Pyynikin Brewhouse — Restaurant in Tampere sub-region

The setting is quite nice, and my attention were pulled to the lamps which very quite beautiful.

However, the food and service were less inspiring.

The Sausage Pan "Keskustorin Keskiyö" at 18€, while a reasonable priced, left me wanting a lot more. The dish had three kind of sausages, with one being the famous delicacy in Tampere called "Musta Makkara" or "Black Sausage". All the sausages were in no means anything special. The quality and taste were identical to any sausage I can buy from supermarket and fry on my own at home (and I'm no special cook). The sides (grilled tomato, some diced apple mush) and the mustard sauce all left me disappointed. And while the price was reasonable, I still in the end felt let down. I could've easily have done this myself at home at half the price.

My friends dish, the "Panimon Böögö" burger with 17.90€ was looking very nice, and I was told that it was quite good, but the size of the burger was a bit small. The fries were quite good as well (meaning a bit above average).

The dessert "Arboretum Winter Garden" with 9€, was very beautiful, but again, fell short from the promise. The sorbet was very smooth and good and definitely the hero on the dish, but all the other elements on the plate were uninspiring and a disappointment and didn't complement much the sorbet. It seems that the look was more important than the taste.

As the name states this is a "brewhouse" meaning, that there were lot of beer choices and each dish (including the desserts) came with recommendations. However, I was not drinking so I can't give any review on the beers, but they seemed to have some good quality and variety. As a negative note, when asked about gluten-free beer, there weren't any - excuse being: "we're waiting for a shipment".

Service itself was mostly the usual - nothing special. But there was a small annoyance. It seemed that they didn't know who was supposed to serve us, since we were visited by two waiters from time to time, and they didn't seem to know what was told the other. For example when we asked about the gluten-free beer, the waiter said that she will go check. A bit while later another waiter came to ask about our drinks, we were forced to reply that we are still waiting the "result" on the gluten-free (as it seemed that the other already forgot this). Another issue what I have with waiters in general - and it was in here too - was the too eager need to come to check "is all good". If we are eating and immersed in conversations, it is very annoying to be interrupted every five minutes with someone asking "if all is good" or "do you need something". It is nice to be cared of, but I would like the waiter to give us the benefit of a doubt, that we can - if needed - summon them if we need something, and meanwhile, let us eat in peace. It's fine to check in few minutes after we've gotten our dishes, but not every five minutes.

All in all.. 3/5. The setting nice, the food and service were ok, but leaving room to improvement and left wanting for more . Prices are reasonable, which helps to forgive the mundane quality of the food.

For beer and home-food lovers, this might be a place...

Excellent pub for an excellent brewery. Pretty much all tap products are their own, with some of them even brewed in the premises of the pub.

The selection is amazing and very varied, ranging from stouts to sours, not forgetting the more traditional ales and lagers.

The prices are a bit on the higher side but for understandable reasons. However, the prices displayed are just for the recommended portion sizes, so feel free to order a bigger or a smaller glass; the beverages are sold per decilitre, according to your own preference, and the price per litre stays the same.

The pub side is very comfy and nice to sit around with adequate seating. On the other side of the building there is the restaurant side, which I unfortunately haven't managed to try yet but I keep hearing...

Surprising vegetarian selection

Popped in for a pint and a bite to eat and was pleasantly surprised. As a vegetarian, there often isn't much of a choice for meals outside of appetizers when it comes to Irish-style pubs. To my surprise, there was actually a decent selection of vegetarian mains (~3 dishes) along with the usual sides. I ordered the vegetarian schnitzel and a vanilla porter, both were amazing!

The schnitzel came with mashed potatoes, peas, and a grilled lemon which complimented it beautifully. The porter was exactly as promised, a smooth full bodied vanilla porter.

I'll definitely drop in on my next trip to Tampere, thank you for the...