dishes and excellent wine. That is enough for me, no need to pile ingredients on the plate in a three dimensional puzzle manner.
They just added Carpaccio and now pizza...I like it even more.

Possibly the best tasting simple Italian fair in Tallinn.

Vapiano

I don't know why McDonald's gets such a bad wrap, since everybody who walks in the door knows exactly what their in for. There are no far reaching promises involved. It is what it is. Maybe that is the way I should look at Vapiano-Pasta-Pizza-Bar. It's hard to do though since these are my very favorite things PIZZA, PASTA and BARS.

Because of that I'm probably not the best person to judge them. I'm just me and they are a pretty decent size international food service chain with over 30 franchises all over the world. No McDonald's though.

I'm not going to go into the whole how anybody who walks in the door doesn't matter thing in this post, if anybody is interested you can check out ranting on that subject matter on the following link http://allweneedisloveandmarketing.blogspot.com/.

Back to food, it's simple and not bad. That is not a compliment. Not bad is not good and considering that good is the opposite of excellent, not bad is pretty bad. They tried to cut cost by eliminating waiting staff and also by hiring people who try hard to impersonate chefs behind the counter visible for every visitor. Not sure why this was necessary. Yes it is always fun to watch a highly skilled people in the kitchen, but if you don't have them, it's not such a great idea.

Let's not forget that little mistakes like dropping one of the shrimp on the prep counter instead of the skillet and then picking it up and adding it to others would be hidden from the eyes of people who ordered scampi e spinaci. I wonder if the five second rule would've also applied with the floor contact?

The whole process of food preparation that is visible to diners reminded me of a inefficient factory floor from a time that I have personally not witnessed and only seen from black and white movie footage. It also made me dream of possible distant future culinary adventures prepped and controlled by super-smart robots. Well...

I have to admit that I did go back with my kids and they gave it a thumbs up. They also like McDonald's.

Bruxelles

Once again I'm trailing off course with the post I'm writing right now. It has nothing to do with eating out in Tallinn. Being away and different locations, specially the ones I've never been to do that to me.

Brussels being small enough for me to develop habit forming favorite spots in just few days is an absolute gem when it comes to street food and people watching. Two activities that I have been missing for a while. Yes, you got it, street food is more than just food - it is an activity.

Frites at Maison Antoine located at Place Jourdan reminded me once again that getting the starch out of the potato and frying it to a golden perfection in a way that leaves the inside fluffy and the outside crunchy is as much art as making a picture perfect chocolate truffle. Don't let me get started on truffles.

Waffles with whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate topping, waffles with whipped cream, bananas, walnuts and chocolate topping and waffles with way more elaborate toppings. Need I say more.

Only thing that will top all that heavenly sweetness...?
You guessed it - beer. Blonde, brune and all the wonderful lambics. This is not your usual get me a lager - I'm thirsty and get me drunk affair. Tasting and smelling all the different palates, some fruity and sweet, some honestly earthy is an experience in itself.

Oh yeah and I discovered a fourth meal of the day while people watching, here's a picture

Rooftops of Tallinn - Lounge 24 & Terrace of Vertigo

This was a fun night. Somebody came up with an idea that we should go somewhere high up and since there were no other suggestions, that's what we did. It turned out to be an excellent idea.

We started with the rooftop of SAS Radisson Hotel. The place is called Lounge 24 and the weather was good, the view even better and the company - good friends = excellent.

I had a salmon wrap and a fresh salad. The wrap was pretty damn good, but seriously on the small side. The salad was indeed fresh and except for the fact that they forgot to toast the pignoli nuts really enjoyable. Pignoli nuts untoasted are just an addition of protein, not taste. Still like I said I liked my dinner.

My friends were split down the middle when it came to a verdict. The salad with roasted duck got a thumbs up, but a Caesar's thumbs down. Well really, it was Iceberg lettuce. Desserts were a big hit. For whatever reason I skipped them, so I truly shouldn't say anything.

Now to the service. The girl waiting on us absolutely hated doing that, hated being there, hated her job and quite possibly hated us. Even that did not ruin the experience.

The night was young and we decided to walk across the street for drinks. Vertigo's terrace is way lower than the top of the neighboring hotel, but the views are still great. We were lounging on the couches enjoying the setting sun. Beautiful.

So we went for the Mojitos and staying with Cuban feel I decided to order a nice cigar. I was pleasantly surprised, after checking their menu, that they had my favorites - Monte Cristo #2's. EXCEPT...they had just had a party who smoked all of them. Hmmm...OK, I'm not saying anything. So I opted for a Cohiba Robusto. It was not well kept, the wrapper was broken in at least three places. But guess what, another Moijto or two and the still setting sun raised my tolerance to an unheard of level.

Beautiful.



P.S. At some point I also had dessert at Vertigo's terrace - NY style raspberry cheesecake. Nothing about it was New York Style, but it was good - real good.

Three Sisters

Well, there's another hotel restaurant, by now you should know how I feel about the whole concept. When it comes to hotels in Tallinn, Three Sisters is considered to be one of the most exquisite and their restaurant wonderful by a lot of people.

Since the weather has been summer-like and they also have a courtyard, I managed to visit them twice in this past week. Once for lunch and then later in a week for dinner. I've always been little suspicious of their menu, mainly because of my dislike of pretentious cuisine and when you read their menu you could get a feeling that the chef insists on recherche ingredients not because of their qualities but their snob value.

First - lunch: I ordered a glass of Sangria Rose and a BLT and it was great. Sangria was nicely on the dry side and BLT almost the real thing. What got me thinking though was the simplicity of a sandwich offered in the hotel that likes to charge around $1000 for some of it's rooms. In any case I enjoyed the simple lunch with good company in a pleasant environment.

Now for the dinner visit - I have to admit that once again I kept good company, but the environment and some of the other components of having a great dinner out were lacking of ....something. They really try to be a first grade establishment, but even though the waiting staff was very quick and polite, almost ninja like, I found the way of sommelier's behavior to be too familiar for my taste. I need to point out that the head sommelier was not present that night and the guy helping us was all proud of becoming a certified sommelier just a week ago.

That doesn't change the fact that when looking for a perfect wine pairing he paid no attention to our personal preferences and then ended recommending a much more expensive choice than what I personally would have chosen.

Now the food - I started with a Waldorf Salad and it was just OK, everything was fresh and all the necessary ingredients were present on the plate, but for whatever reason they were really sliced and diced fine. Just too fine, almost shredded. Not the way it really should be.

I continued with PAN-FRIED DUCK FILLET WITH CARAMELIZED CHICORY with kumquat-ginger compote and green pepper-red wine sauce. I would call it endive instead of chicory, but I know that there's some serious confusion going on with naming this leafy vegetable that doesn't like daylight on some menus. Anyway it was good, I mean the caramelized endive. The duck was prepared to my liking when it comes to doneness, but it was little chewy. The sauce was a disappointment.

Then I got a bite from my companions plate, she had ordered SLOW ROASTED VEAL CHEEKS IN RED WINE SAUCE served with sweetbread, spinach and green beans. Man, that sweetbread just melted in my mouth. Not that many places serve heart thymus gland in these parts and this was a wonderful surprise. Definitely the high point of the experience.

All in all it was a pretty nice evening. Not great though, and considering what they think they are or try to be and what they cost I would expect little more.

Controvento

I think it's safe for me to say and most people will agree that Controvento is the most popular restaurant in the city of Tallinn. Why? I guess there are many reasons. The obvious one - the location, it does not get much better than that. St. Catherine's Passage smack in the middle of Old Town. Then again that pretty much only works with the tourists. For whatever reason most of the locals are not as fond of the picturesque medieval part of town.

Then again, locals have a even better reason to love this place. See, Controvento is one of the very few if not the only place that has managed to stay popular for the last decade and a half and because of that most people have their very own emotional attachment to it. Almost every one I know has some kind of tradition involving this homey restaurant located on the coziest street in town. For some it's a weekly Saturday afternoon thing, for others a New Year's Day tradition and guess what, no amount of clever advertising or marketing magic can top that. Something like that is embedded in the subconscious.

I have to say that I am an unfortunate one, for not having any deep emotional affection or feeling of loyalty towards this place and because of that I can remain absolutely objective. Here it goes - their pasta dishes stink and I don't mean that in a scent type of way. Their pizzas are just barely OK. See totally objective.

Don't worry it gets better from now on. First of all Controvento serves some of the best steaks in town and their fish is usually fresh and nicely prepared. Wine list adequate and not horribly over-priced. Unfortunately the vegetables that come as a side are just too plain and boring. All the plates are quite big and I guess because of that I've never had dessert here. Lets assume that their desserts are great.

All in all Controveto is a pleasant little restaurant with lovely atmosphere and a decent menu. I just personally love all the simple things of Italian cuisine. Food that doesn't cost much at the market, takes a long time to prepare and tastes wonderful because of that.

Controvento has been around for a while and will be around for a long time.

daVinci

Let's get the good out of the way first. Restaurant daVinci serves good Italian food in a setting that...qualifies... as nice, little sterile, but nice. Most of the food is good and some excellent. My personal favorites are Verdure alla Parmigiana for appetizers and Filetto Grigliato con Polenta su Salsa di Madeira for main dishes.

What makes daVinci special for me is their Gelato - best ice-cream in this city, no questions about it. Love the Frutti di Bosco and Pistacchio. Let's not forget that I am a person who remembers the street corners in Paris, Gordes and Lucca where he had the absolute best ice-cream in the world. I could still find these places today, maybe even blind-folded.
So take my word for it - you are not gonna find better ice-cream over here.

Another enjoyable thing about daVinci is their wine-list, a lot of good wines meant for drinking over lunch and a pretty good selection of fine wines for special occasions, with almost every region of the beautiful country of Italy represented. I don't like when restaurants fill their wine list with trophy wines and can't stand when they try to make a killing with their wine offering. daVinci doesn't do either.


Now here comes the catch. daVinci is divided in half - the cafe side on the left and the a la carte side on the right. Also daVinci is one of the few places in Tallinn that has a decent pizza oven... Are you ready - you can only get pizza on the cafe side. Did you get that? OK. But this is not even the funny part, their pizza oven is located in the a la carte side of the restaurant. So if you wanted a pizza, but were told that you can't have it, you can still get a whiff and a looksy when the waiter passes your table carrying it to the cafe side.

I'm sure somebody at some point figured this to be a logical solution. Maybe they think that they will not make enough money on something that cheap like pizza on their A LA CARTE side or maybe they think that when people sit down at a table that has a cloth on it, they forget that they love pizza. I don't know.

But imagine this - you are having a fun dinner out with friends, let's say a group of eight...wait for it - plus let's say people brought their kids with them. Five of them to be exact. You think that you are going to take a chance on a Carpaccio for a starter for 150EEK, follow it with a steak with truffle sauce for 280EEK and finish with a Tiramisu for 70EEK. 150+280+70=500. And you had a good day at work and decided to award your-self with a bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella 2001 for a whopping 1425EEK. And your friends are just as hungry and also had great days at the office.
Now 500+1425=1925x8=15400EEK. I'm sure you already know where I'm going with this - kids want pizza, and who's to blame them, everybody loves pizza. What do you do? Let me remind you ...NO PIZZA. What do you do? Do you ignore the kids request? Risk having to put up with five very unhappy youngsters, who are able to ruin your night out for much less that not getting pizza for dinner? Do you relocate to the cafe side? Or do you walk out the door?

I would use the door and I have personally seen other people walk out of daVinci for the same exact reason. Well hey, I'm sure whoever made such a radical reason as refusing pizza for their clients, is probably a Marketing Guru or a Customer Service Genius or both. He or she had reasons. Reasons good enough to make 15 400 EEK's walking out the door meaningless.

Baby Back

OMG, why is it, that everybody outside of US thinks that Americans eat ribs, burgers and nothing else? All this, when for example there's more Chinese restaurants in the States than McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's restaurants combined.

Anyhow if you want to see and taste a comical stereo type of what the rest of the world thinks US looks like and what it eats - this place "Baby Back" is perfect. Unfortunately it doesn't come close to offering a sampling of American cuisine, not even of the stereotypical one.

The steaks are horribly over-cooked and over-priced, this pretty much goes for the rest of the food too. My personal funny favorite from the menu is Creole Gumbo. Boy, they must really know their stuff, since they actually make a distinction between Creole and Cajun Gumbos outside of Louisiana. But...it turns out they think Creole Gumbo is a spicy creamy soup. Yep, they put cream in Gumbo. Believe it.

I don't think I'm going to make a mistake of visiting them again. Not good food, not at all, but you don't have to take my word for it. Go ahead, I dare you.

Now here, this is the way to make Gumbo, yes it takes forever, specially if you make your own roux. I do. It's worth it. There's nothing like a great Gumbo.

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/gumbo.html

TOP 10 worst restaurants of Tallinn

In no particular order

Buenos Aires




Fellini

La Vie

Paat

Elevant

Bossanova Corallo

Lucca

African Kitchen

Mercado

Mack Bar-B-Que


Off course there's no really objective way of putting together a list like this, so
I tried to take into account what kind of places the restaurants on the list are trying to be. Obviously I don't think they've accomplished their goals.

As always I'm open for your suggestions, let us know your absolute worst dining experiences. Everybody likes crap like that.

Cafe Pushkin

Quite possibly the ugliest eating establishment in town and get this, the building it's in - is beautiful and the space gorgeous. So what's left, it's the furnishings and design, well in fact - the total lack of design. You walk in the door and seems you have stepped into a time machine and traveled for a decade or two.

So why am I talking about this place? It's a single dish. They call it on their menu :
Fried potatos and mushrooms and bacon. Yes it's simple, sautéed bacon with mushrooms and home-fries. It is delicious though. Absolutely perfect. Every time I sit down at Cafe Pushkin I tell myself, this time you gotta get something else, but it just doesn't work out that way. Absolutely perfect.

I'm sure their other dishes are lovely and right now you can sit out-side, not see the ugliness and people-watch.(One of the very few places in Tallinn suitable for this activity). So hey, bacon anybody?

Tchaikovsky

Black walls, antique leather bound books and thick picture frames may not be everyone's take on design that feels comfortable, but it's my take on that. No worries, even if you don't like that sort of stuff, you will be pleasantly surprised - the space is not stifling or over-whelming. Could be the solarium style glass ceiling that gives the whole place an airy feel.

I do have a reservation about restaurant Tchaikovsky and it is this. Once again a Tallinn restaurant is in a hotel and even though it's staffed with polite competent people and designed nicely enough to dress up for the occasion you'll always end up with big group of hotel guests in jeans and polo shirts. I'm not blaming them, they're probably here on business and just walked down from their rooms.

But it does ruin the whole eternally enjoyable symbiosis - the fusion of French and Russian cuisine. That last one is a quote mash-up originating from their own website.
I just long for elite restaurants that are not with a hotel.


The food is good, pricey but good. For a chef's welcome treat we got a foie gras and black truffle mousse that left us wanting for more. There was something else, but I don't recall what it was. It doesn't matter, the taste of that mousse is still with me.

Now here comes the best part - their soups... and the soups are served with pirozhki, well you need to order them. All together they only have two soups they serve:
Cold Okroshka with veal tong, sorrel dock and apple and Borsch with sturgeon and herbs. TCHAIKOVSKY PIROZHKI are a must, they used to offer one with duck liver and raisins. That was heavenly, I don't know why they stopped. In any case the Sauerkraut and smoked mackerel ones are also excellent.

I love the borsch here, but if you're ordering it to be taken back in time and expect something that grandma made, you could be little disappointed. This is not your typical thick hearty soup that you could be used to. No, this is a modern classic with a twist - the salacious way they serve it. The bowl arrives without the broth, so that what you see in the beginning is beets, herbs and sturgeon neatly stacked. Then they add the broth from a pitcher and the color of it...it looks like Pinot Noir.

The main courses are little on the expensive side, but just wonderful. It seems the main guy in the kitchen loves foie gras and so do I. The person in charge of all the sauces definitely knows his or hers trade.

When it's time for desert I'm usually stuffed and oh yeah look out for their Vodka shot glasses - huge - sneaky. One thing, I'm not a big fan of their wine list pricing policy, since I shop at the same whole seller and can do basic math.


Tchaikovsky is one of the best restaurants in town.

Bangkok

This place is in the basement - really dark basement. In case you didn't know, I'm no big fan of basements and I think that a slight case of claustrophobia is nothing to be ashamed of.

They do have pretty good soups and Pad Thai noodles are as good as they get outside of Thailand or some place that has a considerable Thai community. Obviously Tallinn is not one of them.

Interior of Bangkok is OK, just OK, no more, but also no less. I guess it's a modern take on "I'm surrounded by bamboo". I would have to say the biggest surprise about this restaurant is it's door. It can easily be considered a cumbersome piece of machinery. I don't see myself as a weakling, but I have trouble with it every once in a while.

All together dining experience over here can be quite enjoyable, as long as you stay away from the curries. Too soupy, not spicy enough and just lacking character. It's not like this is a challenge or anything, but I myself prepare a pretty mean Panang curry. OK enough of blowing my own horn, since I actually have something else to add.

It could be just a coincidence, but at least twice I've walked to their door and they've been closed without any advance warning on their web-site. Plus today when I called to order take-out, somebody proudly announced over the phone that they are closed for shooting a movie.

But I was hungry, so a fair warning.

Monaco

Naming your restaurant(Monaco) after the consulate that happens to be located in the same hotel is not a particularly good idea. But OK, I can live with that. Having a staff that is incompetent to the extreme on the other hand is not.

I didn't start off well, then again neither did they. I ordered the easiest thing on the menu - Caesar's Salad with grilled chicken and a bottle of white wine. I love Caesar's salad, can't stand when it's soggy and when people who serve it, don't know that there's just one way to make it and that it has nothing to do with ancient Rome.

Caesar Cardini is in the history books and millions of people are enjoying his creation from Mexico for hundreds of years to come. Unfortunately restaurant Monaco is not a good place for doing that. Don't get me wrong, quite possibly everything else on the menu is delicious. And maybe you'll get great service as well...



P.S. I'm adding a picture of the original in Tijuana.

Il Gallo Nero

I'm not even sure if Il Gallo Nero belongs in this blog, since what it is, is basically a bodega with few tables. So if you're leaving the house thinking to your-self "I'm famished" - you probably shouldn't go there. But I like this tiny space with the homely feel.

They serve paninis, simple baked pasta dishes and tapas. The first time I had a panini with a glass of Chianti and it was real good, plus reasonably priced. The second time I enjoyed a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino and tapas. Again quite nice. Never had the baked ziti and lasagne type things, since I don't really dig the whole re-heating idea.

So if you are looking for a cozy place just to hang with friends, have some snacks, or to chat up with a friendly owner straight from Italy - Il Gallo Nero is just right.

Buenos Aires

OK...this is it...all things considered...Buenos Aires is the worst restaurant in Tallinn. It's not easy for me to say this and I'm not taking it lightly. I've been unfortunate enough to visit this place three times, so there's no bad luck or dark mood on the chef's part involved. It got worse - not better with every visit.

Let's see - the prices are outrageous, specially considered, that 80% of the stuff - yep that's right, stuff on the menu is just inedible. Without getting too wrapped up in higher mathematics I can safely say that Buenos Aires is in the same price category with the yard stick of all eating establishments - THE Fat Duck. The difference is that one is commonly referred too as the best restaurant in the whole wide world and the other is well.....


And WHAT is the deal with these round stacked wooden thingies? Either the designer was smoking dope or had been reading way too many stories by Dr.Seuss or just an idiot. In any case they are either disturbingly silly or scarily ugly. You pick. Well done - whoever you are.

The menu - mostly meat - forgets to mention that it doesn't really matter what you order, since everything will be either over-cooked or tasteless or both. So save your money and get the cheapest thing on the menu, chances are you are not going to be eating it anyway.

Alright, enough ranting, I'm starting to feel guilty for saying such nasty things. I'm not used to this and it's taken me a long time to gather up all the courage to say all these nasty things. ANYHOW...Buenos Aires - all things considered is the worst restaurant in Tallinn.

Best Menu in Tallinn Tonight

Appetizer - In Studio Vinum

Pan fried foie gras with apple-sea buckthorn compote on the toast

Soup - Tchaikovsky

Borsch with sturgeon and herbs, do not forget the heavenly addition of TCHAIKOVSKY PIROZHKI

Entrée - Stenhus

Grilled pork belly with ratatouille mille-feuille, parsnip and black truffle purée

Dessert - Nevskij

Fresh Berries „Zapekanka“



BON APPETIT

Butterfish

As a response to my post about the Kalev Yacht Club somebody sent me a picture of a butterfish. So here it is.
Thank you

Ribe

Ribe. I find it hard to say much about this place and I consider myself somewhat opinionated.
It's just that it seems like everybody involved worked really hard not to offend anybody. What happens when you try to make something that pleases everybody? You end up with something that most people don't dislike, but nobody loves.

Let's start with the good. I liked the wine list, not too long or too pretentious and they didn't multiply the whole-sale price by 10. Ended up with a glass of white from Luxembourg - a first for me. Served way too warm, but liked it anyway. Since I ordered fish, I decided to follow up with a bottle of Pouilly-Fuissé. You can't really go wrong with this often delicate Burgundy white.

Also liked a industrial looking chandelier made of stainless serving spoons and forks with a single light bulb.That pretty much wraps up the good.

The rest of the interior design is best described as forgettable. Mostly minimalistic crap with elements of so-called modern chic. OK...

I had Escargots de Bourgogne for a starter and did not like it. Too salty and too garlicky. Didn't think the second one was possible for me, but hey. For a main dish had Steamed pangasius fillet with blini, trout roe and leek-fennel sauce. Waitress, who mind I add was very friendly and patient, explained to me that it's a freshwater fish that inhabits rivers of Vietnam. Alrighty, something new, except that it didn't taste like anything and oh yeah - the blini were soggy in that leek-fennel sauce. Blini and soggy, that's like bread and soggy, it makes no difference what they got soggy in.

So if you like your dining out kinda middle of the road, no surprises, good or bad - go ahead. You are not going to hate it. You probably not going to love it either. It's just not one of these tell your friends all about it experiences.

In Vino Veritas

Not taking into account a name - In Vino Veritas - that lacks any kind of imagination, everything else about this place is well thought through. It's interior is warm and comfy, menu short and inexpensive, service friendly and helpful and having a actual well stocked wine store attached to it is not bad either.

Finally somebody figured out that opening a new place with uppedy design and we have the most expensive menu choices in town , may not be the soundest business strategy.


The food here is simple, but good. Maybe could use a little spice and flavoring from herbs, but excellent wine pairings make up for chefs little forgets.

On top of the convenience and joy of being able to cross the hall to pick the nights wine choice, this place is one of the very few that serves their reds at the right temperature.

I had Sliced Filet Mignon in wine sauce and a salad, not sure why it was sliced, but it was tender and cost 150EEK. Nowadays a price like that makes you do a double take, you just can't believe your eyes.


What made the night even more memorable was a bottle of Pommard Albert Bichot 2003 and a nice finishing touch Chateau Le Crock St. Estephe 2002. No no I had friends helping me ,even though I probably could have accomplished this without them.

Good wine, good friends, a homey place with pleasant service, you just can't ask for much more. Oh yeah and the food is not pricey - perfecto.