Visit Helsinki: Boulevard Social

Good morning world! I hope that you’re all safely at home with your family and loved ones, ready for the Christmas celebrations and that you will get to relax and enjoy the end of this year in a good and peaceful spirit.

If you’re still dwelling on what to prepare for your family’s Christmas table for tomorrow’s lunch, I hope that this post will inspire the chef in you and give you an idea of, in my mind, perfectly set and inspired Moroccan table spread/ meal options.

Couple of weeks ago I took a very dear friend with me for a dinner date as part of my “Visit Helsinki” cycle of collaborations. It happened to be that Boulevard Social is one of her favourite restaurants in Helsinki, so I was more than happy to share this, Middle Eastern food experience with her.

Restaurant Boulevard Social was the third restaurant to open in B&W restaurants chain. The concept is the same as in other B&W restaurants, the food is a social thing, so the plates (and portions) are served such way that you can easily share with whomever is sitting by the table with you. I love this idea and the possibility to try the food from your friends or partner without feeling uncomfortable or thinking that somebody might find it odd.

Even though Boulevard Social is space – wise the smallest restaurant of this chain, it didn’t lack on beautiful interior, overall relaxed vibe and possibility to just walk in for a drink or snack without feeling urged to sit down for a full course menu.

We have picked couple of dishes which we found the most interesting to test and present. As a starter we have shared a spicy gazpacho soup with prawns and basil creme. Quite unusual blend of tastes but I have liked it a lot. It wasn’t maybe the best choice for the middle of the cold Winter’s eve, but in Summer… This will def. be my go-to soup! 🙂

After that, we went with a choice from “shared/ fresh” and it was Fassi – salmon pastrami on the bed of shredded apples, dill, roasted walnuts and honey frassi dressing. My friend was absolutely in love with this dish! I have loved the salmon pastrami but I wasn’t as keen on the apple and dressing mix. All together, it was also a very fresh and perfect for warmer days dish!

For mains we were torn between couple of options so we have ordered up pumpkin kibbeh with sides of tzatziki, lemon tahini, hummus and pita bread. Another dish from the mains that we just had to try was roasted cauliflower with hazelnuts, pomegranate, saffron&tahini dressing and olive oil!

Pumpkin kibbeh was delicious and totally different from the usual “falafel” taste that I was expecting to get. Pita bread was perfectly soft and have worked “wonders” when I have combined it with the kibbeh and tzatziki which was to die for ( one of the best ones I’ve tried anywhere ).

Roasted cauliflower dish left us wondering if it’s the best dish of that evening or if something was a bit overwhelming in this combination of tastes/ spices.

To finish up the dinner in the most perfect way, we were pleasantly surprised with a mini selection of couple of deserts from the menu and the ultimate favourite was the daily special – Popcorn soft ice cream! I have never tried anything like this before and have absolutely LOVED the taste. I will never “look” at the popcorn in the same way again. 😀

This trip to the Mediterranean was something very close to my heart because I come from Croatia and it felt as if I was very nearby my home while dining at Boulevard Social. Well done B&W restaurants once again!

*This post has been made in collaboration with B&W restaurants, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you Kata B. once again for making this collaboration happen and for being the sweetest person to work with.

*All of the photos shot by: Natali K. photography