Lee Brasserie — Restaurant in Tallinn

Went there on a warm summer evening in the beginning of August. Had booked a seat outside on a terrace and gotta say, the atmosphere over there is magical. The place was packed and tables quite close together so it was also quite noisy but that is to be expected. Service, as you would again have a standard in a place like that, was very professional, friendly and just attentive enough.

Although I was more than ready for the winning streak to continue food-wise, this is where it largely stopped. Let me break it down for you.

1. Price vs quantity. Firstly, no-one expects jumbo portions in fine dining restaurants but for some reason, the size of the portions or the amount of some elements in the dishes was especially noticeable at Lee. My poutine contained 3 very tiny pieces of pork and altho the the elements in the dish tasted nice and rich, you would pay 16 eur for some fries and gravy. However good, this is not worth it. We also ordered a side of a salad and the size of the portion really stuck out. You could have doubled the amount of salad and it still wouldn't have filled half of the bowl served. Again, I get that it's not a pizza hut. However, I've been to my fair share of restaurants Lee can consider its competitors and beyond but I haven't had this kind of a feeling elsewhere.
2. Composition. In these kind of restaurants I'd expect dishes to be very thought through so the dishes would work even if you only ordered one thing . At Lee, that didn't happen in my opinion. Almost every (hot) dish there needs a side and you can order those separately. Not a fan of this approach- I would much rather see the chef's vision of a holistic dish. To add to the same point, from the cold dishes I had a trout and you only had one kind of texture in the dish. It really screamed for something else.
3. The X factor. What was served to us was good. I can't say that it wasn't. There were some interesting flavours and there was a richness in the poutine I ate. Considering everything else I fully expected to be blown away. Maybe my expectations were too high but I wasn't impressed...

Edit: Found a draft of a review I had written. Here are parts of it: I had high expectations, but in the end I felt really embarrassed that I had been so visibly hyped to bring our group here :( If I had to visit again, I wouldn't choose the "Lee experience" (=sharing) if there were more than two of us. It was a hassle that only made things more difficult and didn't work for an uneven number of people The food was underwhelming at best and bad at worst. Two of the dishes would've returned to kitchen almost untouched if we didn't have 2 people who are adamant about not wasting food that's paid for - and the problem wasn't that the portions were too big or that we were full (quite the opposite actually). I wouldn't call us picky eaters either, this was the first time something like this happened I understood the thinking behind the wine selection but they were still overpriced Desserts are usually good anywhere you go, but this time it was unbelievably sour, like no sugar had went into it. Just terrible. I realized afterwards that it was missing some ingredients as well The waiters tried their best but clearly were too inexperienced. There were many "basic" blunders like uneven pours, not taking care that we had cutlery, forgetting to bring a wine glass etc. which we had to ask for, stumbling through the descriptions of the dishes, but also bigger things which we didn't expect from a place of this price level. At one point our light went out and we were left to eat in the dark which they didn't notice even though we sat almost in front of them.

= Not worth your time and especially not your money. You can find some really great restaurants in Estonia but sadly this one...

Dinner at Lee Restaurant felt like eating at a refined family gathering—not in the sense that you had your annoying aunt at the table, but insofar as how welcome everyone made you feel. The servers chatted with you like old friends, all the while maintaining professionality, knowledgeable discourse about the menu, and never interrupting your meal. The ambiance was pleasant blues and golds, with just enough lighting to see, without being glaring. It had none of the over-done warehouse-kitsch so common nowadays. We opted for the “Lee’s Secret,” an amazing dining experience which invites you to focus on your palate and the flavours in each course you encounter. I won’t spoil the experience by saying more, but the pictures should give a sense of what is involved. Again, it was enjoyable, immersive, and never gimmicky. And it definitely served the purpose of keeping us focused on the nuances of each flavor pairing, which chefs work so hard to plan and conceptualize, but at least for my part, I all too often inhale without much mindful thought. This focus on mindful eating, mindful processing and mindful preparation of food was, I felt, at the core of everything Lee Restaurant is about. We loved the cauliflower hummus and the dessert is something I am still thinking about—a Kohuke. Get it, you’ll thank me. The main course of steak was expertly cooked and paired with its sides (can’t say too much or I will ruin the Secret Experience!) The restaurant had a ready-to-go wine pairing for the multiple course meal that was expertly selected, and was just precisely enough wine to make the meal an even more...