Friday, August 26, 2011

Restaurant Leib

We have decided to visit at least 1 new restaurant every time we are in Tallinn. Luckily we have a friend who is happy to join us too and he is quite up to date with the up and coming restaurants so choosing where to go has not been an issue yet. This time we enjoyed a lovely meal at restaurant Leib Resto ja Aed (restaurant Leib and garden).

It is located in the Old Town on Uus Street 31. There used to be Scottish Club there but what happened to that I do not know. I suspect it did not do as well as Leib is doing now... fully booked on a Monday!!!

Luckily K was ahead of us and had already managed to get a booking. We arrived to find an amazing garden with a lovely table for 2 totally secluded with candlelight under a tree. It was not ours. We were seated on the terrasse. There appeared to be another terrasse up the stairs but I did not go and check what that was like. I liked where we were. A view of the other guests, all happily chatting away behind rustic wooden tables and a view of the outdoor kitchen. Perfect.

The service was good. No, I'll fix that, very good. Apart from forgetting to bring our bread...but then being so overly apologetic that I actually started feeling bad for the poor girl. The food was excellent. It was estonian home food but fancier. I had rabbit as a starter. It was supposed to be a snack but it has been so long since I ate rabbit that I ordered that as starter. The meat was fried and served with a delicious dip. P had mushroom soup, which was phenomenal. For the main, both me and P had beef. I thought it was very good but P was a bit let down by the lack of seasoning. I cannot recall the sides...which makes me think now that they were good, but not great. I do remember the warm bread that was served. I have no idea whether it was home made, but I do not care. It was excellent. K had a cold summer soup for starter  - just like old times in estonia, a little bit of tomatoe, beet, sour cream, etc. He said it was great. His main was chicken and he was happy with that too. Him saying that, being a semi New Yorker, means a lot! What I loved was the dessert - creme brulee - done perfectly. And generously :). P ordered cottage cheese ice cream in berry soup and K had caramel soup...they switched their desserts while I was holding on to mine.

The menu was short which is what I like about restaurants. It featured several items which where 'of the day' and changed from day to day based on the availability of the freshest ingredients. At the same time it was not a estonian pub style menu which serves meat+potatoes+salad. Leib is truly a high level restaurant that uses local influence, ingredients and recepies to create contemporary cuisine that could easily be compared to some of my favourite restaurants in New York, London or Paris.

As we walked away, my italian husband, P, contemplated..."I wonder why there are so few good estonian restaurants...restaurants that really give you the estonian food the way your mother makes it at home...it is delicious, but whenever we eat out we never seem to get that. I feel that Leib is close. I hope they would have more like Leib. We really should come back, there were so many things on the menu I would like to try."

I hope to return. I just wonder, what happens in the colder months...the inside area is so so small. Or are there hidden depths. I hope so!

Me. Enjoying a cuppa. I loved loved loved the ceramics. 

Just as i finished writing this i saw that one of my favourite food bloggers has done a photo review of the restaurant. Check this out

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