Sinne

Sinne is located just off the main streets, behind Forum (big shopping mall) and Torni hotel. The space is divided into two parts: the Deli, where you can just pop in for a bite and a glass, and the ‘Garden room’ with a bit more formal setting (still fairly relaxed). The Garden room is built in an inner yard with a glass roof, so the space has a lot of light and a nice airy feel. The decoration of the space is nothing special, but there is some green (plants) in the middle of the room which created a nice ‘winter garden’ feel. Nothing special was needed to make it cozy.
The wine list is strong here and they have three sparkling wines by the glass (one regular sparkling and a champagne as well as something that rotates) as well as multiple other wines by the glass. Unfortunately the wine list only has a few of the wines by the glass listed and for the rest you need to ask the sommelier (who is often more interested in saying what he thinks you should drink rather than presenting all the options they have by the glass).
The food has been good when I have been here. The food was also wonderful. I has nice glazed pork cheek with heart salad and Malmgård-​emmer rice as well as excellent grilled asparagus with mushroom wild rice and pesto. The burger is also nice bit bot as good as some seem to think (and stand your ground to have it medium rare as their medium is too well done). They also have a classic dish if the month, when I tried it they served reindeer with mashed potatoes and lingon berries and that was also good.
Food quality is good here and they have an excellent wine list. Service is usually attentive and while it is not cheap it still represents good value for money for the quality level delivered.

Casual and nice restaurant offering limited menu but with quality food. I was in a bit of a hurry, and luckily service was fast and good. I had the veal cheeks with seasonal root vegetables — the meat was tasty and tender.

Excellent food again as it has been in previous visits to Restaurant Sinne. Service was way too slow and we have to waite for giving our orders and it took too long time between appetizer and the main course.

Decent quality food with limited menu. Casual with some hint of pretention from the wait staff, but they were friendly and helpful enough if you were also friendly. I am a vegetarian and found there was one (1) dish that was appropriate. The bread was made in house and decent. I am not fond of dark serving plates as I think they distract from the food. The wine selection seems adequate. The acoustics were terrible. I am not sure if it was the Gymnastica crowd but it was SO LOUD we could barely hear the person next to us. Good location. But overall okay.

The lunch here is bit pricey but the level of service and the food makes it worth every penny! The burger here is especially good it is fresh and tastes so good!

Sinne-​Helsinki is a prime example of something wonderful being set-​up in the heart of the capital city of Finland. It is fresh and casual; and it would satisfy even the more demanding wine-​geek with its selection of bottles.
The restaurant is located just off the main streets, behind Forum (big shopping mall) and Torni hotel. The space is divided into two parts: the Deli, where you can just pop in for a bite and a glass, and the ‘Garden room’ where they take reservations. The Garden room is built in an inner yard with a glass roof, so the space has a lot of light and a nice airy feel. The decoration of the space is nothing special, but there is some green (plants) in the middle of the room which created a nice ‘winter garden’ feel. Nothing special was needed to make it cozy.
The drinks list consisted of a decent selection by the glass. Three bubblies: one Austrian sparkling wine, a Janisson-​Baradon Champagne (13 €) and a Champagne of the day. Yes, a daily rotating Champagne (16 €), this is what I’m talking about! The waiter offered for us to taste a small sip before deciding, so we sampled all three. The Champagne of the day was Bulle de Rosé from Savart, a wonderful aromatic bubbly with some berries and brioche.
For the drinks with our food, the Malaysian born sommelier, Edmund Liew, came over to our table to make recommendations. He was aware of our food orders (Asparagus for me and pork for my date) and asked some questions to what kind of wine we would like. After that he sneaked into his wine room to bring out his suggestions. As I know wine, I am much more comfortable with browsing a proper list instead of someone choosing the wine for me but I must say he did a good job. I had a nice dry Riesling from Weegmüller and my date had a Patrimonio Rouge 2010 from Corsica. Both well chosen to match the food, however I am still slightly annoyed that I could not see if there was something even more to my taste available nor was I made aware of the price prior to purchase (that is actually very annoying). There is a proper wine-​list, but it was never brought to our table.
But when talking about the wine at this place, the list by the glass is only a scratch on the surface. The actual wine list (by the bottle) is amazing. It is 40 pages long, so I cannot really describe it to detail in this post, but browsing through the champagnes (now after our visit), I can already see many favorites, like Egly-​Ouriet and Pierre Gimonet. They also offer a wide range from Selosse, this is stuff that you can’t even find in in the store (I don’t think there is any Selosse at Alko). Something that caught my eye as well were some of the prices for these bottles. A bottle of Selosse Brut Initial for 132 €, that is a bargain! Normally I would expect the retail price to be well over a 100 €, so to pay only 20 – 30 € more at a restaurant is fantastic. Finally a place that is offering a great selection of wine for an affordable margin. Other than Champagnes I noted some wonderful Rieslings from Nahe and a Castell d’Encus from Northern Spain. What I was left missing was a wider selection of other than Champagne sparklings, some premium Cavas for example. Ridgeview from the UK is old news and I have more than often been disappointed by Cremants from Loire. The prices from other sparklings were also close enough to some great Champagnes, so I would rather pay the extra 15 – 25 €. All in all, a wonderful list, I really need to go with a group next time to be able to sample the amazing selection at hand.
The food was also wonderful. We had the glazed pork cheek with heart salad and Malmgård-​emmer rice and the grilled asparagus with mushroom wild rice and pesto. Both dishes were awesome with full and balanced flavors. For dessert we had the peach-​tart with vanilla ice cream and caramel-​sauce to share.
All in all a great and refreshing experience in Helsinki! I would hope that they in the future show up with the wine-​list though (so that I can see what I am paying). So all you wine-​enthusiasts out there, this is the place to go if you are in town. The foodies won’t be too disappointed either.