Restaurant review | The local restaurant has a sumptuous lunch, but the evening menu fails to surprise

On the signs reads “Sompasaarenlaituri”. Here will be a wonderful beach boulevard, where you can hear the lapping of the waves and where the curved bridge will bring tram traffic, pedestrians and cyclists from Merihaa. However, the attractive view is still only in the designers’ observational images.

But Sompasaari is still an experience. The marine landscape offers unexpected views of Helsinki. Over there Kalasatama, then Suvilahti and straight ahead the coal piles of Hanasaari and the construction sites of the new residential area. And then the new and old Monuments up to Uspensky Cathedral.

Several restaurants have already opened in the suddenly almost fully built Sompasaari, one of which is Sump, which is a traditional neighborhood restaurant. The terrace of the restaurant, which has been in operation for more than a year, offers views across the water to picturesque coal piles that have inspired artists as well.

Sumpi’s restaurateurs have a background from Vammala’s club room, detached from chains. The pleasant service has a hint of provincial charm.

At lunch time The sump will be full. Most likely, the customers are from these corners, because the bus from Kalasatama doesn’t come right to the door. From the beginning of the evening, the locality is even more emphasized. There is no need to go further than Sompasaari, even to the nearby Kalasatama. You can hear it from the speeches of the committees.

The lunch menu has been prepared with care, especially the vegetarian option shows creativity. There is tofu, pesto and seasonal vegetables. On the day of the visit, the meaty reindeer sausage won the tomato risotto. The sausage was good, with crispy skins and really northern flavors. It was not the kitchen’s own product, but came from “somewhere”.

At first, a cup of the luscious pumpkin soup included in the lunch was brought.

In addition to the soup of the day, the lunch menu also has a well thought-out concept, fish of the week and meat of the week. The fish has been, for example, fried pikeperch with horseradish sauce. The meat has appealed with its rarity: fried beef tongue and capers. 16.50 e is an affordable price for these. Sympathetic, when you get lunch wine for 6 e/12 cl and lunch snacks are also affordable.

To a glorious lunch after, expectations were high for the evening visit.

The narrow à la carte menu is interesting and relies on high-quality ingredients from small producers.

A surprise menu is also available. I would consider the phenomenon to have somehow outlived its time. Genuine surprise is challenging, and it didn’t quite succeed here either.

According to the presentation, the surprise menu lives “as the seasons change”, but it consisted of dishes from the à la carte list.

Four dishes cost 52 e. The portions were probably a little smaller than usual, because if ordered separately, the price would have been about ten more. However, they filled the plate well.

The starter Vitello tonnato was composed of delicious traditional ingredients, veal and tuna mayonnaise. The saltiness of the dish was just over the top. Maybe the anchovies or similar managed to surprise?

The appetizer risotto was no slouch either: the black specks in the rice looked like truffles. Fried chanterelles completed the dish. But again, the salt was dosed casually on the wrist.

In the main course The pike in Wallenberg had a decent fish steak with a briskly sized black root, which had a good chewy feel. The dish is swimming in crab sauce. So, good side dishes, but again there was a lot of salt.

The dessert made up for it: cherry, chocolate and licorice powder, all vegan. It was a wickedly good and beautiful combination.

In addition to the vegetable dishes on the list, the only surprises missing were whitefish, roast deer and a wild boar burger. And blueberry dessert.

To sum up: there is a demand for a decent neighborhood restaurant.