Hea Maa Kohvik-Restoran sits right next to the tourist information. So after getting a map of the seaside resort town of Pärnu I decide to go for lunch. I don’t see any lunch specials, so maybe that’s not popular here. In the end I order á la carte and get an Austrian wine (a Riesling Grüner Veltliner duet; I don’t think this will become my favorite).
The couvert includes homemade bread with poppy seeds and crispy onions. The still warm bread comes with a small bowl of sour cream butter topped with more onions. The butter is so tasty that I use the last bit of my bread to clean out the dish.
poppy seed bread and butter @Hea Maa Kohvik-Restoran
My starter is a clear fish soup which comes with three different kinds of fish filet. The amount of fish in it is astonishing. This would have been already enough for lunch. The soup is tasty, the fish juicy and savory, and the vegetables in the broth still crunchy. A very nice starter indeed.
clear fish soup @Hea Maa Kohvik-Restoran
Unfortunately the Estonian lamb doesn’t fare so well. Although it is cooked to requested medium and looks okay, it tastes unappealing. The pesto on top (maybe done with chervil?) overpowers what little taste of its own the lamb had. Removing it though doesn’t help. The lamb is just not good.
The celeriac cream on the other hand is delicious, with a velvety consistency and fantastic taste. The accompanying vegetables are outstanding. The snow peas, pearl onions, slices of celeriac, kale and carrot are all fresh, super intense in taste and cooked to perfection. With veggies like these I don’t mind that the meat was a let down.
Estonian lamb with vegetables @Hea Maa Kohvik-Restoran
Overall it was a lovely experience even though the restaurant atmosphere isn’t very sparkling. The little courtyard which is used in summer looked way more inviting but was to cold for me on this overcast day. Definitely a nice enough restaurant for lunch or dinner. Yours, Pollybert
Hea Maa Kohvik-Restoran
80010 Pärnu, Nikolai 3/Uus 4
Tel: +372 5343 5858
Email: kohvikheamaa@gmail.com
Mon-Sun: 12:00-23:00
https://heamaa.ee/en/
