Our last night in Helsinki was our last night of the euro trip, so that demanded a posh send off! I’d spied this restaurant on the first night and knew I wanted to go. You’ll find Kosmos on a cobbled street with its beautiful cast iron murals decorating the exterior. We sat outside do we could enjoy the warm evening and the beautiful street. Half way through the evening the heavens opened and it POURED down, but the trusty Kosmos canopy kept us dry. It almost felt cruel sitting sipping my wine watching everyone who’d been sitting outside the neighbouring bars scramble to get inside and pack up the furniture!

The menu is primarily Finnish with some classic dishes also available. Wine was also available. Naturally, I obliged.

Starters

Lobster Bisque

Zero marks for presentation, but plenty for taste! I absolutely love lobster but this is the first time I have ever tried lobster bisque. I know that lobster is a very sweet tasting shellfish but I was surprised at how sweet the bisque was. The rich cream soup was absolutely perfect for dipping bread into and fishing the chunks of fresh lobster meat out. The portion was a bit much for something so rich, but you can’t complain about generosity, can you?

Finnish Antipasto

This was similar to the tasting platter we tried in Copenhagen except the location of the ingredients have changed. This served us some Baltic herring, cured salmon, salted reindeer carpaccio, Finnish cheese & a wild mushroom salad. It was generally delicious, but I’m really shocked and how much I enjoyed the reindeer. I’m not a fan of cured/raw/really rare meat or fish, but this was absolutely to die for! Reindeer (and I feel terrible saying this at this festive time of year) really is a delicious meat.

Scallop & Basil Marinated Black Tiger Prawn with Fig Carpaccio

The perfect starter. I love a starter that is loaded with flavour but won’t fill me up or offset my main course. This was a very simple but very tasty and aesthetically pleasing dish. The basil dressing made it for me – basil isn’t often used with seafood in this way in my experience so I really enjoyed it as something new. The sweet but pungent basil gave the otherwise mild ingredients a good punch.

Mains

Sugar salted breast of duck with Apple and celeriac purée and raspberry sauce

 We saw this dish on the menu outside when we stopped by on the first night and 3/4 of us ordered it. The words ‘sugar salted’ just sound so much nicer than ‘salted’ don’t they? The duck was beautiful and served nice and rare with a crisp skin that had a lovely taste because of the sugary salt rub. The apple and celeriac purée was absolutely gorgeous and suited the dish perfectly – it’d be delicious with pork too, I think!

Zander and crayfish tails with lobster sauce au gratin a la Aki Kaurismäki

 I took a gamble on this dish because I really had no idea what I was ordering! Aki Kaurismäki is a famous Finnish screen writer and film director and the restaurant named it after him as its his favourite. It reminded me of the seafood gratin I ordered in Scott’s in Largs. Essentially, this is mashed potatoes with seafood and creamy sauce. Right. Up. My. Street.

Dessert

Frozen mocha mousse

How beautiful is this?! Just look at it! It was almost a shame to cut it up and eat it!

This meal wasn’t cheap, but it was certainly worth what we paid. From start to Finnish (see what I did there?) it was a delicious and elegant meal in a really beautiful, classy and yet laid back setting. A definite must-try if you’re in Helsinki!

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Kosmos
Kalevankatu 3
00100
Helsinki
Finland

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