Maithai Thai restaurant in Helsinki
Restaurant: Maithai – Thai RestaurantAddress: Annankatu 31-33
Telephone: 09 685 6850
Internet: www.maithai.fi
Prices: Normal portions average around 12 euros.
Food: Tasty and wide selection
Service: Bit overburdened (slow) but friendly
FINNISH RESTAURANT ARCITECHTURE
In Finland we have the habit of constructing our buildings so that we have small outer halls before entering the interior rooms from outside. This is because in the winter, it can be pretty cold and snowy outside (also in Helsinki). If person would be able to directly walk into a restaurant, floors would have lot of melting snow, not to mention the cold draft which would come from outside on every door opening. So we have these small halls that function as a convenient passage between outside and inside. In these tiny spaces you can clean your boots before entering and make sure that heat is not wasted. Nobody actually pays attention on this so floors are wet and slippery anyway, but it is like with gifts, it is the thought that counts, right?
Why would I start with such a paragraph? In Maithai restaurant, this small entryway is remarkably tiny. So the feeling of a close-knit family restaurant is present from the very first step. Restaurant consists of one open area, which is filled with tables and chairs. Oh, by the way, to me their chairs are inconveniently soft, and as I prefer to sit on something solid, it was total torment for me to wobble constantly. There are couple of coat racks, so hang your jacket there or lay it on the chair of your liking and sit down. Not that much choice actually, since most of the places are taken - Hey, this is one of the most popular ethnic restaurants in Helsinki. Next time, I better make a reservation, just to be on the safe side.
MENU
Is everyone sitting comfortably? Good. Here comes the menu. Service is speedy even the place is bit crowded. How come there are so many people anyway? Well, even we are slightly off the Helsinki city center, we are still within short walking distance from traffic hot spots like bus, train and metro stations. Also the food in this restaurant is great, surely Maithai is among the best restaurants of Helsinki.
Now let’s see what we shall order. On the menu, they have all sorts of Oriental dishes fish, meat and vegetables. They even have some dishes that are especially spicy. Curry dishes are said to be superb, so you might want to try one of those. Hmm, I will order my regular Sweet and Sour Chicken just to be able to make some comparisons between different Asian restaurants in Helsinki (I am getting QUITE fed up with this choice that about 60% of Finns do, whenever they visit Asian restaurant). My lovely wife orders a dish of shrimps in coconut milk. We choose to drink water and leave Thai beer - not to mention spirits - for more adventurous or thirsty customers.
SURROUNDINGS
Time to look around, wood panelling, rather plain finishing. Restaurant tries to liven things up with special decorations from Thailand. I have to admit that they do create somewhat authentic far-away feeling even one can see that items are not expensive. Lights have been dimmed, so we have very intimate atmosphere. On the background we have a melodic vocal music that I mistakenly mix with Chinese folk music, until my wife assures me that it is not Chinese that they sing. She should know, as her mother tongue is Chinese.
FOOD
Seven minutes pass quickly and my dish arrives to the table. Now that was fast! Quite a huge portion, I tell you, also have lots of rice on a separate bowl. I wonder whether we are able to finish all of this. Chicken looks and smells nice they sure know how to cook in this restaurant. My wife is happy with the food it has been a long time since she had such a dish with sea fragrance. Hah, I am pleased for her, Asian people really take their food seriously, so it would have been an emergency of some size if the dish had been... After some nice food and conversation, we finally manage to finish our dishes, although there is plenty of rice left. It would be nice to relax a bit but we decide to show some respect for the owner and release two desperately needed chairs that can accommodate anxious customers that are waiting to be seated.
Paying is quick procedure (don't you just hate parting with your money, no matter how well-spent?) and we take off. The Helsinki night is treating us nicely, as there is no wind and no rain. We walk on and compare our experience, food was excellent and people were nice, although the crowd slightly increased our waiting time. One thing that we agree is that for sure, this is one Thai restaurant in Helsinki that is worth visiting more than once.
posted by Jarkko @ Saturday, April 02, 2005
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