Are you looking for tasting real Finnish flavors with a fine dining twist? Restaurant Musta Lammas in Kuopio, Finland offers not only excellent service and very interesting historic setting but also good selection of Finnish flavors. You can either choose every single dish or go with a 4- or 6-course menu. With 4-course menu you can go with a surprise menu. We took the surprise menu and that’s what you can explore in this post, enjoy!

 

 

We started our dinner with some sparkling. We asked for a recommendation and got Perelada Cuvée Especial Cava Brut. This wine was dry and very good. There was some red apple and roast in taste. We loved the fact that it was organic!

 

 

After these aperitifs we chose to go with the 4-course surprise menu with wine package. You can either take wine package or non-alcoholic drink package which includes different soft drinks like tea-based drinks – the drinks may vary depending of the menu served.

 

 

 

4-COURSE SURPRISE MENU OF MUSTA LAMMAS, KUOPIO, FINLAND IN REVIEW

 

 

Premenu Starter 1

 

 

The starter 1 was a small dish served from curved serving spoons. The dish included some cracker made with forest mushrooms. There was also organic egg yolk, bolete and cornflowers included. What comes to taste this dish had a hint of smoke aroma with some saltiness. The texture was also nice and very mellow.

 

Additionally, this dish was very beautiful and the serving plate filled with wine bottle corks was a fun idea. Colors of the dish were earthy but beautiful – and the little purple cornflowers were a nice detail!

 

We loved how Finnish all the flavors and ingredients were – basically everything served in the restaurant Musta Lammas comes from local farmers and producers, most of the products they use are also organic.

 

 

Premenu Starter 2, Kitchen’s Greeting

 

 

Before the actual appetizer we also got another small dish. This one was traditional Finnish pea soup but done to be smoother and a lot more delicious than the one every Finn has eaten at home or in school. This soup was super smooth, quite salty and absolutely delicious.

 

The soup was served in a glass jar with some dried reindeer rump on it. There was also mustard fraiche in the dish. This soup ended up being one of my favorites in Musta Lammas – I’ve always loved pea soup and reindeer and this one was the best combo of those I have had! The dish might not look very special but come and try yourself, it is yummy!

 

 

DISH 1: Appetizer

 

 

This dish was the first one of the four courses included to the surprise menu. I loved the colors and the beauty of red onions. This first dish included foie gras (goose liver) from Hauhola, organic red onions, pickle granola and pickle relish.

 

What we loved in this one was the combination of different textures – crunchy granola, soft liver, relish, slightly soft onion and sweetness of the wine made a great experience. This dish had the best wine pairing of our dinner. The taste of onion was quite strong in this dish. The wine made it better but it could still have been a bit less strong. Anyhow, a great dish which had an amazing wine as it’s pair!

 

 

WINE 1: Max Ferd Richter Mülheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Zeppelin

 

The first wine after the sparkling was a white wine, Max Ferd Richter Mülheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Zeppelin. This wine is a Riesling that comes from Mosel, Germany. The vineyard is owned by 6^th generation of winemakers. The name of the wine comes from slate. In addition to slate, you can taste freshness and fruits in this wine.

 

The wine is very clear and light-colored. It smells fruity and a bit floral. It’s taste is strong, quite sweet and fruity. There is a hint of honey in the flavor. This wine makes a perfect pair with the dish 1, the first dish of the surprise menu of Musta Lammas.

 

 

BREAD

 

 

In addition to the first course we were served bread made in the restaurant, the bread was served with some butter. They are using their own starter dough to make their bread. The bread was very crunchy, tasty and delicious. If you wish, you can get more of it with the other courses of the menu.

 

 

DISH 2: The Entremets

 

 

Second dish was sunroot soup made of local sunroots. This soup was served from a simple glass jar with some caviar. Like the previous dishes, the colors were very earthy and the dish looked simple and even a bit boring but tasted delicious.

 

The texture was smooth, mellow and lovely. This soup sure complemented the taste of the sunroot – so pure, simple and clear taste was a nice experience. The soup paired well with caviar. The wine paired with this dish was also an excellent choice – it cut and balanced the greasiness of the soup nicely.

 

 

 

WINE 2: Landhaus Mayer Grüner Veltliner

 

The wine number two was Landhaus Mayer Grüner Veltliner, a white wine from one of the oldest wineries in Austria. The wine is made of Grüner Veltliner grapes. This is one of the oldest wines of Austria. In the process of making this wine it’s bottled straight after fermentation.

 

The color of this wine is clear and golden. It has a strong scent of yellow fruits, probably pineapple, and taste has some fruits and herbs. The taste is fresh and earthy at the same time.

 

 

DISH 3: Main Course

 

 

The main course was deer sirloin which was at first braised and then fried. In addition to deer, the dish also includes some black salsify, fresh blackberries and blackberry sauce. Additionally, there was some herbs and herb sauce. All the ingredients come from Finland even though it was middle of December!

 

This dish was the most the beautiful of the ones in our surprise menu. Still earthy and too fancy looking which makes the style match with rest of the dishes. Different elements of the dish were a nice combination of different flavors and textures. The meat was perfectly tender and deliciously spiced. The fresh berries were a bit surprising twist but it worked fine and looked beautiful.

 

 

WINE 3: Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon

 

The wine for the main course was Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon, red wine from Chile. This wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon from a well-known winery. This wine has also won plenty of different prizes and has an excellent price-quality ratio.

 

The color of the wine is dark, deep-red. The wine is full-bodied and delicious. In taste you can find some spices and dark berries, and a hint of vanilla. This wine is good itself but even better when paired with deer meat and other parts of the dish.

 

 

DISH 4: Dessert

 

 

The dessert of this surprise meal was a delicious combination of chocolate, raspberries and peppermint. The dish included raspberry cream and sauce, chocolate mousse and dominos. These were served with raspberry-peppermint ice cream. That was served on some dry ice and dry hay – those looked and smelled super cool! Another nice addition to the dish were little purple flowers on the dish as a decoration.

 

Who doesn’t like raspberries and chocolate? I think there isn’t such person! This dish was easy to love. Raspberries and chocolate are a classic to which the peppermint gave a nice twist. And so did the wine this was paired with. The wine balances the fatness and highlights the taste of chocolate. In general, the pairing was great and the wine complimented the dish.

 

 

WINE 4: Johanneshof Reinisch Rotgipfler Auslese

 

 

The dessert was served with Johanneshof Reinisch Rotgipfler Auslese, a dessert wine from Herma region, Austria. The grape variety of this dish is Rotgifler which is quite uncommon variety in wine industry. The grapes for this wine are handpicked.

 

We found the bottle of this wine a fun detail – tall and thin bottles aren’t very common. The color of this wine is golden. Scent is very sweet and includes some dried yellow fruits and honey. The wine tastes quite sweet but not too sweet. At the same time it is fresh and has minerality in it. After all, a great and interesting wine and excellent pair for the dessert.

 

After the last dish and wine we could have had some tea or coffee. We were so full that we didn’t try either. For me the four-course surprise menu was quite big, for my avec it was good in size. Nobody’s left hungry in Musta Lammas. 🙂

 

 

Service, Interior and Other Notes

 

 

We had a very warm welcome to Musta Lammas. The staff was very friendly for us. One thing that we found outstanding was the knowledge level of our waitress. She knew exactly were the ingredients came (not only the city or town but also the farmer / winery), she also told all cooking temperatures and methods without asking. Wow, she was really professional!

 

The service was also very fast and efficient. We didn’t have to wait too long at any point though the restaurant was quite full at the end of our dinner. This restaurant is one of the best reviewed in Kuopio and it for sure deserves it’s place in top 3.

 

Before there was a restaurant the place used to be bear and liquor factore from late 19^th century. The restaurant was born year 1982. In the interior it could be seen that the place is old and rustic. Anyhow, it was nicely renovated which made it a good mix of old and newer elements. There was a lot of wood, stone, metal, wide low doors and a lot of dark colors. Not the easiest place to take photos for a blog but the atmosphere was perfect for a dinner under candlelight.

 

During our dinner everything went mostly smoothly and as supposed. Only little issue was that there was some dust in my the sparkling glass of my avec. Anyhow, the waitress recognized that straight away and offered him a new, clean glass with new wine.

 

If you’re looking for a restaurants filled with Finnish flavors, simply delicious dishes and excellent service this is a must go place for you! The surprise menu is changing constantly. Common for all the menus is that they all praise Finnish flavors and traditional dishes. For example on the Finnish Independence Day they served things like Karelia Stew and blueberries with milk.

 

 

Have you ever tried restaurant Musta Lammas before? Would you like to go?

 

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This post was done in collaboration with Restaurant Musta Lammas, Kuopio, Finland. Anyhow, all the opinions are mine. So are the photos. If you’re interested in collaboration, learn more here .