Finlandia Caviar is a restaurant and store in Helsinki. I recently had lunch there. The menu and concept are highly appealing, especially if you like caviar. First, the prices are very reasonable, but more on that later. I went with a 100g tin of Finlandia caviar which the menu says is from Italy or Portugal. For E105, this is a bargain:
The problem arose when I asked our server to confirm where the caviar was from. She told me it was from China! The caviar itself was ok. It was not horrible but also not amazing. We ordered a set of blinis and truffle toast to go along with it. I think that restaurants should update their menus with proper info so that customers know what they are getting. Anyway, the toast went better than the blinis which were too thick. Also, the egg provided was a bit awkward to eat as it was sliced instead of crumbled like most places.
Next, we ordered lobster roll with truffle and caviar pasta.
Before the food was served, I thought I heard the sound of a microwave door slam! I cannot be 100% sure, but if this is the case, this is a sound you should never hear in a restaurant serving high end food. The lobster roll, while tasting good, was drenched in butter (too much that it pools at the bottom of the container), and the lobster was dry as if microwaved.
The pasta was pretty well cooked (al dente), and it says on the menu it was handmade, but I cannot be sure. The dish itself was pretty good.
Overall, I left conflicted. Although the food was ok to good, I was not happy about the mislabeling on the menu, and the uncertainty about the microwave, especially with the prices of the food. With a name like “Finlandia”, I was hoping to get some local caviar. I would not return.
Discover more from Food Finance Travel
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Sound of death 😁🙏🏼 Amazing. Thank tou for kind words otherwise!
I can assure you the microwave is used for heating plates, coffee mugs and on rare occation, even personnel food.
Labeling – product origin varies and we tey our best to update physical menu at our restaurant.
All caviar is traceable from bottom of the tin because of CITES-code:
Latin species name
Country
Farmed/(wild)
Facility number
Honestly, the cheapest caviar, at 1100€/kg is a complete steal. Chinese or not. This is a great product. Ask our staff and don’t jump to conclusions. Did you notice we had many other species too?
Hope I could clear some confusion.
Best regards,
Kirill Siren
Finlandia Caviar Team
Sound of death 😁🙏🏼 Amazing. Thank you for kind words otherwise!
I can assure you the microwave is used for heating plates, coffee mugs and on rare occation, believe it or not, even personnel food.
What comes to labelling, sometimes the origin might vary, and we just haven’t had the time to replace whole physical menu page. This is not an oversight.
All tins state on their bottom labels
Country
Species
Farmed/(wild)
Country of production
Facility number
This is required by CITES on every caviar product you ever buy. Our staff would have gladly loved to help you not jump to conflusions.
If you’re familiar with caviar prices, you would know 1200€/kg for siberian, or even hybrid sturgeon, is a steal at retail prices. Chinese or not.
Hope I could help some of that confusion, even if only couple years after your visit.
Best regards,
Kirill
Finlandia Caviar Team