Davinci Ristorante (Helsinki, Finland)
Looking for a cheaper alternative to Vapiano while you are in Helsinki? Then try this place, Davinci Ristorante. Actually, it’s not too far from where Vapiano is, just a few more metres if you walk towards Esplanadi then you will be at this place. So how is the food actually like? I can say its quite as par as Vapiano but its more affordable plus the serving size is larger, just the pizza alone I can safe to say it’s at least 1.5 times more than what is served in Vapiano.
While this place may not have fresh herbs that you can add to your dishes, I think you don’t need them anymore as they were already good on their own. The place also feels like Italian as compared to the real pizza places we tried in Italy where its rustic looking but in a good way.
Now let’s see if the food is any better. Let’s start with our first order, Pizza Tonno (€11.90), a simple pizza topped with tuna, shrimps and salami. Good size, ample toppings, nice bread, it’s not round but more oval. Nice crunch on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Next is the Pizza Margherita (€10.90), the most basic pizza prepared with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil. Simple but good, the tomato sauce was rich, acidic slightly sweet which reminds me of the pizza in Italy. Both pizzas were great and like I said it was huge, one serving is more than enough for one person, perhaps it’s just enough for two.
We also tried their pasta, first was the Spaghetti alla Carbonara di Speck e Taleggio (€ 13.90), basically it’s a Spaghetti with speck and Taleggio cheese in creamy garlic-egg sauce, indeed it was creamy and it tasted well balanced, not too salty but it was very savoury, this is the best of what we ordered. Serving size was again huge and don’t be misled by that plate, actually it’s a bowl, so it was deep in the middle and it is filled with that pasta goodness.
Finally, we had the Spaghetti allo Scoglio (€ 14.90), a seafood pasta in garlic-white wine sauce. Definitely filled with seafood, prawns, mussels and squid. While the sauce was tasty enough and the pasta was perfectly aldente I was surprised by the seafood which I did not expected as Helsinki is a coastal area. Mussels are understandable because we are spoiled with the very meaty and clean tasting New Zealand mussels but the shrimps were small, it felt like the cheap ones you can buy shelled in the supermarket. Squid is quite surprising as well, the texture is funny, it seems like it was pressure cooked as it was so soft, very soft you can chew it without the use of teeth, maybe I am not used to this texture because the ones I usually try always have a bite to it.
Apart from the last order everything seems to be great. Service was phenomenal, place was clean and its affordable, what more can you ask for.
Da Vinci Bar & Ristorante
Address: Siltasaarenkatu 11, 00530 Helsinki, Finland
Phone: +358 45 2006600
Website: http://davincibarristorante.fi/
