Reindeer. Wow. Now THAT's Different.
(Very Salty)…read more
SITREP
Yep. Don't tell Rudolph, but we ate his parents at lunch.
THE SETUP
So we found ourselves in the very pleasant hamlet of Porvoo, just outside of Helsinki, Finland - flush with picturesque churches, scrumptious chocolate shops, and ....well, Hanna-Maria, quality purveyers of reindeer meat!
LUNCH
This is not something we see everyday back in the states, so forgive us if we had to try, but along with that, Hanna-Maria is a cafeteria-style eatery where you can ask the friendly Finn on the other side of the counter and they gladly fill your lunch plates up!
I was happy to try the local staples and I was not disappointment - my lunch consisted of:
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hanna-maria-porvoo?select=6il780yAKfY4XMxBVPvENw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w
= Salted Reindeer
= Creamy Garlic (Scalloped?) Potatoes
= A tart, but delicious berry salad!
And as the sign said, the lunch included a homemade ale! You actually could take the glass they gave you and either select the spigot to get cold water or get the cold ale. This was pretty cool (and salvaged back some of my final rating for this place - and about that, see next section...).
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hanna-maria-porvoo?select=3oalHU0UlW2dk5hweJthow&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w
OUTSIDE TERRACE
Since we were here at the start of Summer, we had the nice option of also eating outside on the terrace. On a sunny day, best to try to capture a table under an umbrella - we weren't so lucky and got hot fast, but we we weren't there long, so not much of an issue.
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hanna-maria-porvoo?select=cFsScXeNX7fGH90IPDHR0g&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w
LOCALS VS. TOURISTS - NOT ALL GOOD BEHAVIOR
The one thing this venue certainly made you well aware of is that if you are NOT from around here, during the (busy) lunch hour:
* The local workers, tradespeople, townspeople, people who speak Finnish, etc., have no problem pushing their way through the line, cutting in front of us, and, unfortunately, the staff here not checking that behavior but rather enabling it.
* Maybe this is where someone should share some more "advanced business metrics" of the *TAKE-OUT Call-In Order* process: the venue & locals, as they are pushing around and through us in the line, why don't they ask themselves the question, "Do they really need to do this since they seem to already know what they want (and since the servers are already "on-it" for the regulars?).
* So instead of making us feel like second class citizens while being *roughed up*, they could instead more quietly, more properly, more respectively call in their orders ahead of time, and pick up their "To-Go" orders at another part of the counter without roughing up the tourists.
[Unless, of course, that's the whole purpose of that "exercise": to enjoy - as a community - some passive-aggressive behavior against Americans?]
THE LOWDOWN
Some pretty good, pretty delicious local food mired down by some less than friendly customer service issues.
