Dinner in an igloo

Photo: Ranjita Biswas

Ice, Ice, everywhere: Inside the restaurant at Snowland.

It either didn’t register properly or I didn’t do my homework; I suppose both, but as it happened, I landed up for dinner at Snowland restaurant near Rovaniemi, the Lapland capital, in ordinary warm clothes. Because even when it is minus 20 degree outside in Finland, inside homes or hotels you could be comfortable in “normal” warm clothing. Little did I expect that the restaurant would be in an igloo made of ice.

Rovaniemi’s highest tourist season is in winter, when thousands turn up to visit Santa Claus in his village which is not very far from the city centre. The town lies in the Arctic Circle and in winter chances of catching the fabulous Northern Lights, special to northern Finland, painting the night sky with myriad shoots of colour is also high.

Winter is also the time Lumimaa-Snowland, just 2.5 km away from the town centre, comes up. From around mid-November, it operates till summer when the snow starts melting. Then the metal structure, to make the venue safe, is dismantled and stored away to be reassembled again next winter. It takes around two weeks to put up the place.

The brain behind Snowland restaurant is Esko Pelttari. His original idea has since been expanded each winter.

The restaurant can sit 260 people. Basically, a fabulous snow castle made up of four igloo-shaped halls. That’s why there are four entrances.

Now as we alighted from the bus, a welcome fire in the courtyard greeted us. Glasses of warm berry juice, a common drink in winter in this region, made the rounds. Beautiful warm colours flickered from inside the restaurant. As we stepped in, there was a whole white world, literally, waiting to be discovered. Architectural ingenuity has created a magic land with a ceiling that looks like a star-lit sky. Apparently this special feature has been achieved by placing electrical wires during construction. Candles flickered on tables and bar-tables made of ice. There was even a chapel where many couples like to get married, we came to know. By the way, only natural materials from Lapland are used for the interior design of the place.

As I explored, despite the innovative air-conditioning, my legs were slowly turning numb. Not to worry. Warm wraps of reindeer skin, warmers for the legs, even reindeer skin mats, were readily provided by the restaurant supervisor to make us feel cosy while sitting on chairs and benches made of ice. Each round table, which can seat four guests, had glass tops to keep the hands and food warm.

Frankly, for a moment, I felt schizophrenic; back home it was early spring but already the heat was soaring while here we were in the Arctic Circle sitting huddled over warm berry juice and waiting for the soup to come as the first course.

That reminds me: the food. The menu at Snowland is justly famous, offering something for everybody.

For soup, non-vegetarians can try the delicious traditional salmon soup or the more ethnic, reindeer meat soup. Vegetarians can order Creamy morel (mushroom) soup, Clear root vegetable soup flavoured with olives or Tomato soup flavoured with herbs. The main course menu was mouth-watering too. Fried salmon and cloudberry-cream sauce, Sliced potatoes and vegetables, Slightly smoked perch (fish) with chives and sour cream sauce, Mashed potatoes and carrots, vegetables etc. accompanied by bread and fresh cheese, were some of the choices. And, lest you feel it’s too cold to go for a dessert, think again. For, the menu offers temptations like Berry pie and vanilla custard, Snow rhapsody, Lappish berries with soft vanilla ice-cream, Warm apple dessert and caramel-cream sauce with chocolate flavour, to name a few, for a sweet ending. Coffee and tea were also available. Drinks on order. Beyond the eating and enjoying the atmosphere, for the adventurous, there are other pastimes, we were informed, like snow-sculpting competition, even nightclubbing in the unique Ice Arctic Disco or taking part in winter “Olympics” that use snow and ice in fascinating ways,.

Unique indeed was this experience of eating in an ice-cave — without the discomfort. Check out: www.snowland.fi .

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