Restaurant Shinobi — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

Shinobi: A Culinary Misadventure

My recent visit to Shinobi, an Izakaya-style kitchen tucked away on Helsinki's Albertinkatu, left me with mixed feelings. Despite having a reservation (booked by sending direct email), my companion and I found ourselves a bit disoriented upon entering the Japanese-inspired establishment. We were presented with two options: left or right. Unsure of which path to follow, we gravitated toward the area where the staff was stationed. It was still early in the evening, and after verifying our reservation, we were seated on the izakaya side.

Glancing at the menu, we quickly noticed discrepancies from the options we had seen online. The offerings were fewer, and the prices seemed more modest. We shrugged it off, assuming that the menu had changed to accommodate the availability of fresh ingredients. Besides, other diners around us seemed to be enjoying their meals, which gave us a glimmer of hope.

The service at Shinobi was undeniably kind, and the decor, particularly on one part of the restaurant, was somewhat intriguing. However, I couldn't help but notice an odd mixture of English and navy-themed elements within the broader Tokyo-inspired ambiance. This puzzling selection struck me as out of place. Additionally, as I examined the business cards, I couldn't help but observe a noticeable accumulation of dust in the entrance area. Not exactly the most welcoming sight for guests.

The food itself turned out to be good, aligning reasonably well with its price point. However, it didn't leave a lasting impression that would make me yearn to return.

As I researched for this review, I discovered that we unintentionally ended up on the izakaya side, whereas our reservation hopes and the menu we had seen online were intended for the Shokudo side.

Furthermore, the lack of a noteworthy sake selection—or any discernible selection at all—was a disappointing revelation. The menu simply stated "Glass of Sake," which was underwhelming for a Japanese-themed establishment.

In conclusion, my experience at Shinobi was a mixed bag. The staff was delightful, which added a touch of warmth to the evening. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that the establishment's primary focus was on cocktails and drinks, rather than delivering a truly immersive culinary journey. While this may be acceptable for an izakaya-style venue, it left me pondering whether we had made a regrettable choice or had been...

Very disappointing experience, granted it wasn’t my first choice to eat at but I was Still excited as I love Japanese food. First off I knew the portions would be smaller as the server had told us, however when we finally received them the amount of food we got for the amount of money each dish cost was truly pathetic, two tiny chicken skewers for €12 is unacceptable in my view, the taste was very good especially of the beef tataki but no where near the price point they are asking for. Due to an allergy my dad has the kitchen offered a substitute of a breaded pork chop, it was extremely plain and flavourless, and it was honestly an insult when they crammed the plate with raw cabbage! I understand it’s not easy to make dishes that rely on sauces and marinades without them but the server basically guaranteed we’d be satisfied with the dish, but instead the kitchen could’ve just been honest with us about the lack of substitutes available instead of lazily dumping raw cabbage on a dry pork chop which we could’ve made at home very easily for a 10x less of what we ended up paying. Our server was helpful overall and had no issues running our issues to the kitchen (who did offer a complementary dish to my dad who just denied the offer as he just wanted to leave at that point) although a cocktail my mum ordered was forgotten about. Lastly the drinks were basically a scam, €4 for a shot of soju and €12 for 10Cl of sake is shocking, this restaurant seems to be designed to suck the most amount of money for the least amount of return possible. I don’t often review restaurants but for Shinobi I felt obligated to after we ended up paying €190 for an extremely underwhelming...

For Japanese fever

“Japanese fever” is a neutral term to describe the crowd who are hyped for anything about Japan. Similar term see “Asian fever” “Yellow fever”…

I had a high hope from what I heard from friends, mostly Finns, but some Asian friends experienced in fine dining also recommended.

I always rate a restaurant based on the experience instead of its food. Who restaurant makes bad food? It doesn’t exist.

Shinobi has a price strategy more than average, lower than fine dining. But I didn’t receive more service than average restaurants, nor had any experience to match the price.

In specific, tableware, cutlery, furnitures are not well selected, tidiness in restroom can be much better, I wonder whether someone feels comfortable using toothpick in toilet.

Something worth commenting is the interior, the use of lamps and wood gives a friendly eastern Asian feeling, it’s not necessarily original, but certainly meets local customers’ expectation of a Japanese restaurants.

Food is fresh and tasty, if you are looking for a place to social with friends, take some nice photos, you can have all in one visit.

Again, saying it’s an ideal restaurant for “Japanese fever” is not a criticize, the same “European fever” cafes & restaurants are having good business and feedback in Asia.

Rating it 3/5 is based on my...