Pizza!

If you come to Finland - you'll be able to find many  pizza shops and kebab houses (shops).
Well, there's one nearby called Sebastian and we were told from some pretty reliable sources that their pizza was HUGE and amazing.

Lately neither my husband or I have been getting a lot of sleep - so we thought we'd go and get a pizza from Sebastian's and I was excited! (I normally do the cooking...so a night "off" was a great thing!)

When ordering a pizza there - there are two sizes.  "Normal" or "Family".  We opted for a larger size and got a "Sebastian Special Pizza".  It cost 17� and had the following toppings:  Bacon, salami, ham, minced meat, kebab meat and house mayonaise.

You read correctly - MAYONAISE on a pizza!!!
Finns seem to like to take a walk on the wild side with pizza here...

Some other ingredient options?

• Reindeer (usually smoked and crumbly like ground beef)
• Peaches
• Eggs
• Curry mayonaise or garlic flavoured
• Blue cheese
• Sour cream
• Leek
• Capers
• Taco sauce
• Asparagus
• Olives
• Banana

And of course there are the regular toppings like: pepperoni, bacon (real pieces of cooked bacon), mushrooms (usually canned unless you order from Rosso's - a chain located downtown), bell pepper etc.

So what did our pizza look like?

It was folded to fit into the box...yup.

And it was pretty tasty - although we skipped the mayonaise....and there were plenty of left-overs afterward too!

The staff are pretty nice there - especially the fellow with the bald head and HUGE smile...he also speaks English (most of their staff do).

I also got a "pizza" card - so every time we buy a pizza we get a stamp.  Family sized ones get 2 stamps...buy 9 get the 10th one free (normal size I assume).

Restaurant Review: Rosso Pizza

Each month - or as frequently as I can - I will do a Restaurant Review for a restaurant that I have eaten at in Finland.

1st one up to be reviewed is Rosso's Pizza.  Rosso's Pizza is a chain restaurant (think Pizza Delight, Pizza Hut or East Side Mario's) and here are some pro's and cons of the place.

Pro's

• English menus are available
• Credit cards, Visa Electron (debit) and cash
• Serves alcohol for those who wish to sip and dine
• Kid friendly - child menu and play area usually available
• Reasonably priced lunch menu
• Nice salad bar throughout the day
• Wide variety on the menu
• Lots of seating available and pretty spacious to include stroller space!
• Friendly service
• They use FRESH WHITE MUSHROOMS!!!  Most pizza shops here use canned and already sliced mushrooms.

Con's:

• You can end up waiting a very long time for your bill.  I've previously had my child dressed and my coat on and the table was cleared but no bill was presented until almost 15 minutes later.  Oh and it wasn't packed or overly busy.  15 minutes to me is incredibly long when your 15-month old is screaming his head off!
• It can be quite expensive and many other pizza shops sell a pizza of a similar quality and flavour for a fraction of the cost.
• Vegetarian?  Well there are some good options (notice I'm not saying fantabulous) but not many.  And the pizzas often all have tomatoes on them (I hate tomatoes)...unless you make up your own pizza, which is more expensive (I think).

There are fortunately 2 Rosso's Pizzas in downtown Jyv�skyl�.  One is inside the Jyv�skekus (?) with the movie theater and H&M and the other is located across from the Town Church.

Oh and as typical of all Finnish restaurants - you're charged for water (plain water that's right) and refills.  **Remember - all prices include taxes and you don't tip here.**