CONTROVENTO

Vene12/Katariina Kaik
www.controvento.ee

Located down Katariina Kaik (a beautiful cobbled passageway –off Vene Street) is the fabulous Controvento. Even on this late spring evening there was a real atmosphere in this bustling Italian restaurant. 

We were shown to our upstairs table, which was located in a far corner giving us an excellent vantage point over the busy restaurant. We were able to watch fellow diners receive their dishes and everything looked and smelled great so we knew the decision of what to choose would not be an easy one. 

The menu is very comprehensive and contains a good selection of pastas, pizzas, meats and a smaller selection of fish dishes.  

From the Appetisers we finally decided on “bruschetta”, which is grilled bread with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. We also took “vitello tonnato”, which is veal slices in tuna-mayonnaise sauce. Both were exceptionally good. The bruschetta, although a simple starter, was perfect with excellent flavours and plenty of tomato and garlic served on nice crisp toasted warm bread. The Veal was exceptionally tender and with the contrast of the tuna mayonnaise, although sounding a little unusual, was superb. 

For the Main Courses we opted for “filetto al pepe”, which is beef fillet steak in red peppercorn sauce. This was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. The sauce was rich and spicy and provided a great accompaniment. I took a glass of the house red wine and it worked perfectly. My partner chose the “scaloppine al marsala con funghi”, which is escalope with champignons in marsala sauce. This too was very nice with the rich wine sauce proving to be mouth-watering. We chose “zucchini e carote saltate” (stewed zucchini and carrots) to accompany the main courses and they were beautifully cooked in a nice butter sauce. 

For dessert we had the tiramisu and the “affogato al whisky e caffé”, which is ice cream drowned in whiskey and coffee. The tiramisu was the best we have tasted anywhere and when they tell you the ice cream is drowned in whisky they are not joking! It was delicious and a perfect finish to an excellent meal. 

Controvento is a superb restaurant with friendly, professional staff serving top quality Italian food in wonderful surroundings. A three course dinner for two with drinks will cost in the region of 1000 EEK (£45.00/$85.00). For the quality of food and the ambience in this excellent Italian restaurant this is great value. On all levels it really is one of Tallinn’s best, coming from this web site that is really saying something!