POCHA! Korean Street Dining — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

This is the first time in Helsinki that I have had a really bad experience at any restaurant bar. After ordering simple drinks the server comes 15 minutes later to say that she cant make the drinks and the bartender is coming to work a bit later. We opted for bottled drinks with my friends because of this. My friend took a bottle of beer but they didnt open it nor give a bottle opener. Pocha did apologize for their insufficient service quality and the food we ordered being delayed by giving a bowl complimentary edamame beans. The problems continued after that however. Once the food was served to us it was sub par. The ”mini burger” with pork was slightly cold and felt a bit raw. After that we took takoyaki balls, which were still cold inside. We didnt have to pay for the takoyaki once we mentioned about it. No napkins were given for the saucy food. I honestly think a bowl of edamame was too little compensation. I was also bothered by the fact that the server didnt speak Finnish nor proper English. Im not trying to be picky, but if ordering drinks and two food dishes requires 10 minutes of discussion with hand gestures, thats a problem in my books. Last time I was at Pocha a couple years ago things went fine and thats why i came...

I mean the food was great, we liked everything. The portions were a bit small as people have been saying but I prefer paying for quality over quantity so that didn’t really affect my score. It was the waiting, we came on a thursday evening with the restaurant being maybe half full and all in all we probably waited more than an hour for the waiting staff in different parts of our dining. First when we wanted to order no one would come to our table we went up to the counter to order but they told us they would come take our order at our table. Then instead coming straight to us the waiter took the order of three tables that came in after us. Ok the food arrived pretty quick, then when we were done eating we asked a kitchen staff member who was clearing our table if we could order dessert and he said he’ll have someone from the waiting staff come over. No one did. For half an hour. Then we went to the counter to tell them that we’ve been waiting forever and that we wanted dessert, they just looked at each other not knowing what to do. No sorry, no discount, no free dessert, no nothing. Such a shame because the food was really great but can’t see myself coming back with this...

The food was extremely good, with the tofu being very tender and soft! The vegetarian options (both the main course and the smaller plates) were quite enticing, with varying degrees of (pleasant) spiciness. The kim-chi/pickeled vegetable plate that I shared was a nice addition, letting everyone in our group pick and choose new flavours and their favourite appetizers.

The Kungfu Pandan-cocktail (a unique blend for this place), was absolutely divine, and one should visit the place for that alone!

The restaurant is a bit small, so a reservation during the more popular hours is definitely advised! The interior is charmingly decorated, and the staff was very friendly and patient. I felt that I was welcome. The location is very central (close to Sörnäs M-Station and multiple bus stops), but a bit off the busiest roads, so it still felt private.

The music was at times a bit loud for conversations, but not by too much.

All in all, a very pleasant experience, and I will definitely...