Viking Restaurant Harald — Restaurant in Jyväskylä sub-region

Five of us visited Viking Restaurant Harald when the WRC was in Jyväskylä, our tour guide wasn’t aware of this restaurant, but we’d definitely recommend it. The menu is available in the English language, and offers a wide range of Finnish/Viking inspired dishes, it also includes a few set meals, which are reasonably priced. Beer is available, but I’d recommend the Mead if you have not tried it before, its honey flavour is sweet, but potent! It’s not just the Finnish menu that sets this restaurant apart, some of the dishes are presented with a miniature Viking sword, and there is also the option of wearing plastic Viking helmets too. I tried the “Voyage of Odin” set menu which was 41,70 € and consisted of:

Shepherd’s starter salad VE, G Salad with balsamic vinaigrette, pickled cucumber, radish, tomato-basil salsa and pickled red onion.

Ironside’s beef petit tender L, G Sliced beef petit tender and melted garlic butter, Vikings’ shield potatoes, creamy pepper sauce, honey-roasted root vegetables, parmesan-mustard mayonnaise and pickled red onion.

Mousse from Valhalla VE Cheesecake-flavoured mousse and cookie crumble, caramel-cookie sauce and...

It's been a 10 hours trip before visiting this place. So I was quite hungry till the moment. The place is located in a city center and close to the harbor, so it looked like a good choice despite high price in reviews. The interior looks cohesive to the place name and style and welcome was quite warm. Place was not crowded and we got a table within a minutes. Unfortunately, the experience was not that pleasant comparing to the price. The service. The gas candle on the table went dark and start to unpleasantly smell kerosene. There was neither napkins nor toothpicks. The food. I ordered a chicken with beetroot in chefs style for the price about 50 euros. The portion was small. Beetroot wasn't found in it. There was so much sugar in the sauce that it was not impossible to eat. Atmosphere. This was okay. Dark, swords on the walls, aincient helmets, viking's boat, shields and authentic music. To conclude - place is not bad, but the food does not cost it's price and not tasty and...

The atmosphere, the lighting, and most importantly the food were superb. The staff was quick to help us, and our food and drinks arrived quickly. We ordered Helga's and Harald's Love package (Helgan ja Haraldin rakkaus paketti) and the entire meal done extremely well. The only critique I have is that I wished they would've given us a more secluded spot (we came in at a late hour, 21:15, so the restaurant was pretty empty at that point) so it would've been more romantic, but that is the ONLY complaint I have. Thank you for chef and the kitchen staff, the waitres and waitresses, and for management for creating and keeping an amazing atmosphere and food. I definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to experience real nordic food and to anyone who wants to eat at the only restaurant in Finland worth spending your hard...