B5 Black — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

I had a bit of an odd experience here the other day, which was admittedly part my own fault.

This place used to be called The Black Grill and The Black Grill's food cart still exists downtown at the train station. I was (possibly incorrectly) told this was still the same place, it had just been updated from a semi-functional food cart box into a proper little restaurant. I adore the food cart, which has one of my favorite burgers in town, so I came here hoping to get it. I found out that regardless of who owns this place now, this was not, at least, the same menu as The Black Grill.

Shaking off that disappointment, I mentioned to the staff that I don't speak Finnish well but wanted to clarify that I could swap beef for chicken in a burger, which they confirmed. Then I ordered a halloumi burger, asking for chicken instead of beef. I must have misread that this was one of the vegetarian options, because my burger showed up without halloumi. I assume that means they thought I wanted to swap the halloumi for chicken, but when someone fully says that they don't speak the language well and then goes on to order something pretty weird (I could even hear them talking about it in the kitchen, confused), you would think that they might double-check with me about my order.

Anyways, this might have still been fine, except that it seems as though they used thigh meat, which is very uncommon in chicken burgers, as breast meat is better quality and cheap restaurants usually used processed patties. The thigh meat was greasy, fatty, and pretty undercooked, which resulted in a burger I couldn't finish because it was so bad. The staff were kind enough to offer me something else, but I was in a hurry and had lost my appetite.

All-in-all, the staff were kind enough to me and apologetic, but they could have also nipped this whole issue in the bud by just confirming my order with me, and I wouldn't be out 17€ on an inedible burger. I bet it would have been way better...

Tasty and high quality burgers, bun and accompaniments at the price point. Accurate description on menu and met our expectations. Details follow. Open on Vappu 2024. Walk-in and ordered takeaway, €38 total. €15 Veggie Chimichurri vegan Beyond burger with chimichurri, veggie mayo, green leaf lettuce, pickled cucumber, onion, tomato, to which I added a slice of cheddar cheese for €3. Because cheese is life. €15 Cheese burger for my spouse with mustard, ketchup, pickle, 2 slices cheese and excluded the red onion. €5 Side of garlic wedges. Burgers on toasted brioche bun. Spouse's burger cooked to medium as advertised. Beyond burger had a crisp outside with some char and as close to medium as can be achieved with a product that is not made from an animal. High quality produce used for the burgers. Crisp lettuce and onion, good pickled veg, ripe tomato, fresh chimichurri. Garlic wedge potato tasted like it had been roasted, then cut into wedges then all sides seared on the grill with garlic in oil and then added some fresh green onion for plating. I always try to order menu items how the chef designed it for the first time. I will skip the vegan mayo next time because I do not care for any mayonnaise. My spouse will make sure to order her burger ripeness medium-well. I expect we will go back and order other items from the full...

Kävimme ruokailemassa 1.7. Aloitetaan positiivisella: Tilasin Muna burgerin gluteenittomana, valkosipulidipin ja kylkeen ranut. Burger oli hyvä, täytteet maistuvat. Smash pihvi oli hyvin tehty, mutta ei aiheuttanut wau-efektiä. Pöytäseurueessa tilattiin myös makkaraperunat jotka olivat olleet hyvät. Ravintolan puitteet olivat todella kauniit ja viihtyisät.

Sitten huonompaan eli palvelu ja sen laatu. Tilasimme jokaiselle juomat (3 henkeä), odottelimme juomiamme n. 15-20min ja pohdimme, oliko tarjoilia unohtanut juomat. Hetken kuluttua nurkan takaa ilmestyy eri tarjoilia ruokien kanssa, kuin tilauksemme vastaanottanut. Kysyimme tässä vaiheessa, että saisimmeko juomamme pöytään ja meiltä kysyttiin mitä juomia olimme tilanneet. Lisäksi ystäväni pyysi tuomaan hänen tilaamansa puuttuvan dipin. Tarjoilia lähti hakemaan vielä juomia ja dippiä. 10-15min odottelun jälkeen ystäväni kävi tiskiltä uudelleen kyselemässä juomia, jotka saapuivat hetken kuluttua pöytään. Dippi jäi puuttumaan ja ystäväni sanoi tästä asiasta jo toiseen kertaan. Dippi saapui pöytään tovin kuluttua. Pahin moka tuli oman juomani suhteen.

Menusta valitsin itselleni isoilla kirjaimilla gluteenittomaksi mainostetun Maku Brewing sorbetti sourin. Muutaman hörpyn jälkeen aloin epäilemään tuotteen olevan gluteenittoman sijaan normaali vehnäpohjainen olut. Tarkistimme vielä menusta, oliko tuote mainittu gluteenittomaksi ja se oli. Googlettamalla tuotteen itse ymmärsimme, että se ei ollut gluteeniton. Ystäväni lähti tiskille selvittämään asiaa ja ystävällisesti tarjoilia tarkisti vielä tölkistä, että juoma ei ollut menun mainostuksesta huolimatta gluteeniton tuote. Heillä oli tieto siitä, että kaikki Maku Brewing tuotteet olisivat gluteenittomia. Onneksi itselläni ei ole keliakiaa, sillä keliaakikoille virhe voisi tuoda useiden kuukausien toipumisjakson. Omaa sairaustaustaani enempää julkisesti avaamatta voin sanoa, että loppu ilta meni vessassa istuen ja kovien mahakipujen kanssa jonka vuoksi jouduin poistumaan juhlista kotiin etuajassa harmikseni.

Korvauksena tarjottiin, että voisin valita menusta uuden juoman, mutta olimme jo ruokailleet joten en sitä kokenut tarpeelliseksi. Minulta kysyttiin, että haluaisinko mahdollisesti korvauksen, jonka tietenkin halusin kun en juomaa...