Sandy Kelt, Irish House Apartments

The Sandy Kelt bar is popular in Kalajoki and brings in good musicians who can really rock the crowd. But the food is nowhere near as good, as I found once again. I couldn't eat the mushroom risotto, which surprisingly also had pumpkin, because it was so salty. We told the staff it wasn't edible, and they offered what they called the best option, a 10% discount. I had eaten only 10% of the serving. So the risotto, listed at 23€, was an absolute disappointment, and the management's logic made no sense: 10% of the risotto meant paying 90% of the price, a total of 20.70€.

We went to the pub restaurant while in Kalajoki, and the prices were good. The food is great, comparable to Dublin pubs, and they have dark Guinness too. Service was friendly and pretty fast. The pub has an atmosphere that's not so common in Finland. Try the bourbon ribs. We thought the portions were huge.

We wanted something other than the usual burger or schnitzel, and the food here turned out better than we expected. They made the vegetables and sides themselves instead of using frozen ones, with roasted beetroot and coleslaw, for example. They also handled allergies well. Service was a little slow during the busy lunch period. Prices were in the usual 25-35€ range, which felt fair for this quality.

I came here twice this summer. The staff were friendly and spoke English, and we were told ahead of time that the wait would be long. It was, but the atmosphere was great and the food made it worthwhile. I'd recommend the escargot, and the fish and chips was great too.