Restaurant Kitchen and Bar Dabbal

Dabbal is a lovely dog-friendly restaurant and bar located in the Lapland Hotel in Tampere. Dabbal is tastefully decorated and offers a cosy and comfortable atmosphere that does not feel like a stereotypical hotel restaurant.  Dabbal offers a great selection of interesting and unique menu items, all of which are centred around the cuisine and ingredients of Lapland.  The menu is not extensive, but has a large enough variety to suit many tastes. In addition to the food, there is a good selection of quality draft and bottled beers, great cocktails and spirits, plus nice wines by the bottle and glass.

We have only been here twice so far, once for a meal and once during the “Tamperrada Pintxo Week”, but thoroughly enjoyed both visits and are looking forward to our next trip. On both visits, the food was excellent, drinks perfect, and the service great. The service was very friendly and professional with the staff making us feel not only welcome but appreciated. Like other places reviewed such as Sitko and Tuulensuu, the staff seemed to know exactly when we wanted something and when to leave us alone; perfect.

On our first visit, we shared two starters, the first of which was an appetizer plate made up of various Lapland delicacies including smoked fish, cured meat, cheeses and breads (€25), and the second was an artichoke soup (€11). Both of the starters were truly excellent in both taste and presentation. The appetizer plate clearly used high quality ingredients that had been treated with respect to bring out the unique flavours, and the soup was very complex in terms of components and presentation, but was perfectly balanced. For the main course, we shared a reindeer dish and a fish dish, both of which were fabulous. The reindeer dish consisted of two different reindeer preparations: a perfect medium-rare roasted fillet and a juicy and tender slow cooked stew (€38). The fish (€30), which was Pike-Perch, was cooked beautifully with crispy skin but moist flesh. Both mains came with their own individual sides and accompaniments that fitted each dish nicely. We finished with a lovely desert; a kind of Crème Brulé with homemade ice-cream and fresh fruit. All in all, we were extremely happy with the food, and given how delicate everything looked, were surprisingly full when we left.

As for the drinks, we sampled quite a few of their offerings during the evening and found them all to be excellent! For example, before the meal, we enjoyed delicious cocktails (a lovely G&T and one of the best Negroni’s we have ever had; rivalling the Piconi at Tuullensuu). Then, during the meal, we happily drank some very pleasant Lapland beers and a couple of very nice glasses of wine. To finish, we enjoyed a Spanish Brandy and another tipple, but unfortunately, I have no memory of what that was (that is directly connected to how much we enjoyed the previous drinks). Unfortunately, neither can I remember the price of the drinks, but nothing stood out as expensive, especially given the high quality of all drinks.

As mentioned, our second visit was just a quick stop to try some Pinchos during the Tamperrada Pintxo Week. On this very short visit, we had another lovely time, enjoying 3 very tasty pinchos and two excellent glasses of wine.

While Dabbal is not the cheapest of restaurants, neither is it expensive considering the effort, skill, and time that has gone into creating the warm space and interesting menu. As a guide, our bill was exactly €200 for 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 dessert, and more drinks than we should have had!! The quality of food and drinks, along with the excellent service, make it good value for money, especially as visiting Dabbal feels like a special occasion (even when it is not).

As I am sure it is clear from the above, we are big fans of Dabbal and therefore highly recommend it for both those with and without furry friends. Looking forward to our next visit!!