One of the first restaurants I ever visited in Tampere was Bodega Salud. A Spanish themed restaurant was the last thing I expected to find in Finland but it was a popular place with my colleagues. It is in a side street about 5 minutes walk away from the railway station and a similar distance from the river.
It has a bit of a story behind it. It was founded by a Finnish chef called Hannu Wiss. He worked as a ship's cook and became fascinated with Spanish cooking. He started the restaurant after returning to Finland in the 1980s. The menu is a mixture of Spanish and Texmex dishes and got an award from the Spanish Department of Tourism.
Among my colleagues it has the reputation for being a great place to have a steak. I have never been disappointed by steaks there either. One of the innovations of the restaurant - particularly handy in winter - is a small locker room. You have the chance to hang up your winter coat in a locker as soon as you arrive. This time with temperatures in the mid 20s this was not needed! In January this year I hoped to visit it but it was closed.
In the 1960s, Finland had the worst rate of heart disease in the world in part due to a poor diet. In the 1970s they tackled this with a heath programme that included significantly increasing the amount of vegetables eaten. As a result most office canteens have salad bars with raw vegetables and everybody uses them; the salad bar comes for free with your main course. A few restaurants, such as Salud, operate on the same principle.
Normally, you are invited to take a salad as soon as you have ordered your main course. The ice-cooled salad bar is quite impressive.
On a previous visit shared the mixed tapas from their starter menu, which was tasty but left little space for the main course. This time I tried their grilled duck breast with a sherry & olive sauce. This was served with curly fries.
The duck was grilled how I like it, dark on the outside and pink on the inside. The sauce complimented the duck very well.
Having visited the restaurant over the last 10 years I can say that I have always found the service to be friendly and helpful.
PS: kendersrule I have let you down again as I couldn't manage a dessert after the duck but the espresso was good.
2008-06-09 @ 20:14