Huber (Ravinteli huber)

Huber is a unique restaurant in that it is the “only restaurant in Finland to serve hand-picked, Finnish, succulently marbled dairy cow”(Huber website). We have been to Huber three times now and were really happy to find that it is dog friendly, as we wanted to go here as soon as we saw the ageing beef in the window! The restaurant is stylishly decorated and offers a comfortable and upbeat, yet relaxed space to enjoy some excellent food and drinks.  

In terms of food, the menu is not so extensive, but while it is clearly focused on meat, it does offer a couple vegetarian options (one starter, one main, and most of the sides). Huber generally offers three starters, three cuts of steak, some slow cooked meats, a selection of sides, and two desserts. All of the meats are ordered by weight and the staff will guide you very well here, especially if you want a selection. In addition to the meats, they also serve a burger, homemade sausage, and bone marrow.

As for the drinks, Huber has a small selection of house cocktails and Gin & Tonics, but they will also make other cocktails on request. They also have three draft beers, a wide range of bottled beers, wines by the glass and bottle, and a selection of spirits.

As noted above, we have been to Huber three times; twice for a meal and once during the “Tamperrada Pintxo Week”, and have extremely enjoyed each visit (and will clearly be going back). On each visit, the food was delicious and interesting, drinks great, and the service perfect. Like Dabbal and Sitko, the service was very friendly and professional, with the staff making us feel not only welcome but appreciated.

On both of our visits for dinner, we had a very similar selection of food: dry age dairy beef sirloin, slow cooked beef cheek, bone marrow, sausage, and some sides. On our first visit we also had starters, both of which were excellent, but on the second occasion we opted to go for more main course options instead (only because we were really in the mood for a meat feast!!). All of the food was delicious and perfectly cooked, and the aged dairy steak had quite a unique flavour; stronger and slightly gamier than regular aged beef. You can select the age of the beef, for example, we have tried two-week aged and one-month, both of which were delicious. Based on our limited experience, it seems the older (longer aged) the meat, the stronger the flavour and a more cured-like texture there is.  The slow cooked beef cheek, which is first slow cooked before being coated in house made BBQ sauce and grilled on an open flame, was tender and very flavoursome, but perhaps a little too sweet for our tastes. The bone marrow is delicious and the huber sausage, which airs on the Germanic side, was also very good with a smokey cured flavour. All the sides were well-prepared, tasty, and perfectly suited to the selection of meats. On both dinner occasions, we left happy and full (and perhaps a bit tipsy) with a feeling that our satisfaction was important to the staff, and our patronage was equally appreciated.

As for the drinks, we sampled a decent selection of their drinks during our visits and thoroughly enjoyed them all! For example, we gratefully drank a few excellent cocktails including the Manhattan, huber´ s havunen 2020, a negroni, and some G&Ts. In addition, we have enjoyed some draught and bottled beers (often taking recommendations for  the staff), wines by the glass and bottle, and some digestifs. As I say, all of the drinks were lovely, and the cocktails were as good as those we have paid much more for in various ‘high-end’ cocktail bars.

As mentioned, we have also enjoyed a quick stop to Huber for some Pinchos during the Tamperrada Pintxo Week. On that visit, we had a very nice steak tartare with a cold beer and an excellent glass of wine.

In terms of prices, for food it very much depends on the amount you order, but the prices work out very similar as to what you would pay in an average restaurant or steakhouse. Unfortunately, I have no memory of the price of the drinks, but nothing stood out as expensive, especially given the high quality of all drinks. However, by looking at the website, cocktails seem to be between €10 and €13, draught beers are around €8.50, and wines by the glass are between €12 and €18. Like Dabbal, Huber is not the cheapest of restaurants, but neither do we think it is expensive considering the time, effort, and skill that Huber has put into creating the unique space and menu. As a guide, our bill on the first dinner visit was around €200 for 2 starters, a larger-than-needed selection of meats and sides, 2 cocktails, 1 or 2 beers, and a bottle of wine. On our second visit the bill was about €150 for 2 cocktails, 3 beers, 2 glasses of wine, and another large selection of meats and sides. In our opinion, the quality of food and drinks, along with the excellent service, make Huber good value for money.

As I hope it is evident from the above, we are big fans of Huber and therefore highly recommend it for both those with and without furry friends. Unfortunately, I lost many photos when my old phone died.