Casa ITALIA Bulevardi — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

After walking around the city for almost 5 hours straight, we stumbled upon this Italian gem completely by chance. As we already had dinner plans we were just looking for a place to sit down, have a glass of wine and maybe a small snack/light lunch, kind of a thing. And this place did not disappoint. Good selection of great white and red Italian wines, and we took Italian antipasti plate, that comes with few peaces of warm ciabatta bread and which was more than enough for a light snack for two. The quality of products on that plate is absolutely superb. I’ve read some other reviews, and I don’t agree that the menu is too small. I see it more as a place where you come and enjoy good wine and atmosphere, and have something to eat along the way. But I admit, I may be biased, because there is nothing I despise more than Italian restaurants offering 20 types of pizza, 50 types of pasta and another 30 types of main meat and fish dishes on their menus. These kind of places I call tourist’s traps. This place has an absolute 5 star rating from us. Oh, and the service...

Was recommended this place by a local, but was severely disappointed. Our waiter took our order 15 minutes after we sat down, but was very friendly and apologetic. Ordered the: lasagna, pizza, prawns, and chicken and it took an hour for the prawns to come out and even longer for everything else(over 30 minutes). Prawns were rubbery, flavorless with a side of hard bread, and considering the portion size, it should have cost way less than €20. Pizza crust was underdone. Flavor of the chicken was very good but some pieces were dry while some were moist. The only item I would recommend is the lasagna. Very flavorful and perfect balance of cheese, sauce, and pasta. My only complaint is that there wasn’t a lot of mince in it and the pomodoro is a bit too sweet.

Would I recommend you visit Casa Italia? Unless you are a masochist who likes long waits and can withstand dehydration(there were no water refills), then no. Spend your money somewhere else with better service and...

A bottle of Chianti, a pizza starter and two main dishes. All were worth the price. All good. But our two-hour visit was painfully slow. The waitress-in-training was not ready for the job, and the experienced staff should’ve known better. Long after we’d finished 1/2 a bottle of wine, the pizza starter arrived along with one main dish. Pizza and main nearly done, we asked about the chicken, staff running by but ignoring us. “Oh, sorry. It’ll be worth the wait” Other couples came and went, seated right beside us. When finished, we asked for the check and few times. Again, other tables got attention, but our waitress kept nodding then would never return. After more than two hours, we had to walk to the desk and force the issue. Maybe they’re short of staff, but they should never let the waitress work unassisted on...