Ravintola Ragu — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

I had chef's surprice menu, four courses. My companions had the same, but with vegetarian components.

Bread basket was quite good, with a selection of four different spreads.

Starter was white fish, farmed. The protein itself did not have any flavor, surrounding veggies were allright. Also the accompanying white fish caviar was quite allright.

2nd was a risotto, taste was straight off from a supermarket shelf, no unique flavor or richness of any kind, absolutely nothing to remember by.

3rd, the main, was 16 hours cooked lamb, supplemented with lamb sausage and some veggies. Protein itself was huge letdown: pulled lamb was totally tasteless, sausage was salty, w/ bidder & metallic taste. Veggies were good (local, seasonal, fresh). Due to the poor protein, dish went back to the kitchen, and I got sauted veal instead. This time protein went to a better direction, yet still I'd expcet more from a professional kitchen (too many home cook can do the same, or better).

3th, the dessert, was a mousse of some sort, w/ ice cream. Very basic stuff.

An extra to the 4-course-meal (that actually made it 5-course), was a 'mid-cheese'. 9€ per head, served before dessert. Platter contained 2 small slices of cheese: one w/ flavors, another too mild for my taste. Not bad, yet these tiny slices definately were not worth 9€, and they should have been served between meals, not just before dessert (now it was like having two desserts in a row).

Final words: my companions' veggie dish looked a lot better, and also the taste mirrored the same (I took a few spoonfuls from their plates). If I have had the same (veggie course, with selected wines), I'd have given 3 or 4 stars (propably 4, due to the service that was quite professional, particularly with the wines). I gave 2 stars, because I did not have any wine, and my 'standard' surprice menu, that came without wines, was worth only 2 stars...

A superb fine dining experience ! Last night my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful meal , wonderful wine pairing and wonderful attentive and professional service at Ragu restaurant. We had preordered the Vegan 5 course tasting menu and decided to opt also for the wine pairing to accompany our meal. It was a delightful experience from start to finish and we would definitely recommend Ragu to our friends and to those looking for fine dining Vegan cuisine in Helsinki. The restaurant is easy to find and is a well established and well known eatery by many. We booked a 5pm early table and were impressed to see the restaurant fill up very quickly, creating a lovely atmosphere. The service was superb and very attentive and knowledgeable about the dishes and wines being served this allowed us to fully relax and just enjoy a great evening out and savor the food, drink and atmosphere all the more. The dishes were well thought out and presented. The soup and the main course were particularly nice and ticked all our boxes for flavor and appearance. The wine pairing was an excellent choice too. The dessert wine and the dessert dish itself were on a next level and we could have easily indulged in much more of them both. Needless to say at the end of 5 courses and 5 different wines plus a glass of bubbly to begin with we left Ragu after two and half hours a lot fuller and a lot merrier than when we had arrived. It is extremely good value for money and there were several long tables with family get togethers or work do's being hosted there. We are now looking forward to our next visit in the Spring. A big thank you to all the staff in Ragu both front of house and the back of house chef's for making the evening so wonderful...

This restaurant, located in downtown Helsinki, is taking fine dining and mixing it with some Italian and Finnish elements.

Starting things up with some drinks: as an Italian, anything outside of a Spritz was out of question, and it was spot on: the quantities were correct, not too dry yet not overwhelmingly sweet.

Moving on, the bread table was brought with three different types of bread and four spreads. Everything was made from scratch and fresh, and you could definitely taste it.

Speaking of the menu, you can choose between five courses: two starters, two entrees and a dessert, or you can choose the "surprise menu", which is different for each reservation. We opted to order from the menu and took four courses: two starters, an entree and the dessert.

When it comes to the drinks, the restaurant had a wide range of wines from all across Italy, so if you know your wine, you'll definitely find something you like. The starters were really good: tasty, with some complementary elements that made the dishes go full circle.

In regards to the entree, I took the veal while my wife had the whitefish. The veal was really good, no doubt but it took me some time to go through it as the knife was not sharp enough to cut through the nerves and what not, this is my only pet peeve. As for the whitefish, which I tasted, it was good but there was too much dill for my liking, as I am not really a huge dill fan.

For dessert we had strawberry ice cream, and that was really good, fresh and full, a great end to a great meal. Overall, it was a great experience, and I want to give a plus to our waitress who spoke Italian, that was a little great touch that...