I wandered into the quaint restaurant Lappi Ravintola in search of one thing only: reindeer carpaccio.

At no point did I expect to be partaking of a martini during this visit but when you see they have a house martini on the menu, what else are you going to do?

‘Lappi Ravintola’ literally means ‘Lapland Restaurant’ and that is of course, the theme.

The Venue

The first thing you notice when you enter the doors (or even before then) is the cosy wooden decor. Almost everything is wooden, all the walls, ceilings, floors and fixtures, with rough-hewn, homely fabrics and nostalgic artwork, photographs and artefacts.

The staff are also beautifully adorned in traditional costumes which could strike you as a red flag that this is a tourist trap, but it was backed up by exceptional service and it wasn’t long before I felt completely at ease.  The staff were adorable, as well as attentive and knowledgeable.

I was also really taken with the beautifully nostalgic music. It was wall-to-wall Finnish classics, sentimental, emotive and utterly perfect to accompany a martini.

Beer

I ordered a delicious smoked Kaski lager from the Takatalo and Tompuri brewery in Kymenlaakso. I also noticed the logo of the Tornio brewery on one of the glasses, the folks behind the beautiful gin Lójhtu so I had to have one of those next. Tornio produce the house lager of the restaurant which I can only endorse.

Beautiful Carbohydrate

Bread was served almost immediately on arrival. It was a soft, floury, unleavened bread, almost like a pliable pancake, and delicious, chewy Finnish rye bread, with the softest, whipped homemade butter.

The Main Event

The carpaccio is sliced from frozen so it is delightfully refreshing. It has a delicious buttery umami flavour that melts into smokey deliciousness like some kind of forest sashimi. It was topped with marinated mushrooms, cheese, herbs, salad and blueberries which gave it an altogether wholesome and comforting wonderland feel.

There were some occasional notes of sweetness, some from the blueberry and balsamic, but some even from the delicate meat itself.

The House Martini

What a delight for such a comforting venue to have, not just a martini, but a house martini on the menu.

The Lappi Martini is similar to a Vesper, in that it involves a mixture of gin and vodka, with a touch of vermouth. The difference here is that the good staff at Lappi Ravintola have infused the vodka with woodland herbs and lemon peel.

It was only later that I noticed the “magnum” of vermouth downstairs. I don’t think the picture accurately captures its size. Obviously this is a venue very serious about their drinks.

They also garnish their martini with a generous sprig of thyme. It wasn’t kept in the freezer so wasn’t as cold as it could’ve been, which is almost surprising considering this is a restaurant specialising in cuisine from one of the coldest parts of the world, but at the same time, it was almost comforting that it wasn’t icy cold.

A very cold martini might’ve impacted the high quality of the carpaccio. Furthermore, the constituent ingredients of this drink were so good quality that it was smooth on its own. Freezing gin and vodka can mask a lower quality spirit but that wasn’t needed here. The only other preference I have is for a traditional V-shaped glass rather than a coupe, but it was certainly the correct size of a martini portion.

The light, smooth herbal elixir complimented the carpaccio beautifully. The use of juniper-leading tanqueray with its notes of pine only evoked the forest even further.

In all, a lovely restaurant. Kiitos.