Restaurant Kirsikka — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

We had the spring menu for two. The first curious choice was the serving of three oysters for two to share. We decided not to give the audience a weirdly sexual display of one oyster and two tongues, but I gave the orphan oyster to my brother instead. In the next serving, we got three herring nuggets. They were not nuggets but beer-battered fillets. They were fine with the dip, but again an odd number for even diners. The tartar was underwhelming. I didn't even get a hint of Worcestershire sauce or eschallions but instead I could hardly taste anything else but the heap of Parmesan. I also found the lack if egg yolk disturbing.

The vendance roe linguini was bland and the savoury burst of roe was overpowered by sour cream and starch. On the other hand, it was my brother's favourite dish. He calls it refined and delicate. It's not seasonal right now, but I thought lemon balm and crayfish linguini might be a bolder alternative in the late summer. Vorsmack was okay. I would have expected stronger acid, salt and sugar with the garnishes considering the Polish Jewish roots of the dish. The lightly salted "mummo kurkut" ware an odd pair to a dish that has existed in Finnish cuisine for shorter time than your grandma.

The cheese board was minimalistic but the quality was good. The salted pudding was really good as was the rhubarb sorbet.

I think the cooks should grow a pair regarding seasoning and flavour. Refined does not mean bland. The service was on point. The only improvements I would have is that they should upsell port with the cheese board. I should not be the one to suggest port and the staff should suggest maybe prosecco is not ideal...

Shockingly bad lunch service. We were greeted by a bumbling water who, after a few minutes, took us to our table without any menus. The staff didn't communicate with each other, so the nice lady who greeted us after another few minutes just setting there had to bring us to menus.

Three options for each course, none which looked worth the money: Minute steak and chips (27€), gnocchi (23€) and a pike wallenberg (25€). My partner took the gnocchi, and I settled for the herring starter - which couldn't be made into a main, apparently.

What arrived VERY quickly was a bit of a shocker: a teeny-tiny starter with three small herring fillets. It was tasty, but it felt like it was pulled straight from the fridge. My partner's main, however, was a joke: gnocchi with lovage and vegan feta was a dry petrol station portion with massive raw tomatoes on top. The gnocchi were those cheap rubbery supermarket varieties, and the vegan feta was dry. It looked like student food. 23 euros!

We didn't finish the food and asked for the bill. The waiter didn't ask how we found the food - she KNEW.

57€ for two, having one main, one starter, a small glass of wine, and a diet coke. Shocking.

The interior was pretty, but now the garish Michelin statue in the middle felt like an insult to other restaurants working hard to provide good quality experiences. Shame that Kirsikka is so rubbish, as it could easily be...

We had booked for a group of 15 people. After waiting for 45 minutes for the food (long time for a group that has ordered the food beforehand) the food arrived not hot, not cold, but kind of warm. The food was simply to say disappointing and bland, especially for the price. The pumpkin gnocchi was mushy and hard at the same time. The pike wallenberg was a tiny serving with a couple sad pieces of vegetables and tiny few shrimps on top. The only thing that was great of the main dishes was the mushroom risotto. Also the starters were good, thats why I gave two stars instead of zero.

After the dinner we waited for another 45minutes for our checks after our server had asked us how we wish to pay. The service was unbelievably slow and the restaurant didn’t seem so full. We had wished that they had prepared for us since they knew we were coming. Also the menu we were able to order from was tinier than the main menu just to make the service flow more smoother, which failed.

The good: The servers were lovely, sang for the birthdaygirl and checked on us, refilling our glasses constantly. The restaurant itself was nice and the atmosphere was lovely. The drinks were good, even though a bit pricey. Sadly none of us wish to dine there again. The quality of the food does not...