Bodega Salud, Tampere

Salud Bodega is one of famoust restaurants in Finland. It has more than 30 years serve locals and visitors with Spanish cuisine. But where it is? Its in Tampere, the third largest city in Finland and the largest inland centre in the Nordic countries. Currently there are over 200,000 inhabitants in Tampere, and almost 300,000 inhabitants in Tampere Sub-Region, which comprises Tampere and its neighbouring municipalities. It was also the most attractive ...
...Hannu Wiss, owner of Salud Bodega who back in 60's falling love with spanish cuisine during his holidays in Spain. After an adventure in the cabooses of Finnish ships cruising the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa began he settling down back in Finland and his dream true by opening a Spanish restaurant. At beginning it was tiny restaurant with out a liquor licence and it was was doomed in the eyes of many people. The menu was completed with some ... more

Salud Bodega is one of famoust restaurants in Finland. It has more than 30 years serve locals and visitors with Spanish cuisine. But where it is? Its in Tampere, the third largest city in Finland and the largest inland centre in the Nordic countries. Currently there are over 200,000 inhabitants in Tampere, and almost 300,000 inhabitants in Tampere Sub-Region, which comprises Tampere and its neighbouring municipalities. It was also the most attractive city among Finns who plan on moving. At it's my home town, well...use to be..I was born in there.

Tampere was founded 1775as a market place around Tammerkoski river in 1775 by Gustav III of Sweden and four years later, 1779, it got its full township status.During the later half of 19th century Tampere had almost half of Finland's industrial labour. The town's industrial nature in the 19th and 20th centuries gave it the nickname "Manchester of the North", or as we say Manse for short.

Tampere is about 170 km from Helsinki to north. Temperatures are max +28 and min -20 C.

Tampere is more than close to nature. City centre is surrounded by lake and ridge scenery, sited on an isthmus between lakes Pyhäjärvi and Näsijärvi. The Tammerkoski rapids run through the city. There are 200 lakes and ponds in Tampere, and a total of 450 in the entire region. There are numerous nature reserves in Tampere. Pyynikki and Viikinsaari near the city centre are the best known of them. Pyynikki, which was formed by the action of ice and sea more than 10,000 years ago, is the world's highest gravel ridge. At its highest it rises 80 metres above Lake Pyhäjärvi and 160 metres above sea level.

And we love eating...so do Hannu Wiss, owner of Salud Bodega who back in 60's falling love with spanish cuisine during his holidays in Spain. After an adventure in the cabooses of Finnish ships cruising the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa began he settling down back in Finland and his dream true by opening a Spanish restaurant. At beginning it was tiny restaurant with out a liquor licence and it was was doomed in the eyes of many people. The menu was completed with some specialities what later came very popular, even today some of dishes are prepared by the original recipe: the Peppersteak, Rosvonpaisti, Paella and Lamb Chops. I remember that I had my first and best ever peppersteak back in 80's in Salud, and god that was good!!!

By the time the restaurant began to gain official appreciation as well. Among others the Spanish State Department of Tourism granted the restaurant the highly appreciated honorary plague for making the Spanish cuisine known.

Soon Salud was most often packed when ever thinking of going there. So it needed new place, and like miracle they wound new much bigger place for restaurant only hundred steps away in Tuomiokirkonkatu, were you can found it today as well. Now Salud got big restaurant hall with meeting cabinets, the loft and very famous and popular Tapas bar. This Tapas bar is the first tapas bar in Finland, hard to belive it but Im very glad that we got it first in Tampere. A small Tapas bar serving an Andalusian market of Spanish appetizers, snacks and savouries at a very affordable price. And it fab place to meet your friends before enjoying your dinner. It also the place where you can enjoy nice glass of spanish vine whyle waiting your table to be ready.

Tapas (Tapa means "covered" in Spanish)
Tapas lunch is served in Salud at 11-15 on weekdays and it cost less than 8 €. At evening as I earlyer said have a glass wine with ham and honey melon or marinade green mussels, fresh, green and black olives, crayfish salad…

Food:
Salud meals are rich and genuine, and built around meat. You really can taste MEAT and all flavors around it.
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Here is one of my favorite list of full meal:

Starter:
SNAILS -CARACOLES CON QUESO (Price:8,90 €)
Six snails heated in a snail pan and gratinated with a variety of Spanish cheeses. Served with white bread for dipping.

Salad buffet

Main:

FISH FROM FINNISH LAKES AND SCAMPI TAIL ON A SKEWER- PESCADO FINLANDES Y PINCHO CIGALAS (price:21,50 €)
Steamed perch, whitefish, brook trout, and scampi tail on a bed of hot vegetables. Served with saffron sauce and boiled potatoes.

or
PEPPER STEAK -FILETE A LA PIMIENTA
(Price:200 g 23,10 € / 300 g 30,10 €)
Made according to a secret recipe for 30 years, Salud's legendary grilled fillet steak, rich pepper cream sauce, and a baked potato.

or

REINDEER NOISETTES WRAPPED IN COLD-SMOKED SALMON SALOMÓN AHUMADO FRIO LOMO DE RENO
(price: 26,90 €)
Two grilled reindeer noisettes wrapped in cold-smoked salmon and served with creamy false morel sauce and dark cranberry sauce.

Dessert:

STRAWBERRIES FLAMBE'
Vanilla ice and cognac-flambéed strawberries. Flambéed in a copper pan at the table. (Price 7.50 €)

cheese buffet (awww...)

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Salud has excellent kids menu's as well, offering CAPTAIN HOOK'S CANGAROO STEAK or ROBIN HOOD'S BULLFIGHT and MUUMIMAMMA'S MEATBALLS for little monsters (lol).

All kids menus are 8€ and meant children under 12 years.

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Unfortunately Salud also have fried dolphinfish fillet, what was huge shock for me!!! I could never eat such a lovely animal. ------
And that is only minus in my list.

Prices are high but I can say that food is much more than you get , and you can falling love in Salud. Like I did. I went to my first date to Salud, and still with that man. We go every year celebrate our love in Salud. Salud is excellent place for romantic dinner. They even got own Spanish guitarist who plays spanish music every evening. And occasionally "rosegirls" comes to restaurant with roses and you can buy flower to your partner.

Story behind Salud:
Nearly 30 years period Salud has taught two generations to broadmindedly meet and familiarize new foodstuff and their combinations, new way of cooking, spices, fruit, cheese… And lately Salud has introduced visitors to bison, emu, kangaroo, alligator, turtle and rattle snake meat, miniature eels and seafood mixtures and grasshoppers . Could sound very excotic and that what it is, but very tasty. It really is. I remember when Salud got Boa soap in menu, of course I had to taste it, and it was like chicken soup. White tasty meat. LOVELY!

From 80' s for today Salud have had lovely ice-cooled salad buffet, where everyone could choose their favourites of salads and season their portion with their favourite dressing as part of meal and the variety of exotic fruit and cheese could only make it easier to fall for the buffet. I normally start my cusine experience in Salud with salad buffet and finish it witrh fruits and CHEESE!!! I love Salud's cheese buffet, so many different cheeses to choice. And buffet is FREE if you got main meal as well.

In Salud you are really carry away and thats only because Hannu Wiss is still in charge of the Salud kitchen and gastronomic planning and his wife Mrs Lea Wiss takes care of the service and the finances. Also the next generation is training into the good service trade: having finished her gastronomic studies, the daughter Hannele is at the moment out into the wide world, gaining experience and vision for the competition of the 21st century. So we can be sure that Salud has place in our town for long time.

Salud is easy to found, no matter if you are driving or by foot, because it's only a little bit more than a hundred steps away from the railway station.

Tip: Make reservation!!! Because some nights specially weekends are very busy. And if you want more private space to you and your friend ask cabinet tables, where you can have lot of space in private.  

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