Deliberi Hansakortteli — Restaurant in Turku sub-region

Out for a dinner with a group of six on a weekday evening.

FOOD Some in the group had been here before and recommended the bowls. Ordered one and it turned out to be a poke bowl. However, the flavours were rather plain. The dish clearly relies on you taking copious amounts of dressing to bring character to it. Having enjoyed many pokes over time, with good ingredients and carefully selected seasonings it can be made enjoyable also without a dressing. Others in the group enjoyed their meals (fish, steak) but no specific praise from anyone even after nudging for it.

The dessert menu has only a single item. Lucky there is a nice cafe nearby with heaps of options (also for all common dietary restrictions).

SERVICE We were surprised that the only real service element is bringing out the food to the tables. The ordering is done at a counter and paid upfront. We even got to refill the table water bottles by ourselves. One would think that taking orders at the table would be an opportunity for the restaurant to upsell but that opportunity was lost on us. The wait staff were all ok but generally felt a bit disinterested in their job (more like going through the motions and nothing more).

In hindsight, it feels like the owner / manager of the restaurant is yet to set the staff up for engagement with the customers and for success. We'll leave this to them to act on...

VENUE The decor is the highlight. The upstairs is divided into smaller sections and decorated in a slightly rundown Caribbean fashion making it an intriguing and enjoyable place. If only the service and food...

A few considerations are needed, instead of my less chalant criticism... 1 -...when I choose a place to eat for my FIRST TRY, by principle I always pick the star dish with no special requests. I ain't got no allergies, nor am a vegan or intolerant to any ingredients. So, I ask the meal as it is originally conceived by the Cheff

2 -...if your establishment has the best location in the Central Square, being ALWAYS fully crowded, is your undeniable prerrogative! Thus saying, it matter not if it's a quiet Monday, a dead Tuesday or a busy Friday night. Your food's Quality Must NEVER weaver!

3 -...as an experienced barman, I've long realized that the Finns have a preference for berrys, citrus and sour drinks. Still, can't understand why they keep overwhelming the Rum's taste in their Mojitos with sugar syrup... ... Mojito ISN'T A SWEET drink!... The sugar there is supposed to be SUBTLE!

I must come back on a...

Was my 4th visit to Deliberi ( for lunch ) today , I will not write about the good points , I will just point out 2 what to my opinion make it that I did not review with 5 A ) as said 4 times lunch , 2 times fish ( great ) 2 times ( with today's meat ) both times I have asked for Medium and both times closer to we'll done ( either because busy chefs don't pay attention to the temperature of the meat ) B) The mushroom soup was quiet good but some flavor in it was missing .. I like the place and the concept that's why I point out what in my personal opinion matters .. thank you in advance for your replay and see you again . PS . I know that you will tell me next time to point it out to one of your stuff members but in such a rush I would not ( myself quiet many years in this spectrum of work ) but thank...