To follow up my disappointment by yet another "there's no vacancy" at the Vegan Restaurant (Restoran) V a day after the last visit (I even tried to book this time, but they wouldn't let me!), on July 15th, my foreign friend and I decided to go to another vegan place, Café Inspiration (Kohvik Inspiratsioon) on the corner of Pagari and Lai street, Tallinn old town.
We were greeted by a nice outdoor terrace and a few empty tables inside. Choosing something from the menu took some time, but I finally opted for a mushroom risotto. That, however, would have taken 30 minutes, and we were in a rush. So instead, I chose a spinach wholegrain pasta with roasted almonds and a spunky tomato-onion salad (spinati täisterapasta röstitud mandlite ja särtsaka tomati-sibula salatiga) which had a waiting time of 20 minutes. I also wished to have a sea buckthorn smoothie with ginger, but they were out of the fruit. I quickly chose a strawberry-rhubarb-pear smoothie, but were out of strawberries. I was offered a replacement of cherries instead of the strawberries, and they asked if they could use banana in case they were out of pear. I accepted. The order came in at 9.10€, pasta being 6.40€ and the 300 ml smoothie 2.70€. Again, rather inexpensive for an eatery in old town.
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| My dish is seen in the background |
We sat down and soon I realised something. I didn't have my smoothie. I waited a bit, a little bit more, and when I saw the waiter dancing behind the counter, I reminded him. He was nothing but nice, and to be honest, his optimistic and friendly attitude was the only reason I tipped him. But about that later. We then got our food, and my smoothie arrived shortly after that. To get to my pasta, I had to dig through a mountain of the spunky salad (I also don't like mixing cold food with warm) which made my nose hurt from the really strong onion. When I finally reached the main portion of the meal, I was disappointed again. It was very under-seasoned, fortunately there was a salt and a pepper shaker on the table. My friend's unwanted sun-dried tomatoes worked wonders in my dish. The almonds gave the pasta a needed crunch as the pasta might have been a tad too soft. The smoothie was a nice mix of fruit, however, I have no idea what it ended up consisting of.
Final verdict: 4 out of 10. The food was edible but nothing too exciting. The portion size was good, there was even more than enough for a hungry girl. The service was a bit sloppy, but enthusiastic. I would go back to try the interesting sounding mushroom risotto I couldn't have and also their desserts, but I will not have as high expectations as I had before. I (and you, if you wish) should hurry, as their menu changes with seasons.
Info at www.kohvikinspiratsioon.ee or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KohvikInspiratsioon
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