Valimo

There’s not many places where you can sit dockside in the refurbished brick ruins of a 300 year old navy base on an island in the Baltic. Add to that some delicious food and drinks and you create something special.
Out of the group I was with everyone enjoyed their meal. I had a salad that seemed to have every random thing you would or could put on it… And strangely it worked. There were two kinds of cheeses, four kinds of lettuce, three kinds of fruit, olives, nuts, artichokes and a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t keep track of. Each bite was different but somehow didn’t over stimulate my taste buds.
If you make it to the islands of Suomenlinna, the place is still hard to find (over the bridge across from the museum and on the north side of the drydock) but worth the journey.

We had an early lunch in Valimo earlier this month on a visit to Suomenlinna. Sharing the terrace by the little marina with a few local and visiting boaty types we felt comfortable and were made very welcome by the restaurant staff. Since it was not the hottest of summer days the waitress fixed us up with a couple of blankets to stave of the chill. I noticed there was a wood burning sauna and shower facilities for those visiting by boat.
The food arrived in good time. My option was the meat dish of the day consisting of a succulent pork belly with creamy mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. I was impressed with the dish, everything was cooked and seasoned perfectly and tasted fresh and delicious.
My lunch companion enjoyed the pyttipannu ‘with a twist’. This dish was a pan fried mixture of potatoes and pork prepared in a Dijon sauce served with a fried egg on top.
As I remember we were around 35 euros for lunch and a couple of non alcoholic drinks. This I felt was reasonable given the quality of the food and surroundings.