Restaurant Pamela — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

Visited the restaurant on a busy Saturday evening with my wife and two children.

Immediately when arriving, what caught my eye, was the fully-packed terrace with its uncleaned tables with no waitresses on sight - not an impressing start.

However, soon after arrival a very kind waitress (the host) compensated the unpleasing first impression, by welcoming us in with a big smile on her face, lovely!. The second waitress who was also our waitress of the evening, also made a good impression by sharing her cuisine and wine knowledge with us. Even amidst of the rush, she was able to keep the service spectacularly kind, respectful and professional, taking beautifully into consideration our two young children. Thank you to her, the young lady with dark long hair.

The food was very tasty and all the recommendations from the staff were spot on! Unfortunately, after having our starters, the experience started to go South. The atmosphere began to feel very uneasy, like an escape room, with customers lining up in the bar meanwhile waitresses having to run back and forth, trying to keep up with the new customers, terrace, running food, taking orders, cleaning tables...

It was quite clear that the evening was awfully understaffed. There was exactly 3 (three) (T-H-R-E-E!) waitresses on the floor during a sunny Saturday evening? Although we got our orders within a decent wait-time, it was depressingly obvious how all the newer customers in the restaurant had to wait in order to even place their orders, to get their food, to be seated, to be able to place their orders on the bar... We felt deeply saddened to be witnessing such an overwhelming amount of work put on the shoulders of three young female-waitresses.

Our own waitress, as well as the two other waitresses (blonde and brunette) were beyond kind and apologized multiple times for the inconvenience that the rush had caused to the service. However, it is quite a challenge to enjoy a meal while seeing how out-of-control everything was. Waitresses clearly didn't have time to handle all the dirty dishes, since customers kept flowing in.

After walking out of the restaurant, the terrace was still covered in glasses, dirty napkins and plates - just how it was when we walked in.

Restaurant Pamela in central Helsinki, has a beautifully executed menu-concept with splendid flavors and beautiful facilities. However, it wouldn't be a crime to schedule a few more waiters on a sunny Saturday evening. Maybe then the restaurant would feel more like a proper restaurant and not like an escape room.

Hopefully the 30% tip we left for the waitress was able to make her evening even slightly...

My friend and I visited on a Thursday evening, the place was decently packed but spacious at the same time. Staff was quick to accommodate and was friendly. They both communicate in Finnish and English quite well. We had a reservation from 1830 onwards and we were seated immediately. Service was prompt and kind.

We took the tasting menu for sharing and we had 3 starters to share with home made focaccia. The labne dish was divine! The tofu dish was sweet and spiced beautifully with earthy cumin. The marinated white fish was refreshing with the soy based (?) marinade. We ended up picking everything and trying different combinations with our bites. To be honest, I'd go back there just for the starters and have a couple of cocktails or wine together.

For mains, we took the steak and it had some punchy and herby sauce on the bottom and a side of aioli (?) and a salad and bowl of chips to share. The portions were decent and not too small.

For desserts we had the rhubarb pastry and soft serve ice cream with a generous sprinkiling of pistachios and honey. Heaven! The rhubarb pastry was tender and not too sweet. The tang from the rhubarb complimented the silky soft serve and sprinklings.

All in all, the food and experience was great. Would definitely...

Dark enough where you can barely see the food, my companion did enjoy their fried chicken, but the signature dish of this restaurant, the Doner was sadly lacking. The meat felt and tasted as if it were finely minced. Too be honest in the dimness I could not actually see the details of my meal. But it was finally minced and tasted heavily of canned tomato paste and salt.

I belong to several Doner appreciation groups, and have eaten at multiple in Helsinki, New York, Berlin Germany, London, Chicago, Vancouver and in Turkey, and the Iskender here tasted more like hamburger helper than any Doner Dish, or many hamburger products that I have eaten across the world.

Their alcoholic lemonade was okay, and the bar was good, but the salt taste remained in my mouth for hours.

The most disappointing thing was that this was, per the waitress, the signature dish of this...