Dropped into Kahvila Suomi last Thursday, and was quite surprised to find that this former dock workers' lunch joint has clambered a bit upmarket ambiencewise: a few decorative curlicues, menus in cursive Finnish (translated versions available) and even souvenir T-shirts. Fortunately, the prices have only increased a bit, and portions are as huge as ever. We had the Jansson's temptation (a potato-and-anchovy casserole, 9 EUR) from the daily menu and the meatballs for the permanent menu (10.50 EUR) and while both were good, the meatballs were positively kick-... -- big, meaty, juicy, served with cream sauce, real mashed potatoes and a couple of veg. And, this being a Finnish lunch joint, all meals include non-alcoholic drinks and the salad bar. Strongly recommended ^ and I even picked up their Kekkonen T-shirt -- imagine a Che Guevara-style blue-and-white print of this:



While the location is a bit of walk from the city center, it's a pleasant enough stroll in the tony bits of the city, and it's within easy striking distance if you're going to eg. the Design Museum or Kaivopuisto Park.