Restaurant Young Hearts — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

After eating here it might be difficult to understand how this restaurant has ended up in the Michelin Guide in the first place. To wrap your head around it you need to know that the Young Hearts restaurant used to be in a different location and under different management. Apparently the Michelin Guide is yet to realize this.

The current iteration of the Young Hearts is not an innovative fine dining it leads you to believe. Rather it’s a mediocre attempt by an old Mamma Rosa restaurant next doors (where this restaurant’s kitchen is most likely located as well) to pump more money from unsuspecting clients under a more trendy name.

About the food. What would have been a passable dish serving of scallops is ruined by throwing a few overpowering sisho leaves and a few halves of raw unripe cherry tomatos on top of them. This apparently is supposed to make it ”fine dining”. The cod was fine, although with completely redundant beluga lentils mixed in. The dessert tasted mostly like yoghurt with matcha powder thrown in because the branding required some Asian ingredient.

The venue used to be part of Tokyo 55 sushi restaurant (still operating upstairs) which explains the Asian style decor and the failed attempt at Japanese fusion food. The service was friendly enough,...

We went to Young Hearts for dinner before the ballet. The restaurant is perfectly located for this.

We had the 7 course menu with wine pairings. This came to about 130€ per person. Unfortunately there was nothing exciting nor memorable about the dishes we were served - everything was “okay” but that was it. It almost felt like every dish was trying a little too hard, but not quite landing where it wanted to. Our favorites were the scallop dish and the bread served with miso butter. For example the whitefish served with red berries lacked salt and almost felt like a dessert due to the fruity flavors and lack of savory notes. The main dish of steak was nicely balanced and very tender, but a bit insufficient to truly satisfy or delight being served only with a kale salad.

Usually at restaurants of this level all details are considered, and I for example found it very odd that the bathroom felt like a mall bathroom, and there was no way to dry your hands (the contraption for hand towels was broken).

Service was good and prompt.

Overall I personally felt the food was not quite worth...

My dining experience at the restaurant was truly exceptional. I opted for the 7-course tasting menu, complemented by two delectable desserts. Each dish presented an amalgamation of exquisite flavors, immaculate plating, and a culinary finesse that left an indelible impression. The service staff exhibited an exemplary level of courtesy, taking the time to elucidate the intricacies of each dish, elevating the meal to an intellectual and sensory delight. The piece de resistance was undeniably the fish, cooked to perfection, achieving an ideal balance of tenderness and flavor, rendering it a pinnacle of...