Restaurant Hea Maa — Restaurant in Pärnu linn

This is a five star experience, albeit with four star food. I loved the atmosphere of their charming string-light adorned courtyard. I loved the warm, genuine service. And I really appreciated the humble, locally sourced menu. There are some surprises on there (vegan tom yum??) but most of the dishes are slightly zhuzhed up traditional European cuisine. And really that’s all you need to have a good time: stick to what works, but elevate, maybe.

I had a great time with the beef carpaccio. The meat was super tender, melty and tasty. The accompaniments made sense. I dispute the use of the “healthy tasting” crispbread as the crunch element of the dish, but that’s because I’m Estonian and I associate this kind of thing with pretending to be really into it to please the enthusiastic salesman at the county fair. Other nationalities might not have to deal with such associations. And the dish definitely needs the crunch.

I really appreciate the audacity of making new potatoes into a standalone dish. I grew up eating new potatoes and I have no doubt in my mind that they can in fact hold their own. While nice, the dish served at Hea Maa lacked some depth and simply flavouring the potatoes better would have done it a world of good. Still a good dish, but not exceptional.

My wife’s pike perch was a little anemic and wasn’t properly deboned - something of a common issue here I’ve read - so a bit of a letdown.

So not a perfect night but still plenty to be grateful for. Happy to return. It’s child...

Hea Maa, Pärnu: A Gentle Table off the Beaten Path

There’s something quietly disarming about stepping into Hea Maa. The bustle of central Pärnu falls away as you cross its threshold into a dining room dressed in vintage calm—floral tablecloths, white-painted chairs, a playful screen printed with rows of leather-bound books, as if the space had borrowed its manners from an old country salon. The lighting is soft, the air unhurried; it is the sort of room that encourages you to linger.

The evening began with a small stumble: my request for ice cubes was met instead with a glass of crushed ice, which promptly leached the sparkle out of a bright rhubarb lemonade. A minor hitch, quickly forgiven, for the food soon spoke with far greater clarity.

A plate of beef carpaccio arrived as a delicate composition—slivers of meat under a scatter of greens and tiny vegetables, lifted by just a breath of truffle. The pork tenderloin was the work of a sure hand: evenly cooked, succulent, and accompanied by the occasional baby carrot, one or two of which seemed to have resisted the call of the pan.

Dessert was a summery epilogue—a chilled soup of watermelon and strawberry, sweet but not cloying, given a quiet counterpoint by the gentle nuttiness of oat ice cream.

Hea Maa will not overwhelm you with theatrics, but nor does it need to. It is a place of steady pleasures, content in its craft, and for those willing to wander beyond the main streets, a meal here feels like time decently, and...

Our party was warned ahead of time that the restaurant was short-staffed and that there was a large party — but it took about an hour just to ask for water, and another to get it. Mostly everything we ordered we had to order twice with the same waitress because she didn’t seem to remember. They said it would take an hour for our food, which our group had no issue with, but it took three hours. It seemed as though we almost had to beg for bread and water, and the wine had all but worn off by the time we finished dinner. We spent another 40mins waiting for our checks before everyone got up and went inside to pay — which was the much faster option.

The food was fine, though not worth such a terribly long wait. I would recommend it if the staff were present and available, I’m sure they’re not as awful as...