TALLINN - According to its Web site, JazzHouse is a "jazz-style restaurant in a quiet and beautiful location, only a short driving distance away from the center of Tallinn, near Pirita, Mahe and Iru." Intrigued by the promise of jazz music and good food, I decided to go and check the place out.
I was even organized enough to print out a map to be sure we took the quickest route, as I am not very familiar with the area. One fatal flaw though 's I forgot to bring the map with me.
After about 30 minutes of being lost in the beautiful woods around Pirita 's and a few phone calls to friends to get our bearings 's we came upon the restaurant.
From the outside, the place looked warm and full of people, which was a bit unnerving as, true to form, I had neglected to make reservations. Once inside we were greeted by the mellow sounds of the Peep Ojaveski and Indrek Kruusimaa guitar duo and a lovely maitre d' who very politely took charge of our coats and showed us to an unoccupied little table.
Sadly the food, while sounding appetizing from the menu descriptions, was not very exciting. I had a Parma ham and melon plate, which tasted as good as you would expect, but was bizarrely served with the melon cut up into little cubes. My friend had a go at the Ceasar salad and deemed it okay, but not the best he'd ever had.
For the main course I decided to go all out on the second most expensive dish on the menu 's beef fillet in wine sauce (the most expensive one being the trout fillet for two, which I didn't think I could manage). Now, being Estonian, I did not realize until after I'd been served that I was never asked how I liked the meat cooked, so the meat was well done. I found the dish slightly boring in taste.
My companion ordered the grilled pork in barbecue sauce and offered that his food, while tasty, was served slightly cold.
After a thousand bows from our waitress, a good glass of wine from the excellent selection of house wines and the soothing sounds of the guitar duo, I decided it might be a good idea to check out the cocktail selection.
The drinks menu boasted over 200 choices, and to my surprise, was alphabetized! It was like a dream come true. Well, apart from the fact that the alphabet ended at "I" so my craving for a mojito stayed just that 's a craving. Instead, I settled for a cosmopolitan which arrived very quickly and tasted exactly as good as the girls from "Sex and the City" make it look. The restaurant also has an attached guesthouse, which I suspect comes in handy the further down the alphabet you get.
All in all, the place is definitely worth taking the drive again 's not for the food as much as for the extremely good service, the comfortable atmosphere, quiet peers and the cocktail menu, which I hope will one day make it to the letter "M."
By the way, JazzHouse also has a wonderful New Years Eve celebration planned for all the people who miss the good old days. The theme will be 1950's, and it will feature glamorous ladies, chic gentlemen and jazz by the band "Night Shift." It's rumored that drinks will be served by Miss Marilyn Monroe herself.
JazzHouse
Parnamae tee 4
Open Sun - Thu 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.,
Fri - Sat 11 a.m. - midnight
Tel: 600 63 47
www.jazzhouse.ee 
