Restaurant The Cock — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

What happened guys? Is everything okay?

This used to be my safe, reliable, go-to option for a night out. For a long time I was confident that no matter who or what the occasion, either it was a casual dinner with friends, a meal with relatives from overseas, an anniversary or romantic evening, I could come here and have a good time, with good food, and not get robbed when the bill came.

I have lost that confidence now.

I ordered a burger that cost almost 30€. On the plus side, it was not overcooked and the meat was juicy, but overall it was incredibly disappointing. A chunk of relatively flavourless meat, two salty pickles, some nondescript cheese and a bucket of white "sauce" coated on the top and the bottom of the burger. As a result of the huge amount of sauce, the bun was a sodden mess that disintegrated when picked up. The sauce tasted like some salty, processed stuff straight from a supermarket bottle.

So, meat that seemed only seasoned with salt, salty pickles, savoury/salty cheese and salty sauce. There was nothing about it that imparted flavour, let alone balanced the salt. What happened to lettuce? Tomato? Onion?

The shoestring chips that came with the burger were quite nice. Crispy and not soggy. But as if the kilo of white sauce in the burger was not enough, another little bucket of the same white sauce was served with the chips as well.

Perhaps I missed something about this mythical white sauce being a revolutionary superfood or having some incredible health benefits, or maybe my palate is not refined enough to appreciate it, but I certainly was not of the opinion that I wanted more of it.

My partner ordered the mussels and was not very happy, although in defence of the kitchen, we were informed that it is a new supplier of fresh mussels, and they are the only supplier in town, so all restaurants get their mussels from the same place. It is still a shame though that there is so little diversity in the suppliers of the food in Helsinki. Maybe if enough customers request it, restaurants/chefs can again seek out other alternative suppliers to source their ingredients?

In summary, it is my opinion that the quality of the food has severely dropped recently, whilst the prices have skyrocketed. As prefaced with my opening line of this review, I am not angry or trying to discourage customers from visiting this restaurant. I am concerned as to why this has happened, and want to alert the chefs and owners that charging more money for bland dishes that are being made with fewer and cheaper ingredients, is disappointing and will lead to poor customer experiences and ultimately, a decline in customers.

I understand that there are many factors making it difficult, with inflation, supply chain, etc. But serving dishes like this, shrugging and blaming it on these other factors is not an acceptable response.

Please try to make an effort in improving the quality of your meals. I wouldn't mind paying nearly 30€ for a burger if it was worth it. But I feel that I could make a more enjoyable burger for less money, and I cannot purchase ingredients wholesale...

I want to continue dining at this restaurant, but unless something changes, I will prefer to...

Wonderful place for date night or a celebratory dinner with friends/family. The location is fantastic, a block or two from the sea and esplanadi. Inside, we were immediately greeted to the sight of a live DJ spinning vinyl records on the tabletop—AMAZING! The staff was incredibly kind and outgoing for Finnish standards. The interior is beautiful, too. We sat downstairs, and the exposed brick wall combined with the metallic tiling in the basement was gorgeous and a nice atmosphere. I opted for a gin and tonic, which was okay—I should have gotten a red wine, or at least specified my gin of choice. Our appetizers were served immediately. The burrata with pesto was indescribable for my hungry tastebuds. The skagen was also quite nice, although I wish we had ordered the escargot. Unfortunately, the mussels were unavailable because they were too sandy when we visited, which was disappointing—I was craving a good moules frites. Instead, I got the apparent star of menu, the steak frites… and a star it truly was. Just perfectly rare, an incredible sear, a wonderful reduction on top of the meat, an absolutely mouth-watering béarnaise sauce. The frites were perfectly seasoned as well, however, the placement under the (juicy) steak made them soggy by the end of the meal—unfortunate. The simple, tangy and bright tomato-onion salad was also the perfect addition. No dessert for me—too full. But, I’m already thinking of returning for those mussels and the seafood linguine. Our waitress did take quite a long time to take our dishes away, which was a bit unfortunate (what if we wanted dessert? A bit annoying to wait 15min after finishing your entrée). Nonetheless, they returned with wonderful hospitality.

I came to celebrate my graduation, and the relaxed atmosphere while nonetheless not sacrificing the quality and prestige of the dishes… it was exactly what I was looking for. I do think certain dishes on the menu shine more than others, so, some felt a bit overpriced. Nonetheless, overall, fantastic—looking forward to...

Immaculate service and lovely atmosphere for a Sunday date night.

I personally started off with the cock wings with a side of cayenne mayonnaise instead of the wasabi mayonnaise. By far the juiciest cock…wings I’ve had this year. Also one of the larger appetizers within the establishment as well, so bonus points for that. The cilantro and chili were a fresh add on.

As the main I had the tartare. Well, it starts with a ‘D’ and ends in issapointment. The capers were unpleasant and the shear amount of sea salt rocks (actually more like cubes) was more than abundant a.k.a the saltiness absolutely ruined the awaited tartare experience. All in all quite a mediocre taste even without the salt ruining the party. Such a basic mistake that simply shouldn’t happen at a restaurant like this.

My better half ordered the Mussels Pastis. The anis was the star of the show (ba dum tss). Otherwise, another disappointing mussels experience in Helsinki. All of the mussels were open this time, but they were slightly over-boiled.

The wine pairings for both were excellent, so kudos to the waiter. The fries were also more than decent.

Last but not the least we have the Rhubarb Pavlova for dessert. The presentation is uplifting and bright, which matches the taste. The rhubarb really balances the sweetness out and rounds up the dessert. Chef’s kiss on this one 🤌🏻

Overall, the service is better than the food, but I’m feeling the kitchen staff had an off night since the starter and dessert carried the night. Recommended, but have your tartare...