The Room By Kozeen Shiwan — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

My recent visit to The Room in Helsinki was a deeply disappointing experience, plagued by pretension, poor hospitality, and uninspired cuisine.

Booking and Communication: We had a reservation for 20:30 but arrived at 21:00 due to unavoidable delays. At 20:40, I received an SMS stating:

“As a gentle reminder - we close our doors and start the dinner at the very latest 25 past the booking time, as we start the dinner together with all guests at the same time :) See you soon! Daniel.”

This was neither gentle nor a reminder—it was a reprimand, delivered with a patronizing smiley face. At no point during the booking process were we informed of this rigid policy, and the tone of the message added unnecessary irritation.

When we called to explain our delay, we were told that we had already missed 3 out of 10 courses and would still be charged in full. Upon arrival, we endured a 5-minute debate with staff who insisted on their “performance” concept, likening the dinner to a theatrical production where we had missed the “first act.” The comparison was absurd. We booked a restaurant, not a theater, and if their model is so unconventional, it is their responsibility to communicate that clearly. The entire interaction was unnecessarily rigid and reeked of condescension.

Setting and Ambiance: The dining area was disappointing and lacked refinement. Guests were crammed around a kitchen counter in a communal setup, which felt more like a culinary class in a back room than an exclusive dining experience. Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with my wife made conversation uncomfortable, as I had to turn sideways for much of the evening. This arrangement was underwhelming for a restaurant touting exclusivity.

The “Performance” Concept: The much-hyped “performance,” which we were forced to miss 3 out of 10 courses to accommodate, amounted to nothing more than the staff explaining each course and pairing to the entire room in one go. This is a common feature of fine dining, but The Room turned it into a logistical shortcut, opting for a single explanation rather than addressing each table individually. The tone was obnoxiously self-congratulatory, lavishing nauseating praise on the chef’s supposed creativity and brilliance. Ironically, the chef did not even trouble himself to appear before the guests.

Cuisine: Unfortunately, the food did not live up to its inflated hype. Every dish was bland, uninspired, and served on cold plates, which quickly cooled the food to an unappealing temperature. There was no boldness, no innovation—just mediocrity presented as brilliance. Adding flowers and glitter to food does not fool the discerning palate.

Wine List and Service: The wine menu was limited and unappealing, and we opted against the wine pairing due to the uninspiring selection. Despite this, the sommelier presented it with an air of unwarranted grandeur that only served to highlight the lack of quality.

Cost-Performance Ratio: For a bill exceeding €400—including only a couple of glasses of wine—we left deeply disappointed. In over 20 years of dining in Helsinki, this was by far the worst cost-performance I have experienced.

Conclusion: The Room aspires to be exclusive and groundbreaking, but its execution is deeply flawed. From the rigid and condescending handling of our booking to the pretentious tone of the staff and the subpar food, the experience felt hollow and infuriatingly overpriced. If they wish to position themselves as exceptional, they need to deliver both in hospitality and cuisine—neither of which they managed. Avoid if you value your time,...

Food itself was innovative and well prepared. But the portion were super tiny to the point that we left hungry after 8 courses. One would expect small portions in fine dining but a course consisting of one (!) olive is not acceptable as a course, in my opinion. Also a course with one boiled potato as it’s main ingredient, is not something that you would expect getting as course in any restaurant…

There was no ready option for wine pairing to all of the courses. They offer a ”beverage” package to the menu, but this included wine only to some of the courses and 2 of the courses had a juice paring and last course with a choice of coffee or tea. We wanted to substitute the juices and coffee with wines and asked to see a wine list. This however, was not possible, because "it would have ruined the atmosphere of the dining room". We did get the wines for all of the courses but without the opportunity the choose. Some of the wine pairings were excellent whereas some did not compliment the flavors of the course at all.

When the bill came, we had been charged up to 25 euros per glass for some of the wines we had. Even in Finland, I think that is an outrageous price for wine! I did comment on that to the staff, the answer was that the wines were of ”3 star quality” and they had to open some bottle just for us which put the prices up…Without seeing a wine list with prices first, I felt we were being scammed. Even though we did enjoy many of the flavors that were served to us and the waiters were super polite and professional, the overall experience left us hungry and we felt it was not good value for the money (410 euros for 2...

The restaurant, barely 75m from the Havis Amanda fountain, is the perfect Helsinki location. But it is hidden behind the recently closed (2024) Lulu’s vegetarian restaurant. Once inside, with no windows, the guests could be anywhere. Presumably, by design.

The Room itself is small - it only seats about 12 guests, surrounding the chefs plating the dishes. It is not just similar to a darkened theater. It is an elaborate presentation choreographed by Chef Shiwan, expressing his personal preferences and his life story, from the decor to the scripted narrative accompanying each plate.

Not every guest will equally enjoy all parts of this presentation. For example, there appears to be a smoke machine / humidifier constantly running in the background. Or, there is an insistence of adding sparkling gold glitter on far too many plates.

Each course is served to all guests at once by the small, well organized team.

The shish kabob of lamb sweetbreads and figs, served with chef's tweezers as utensils, was excellent. The lavaret (whitefish), the smoked beef and the quail plates were also very good. But the presentation of each of these dishes, and others, seemed to cover the plate in flower petals or other garnish and/or glitter.

Not really needed. But an enjoyable dinner, nonetheless.

2025 04...