Troikka

At 6 o’clock in the evening of a snowy day, Troikka, one of the most famous Russian restaurants in Helsinki, was ready to welcome customers. It was a bit early for dinner, so I was able to take some pictures of the restaurant without any people.

Russian style interior

It was just a perfect time.  I am sure that some people do not like to be in a picture taken by stranger. I am the one of them too.

Russian style interior

Red velvet booths, soft lightings and candles, old Russian interiors: they all wonderfully match with Troikka. The place is small but very cozy and atmospheric.

always happy! Time to eat

I started with a peach flavor house cocktail.

Mushroom soup

While I was waiting for the meal, the kitchen offered a creamy mushroom soup in a tiny espresso cup.

Russian blini

Then it was time for blini, the “Russian pancake”. I ordered blini with assorted condiments as a special seasonal item.

Most likely you can find very thin blini out there but, it was that much thick! The thin blini looks like exactly same with crêpe but big difference is whether or not yeast is in it. The waiter brought the blini in a cast iron pan, and poured some melted butter on top of it before serving.

Toppings of blini

This blini came together with several toppings: vendace roe (top right), burbot roe (top left), chopped red onion, and sour cream

another topping tray

Additional toppings were: smoked salmon, shredded horse meat with creamy sauce, mushroom salad with goat cheese, and boiled egg yolk and white.

Here we go!

Here we go! All the toppings for my blini!

Let me try all!

So, I divided one blini to 8 pieces and nicely put all toppings on my plate. The one I liked the most was the mushroom salad with goat cheese.

Grilled wild boar with sausage and mustard sauce

The main course was grilled wild boar with sausage and mustard sauce. My expectation was to find a fragrant and juicy chunk of wild boar. However, the dish came out as a piece of shredded wild boar casserole. It was tasty though.

Apple sorbet

I ended my meal with an apple sorbet with crispy sliced apple and dessert wine.

Russian doll, Matryoshka

lovely meringue cookies , Troikka business card, and a bill in the Russian doll, Matryoshka

It was an excellent experience of a Russian restaurant. All dishes were served on time, the food was delicious, the servers were very kind and supportive, and a warm atmosphere. I should bring my Russian friend here next time!

One more tip! Pay a visit to the restroom downstairs. It’s very elegant!

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