There are two very large congresses (EU and ASEM) this week in Helsinki. Hopefully you can get a table.

Had a quick 24 hours in Helsinki Wed afternoon - Thu afternoon with my boss. Thu lunch at a packed Salve was a rather soggy salad buffet and excellent fried herring & mash for him and mushy pea soup and hearty Pytt I Panna ( http://www.recipezaar.com/137943 ) for myself.

We skipped the pancakes with jam included in the lunch price in favour of the Finnair shorthaul biz menu a few hours later, but still felt stuffed on the plane. Burp.

Portions are still as big as in the 1920's when the place was founded and the atmosphere down to earth, fitting the seamen's haunt image. Downsides included the poor quality of the salads and the absence of knackebrod ( Scandinavian crisp bread ) from the bread selection.

Jaskan Grilli
 

And directly opposite Manala is something even more Finnish: Jaskan Grilli. :-: :D :-:

It's a hamburger stand. And it's famous. There are queues in front of it on weekend nights, all night. People come from suburbs and satellite towns just to savor Jaska's uniquely Finnish take on night time eats. You haven't experienced real Finnish food until have sampled Jaskan Special, porilainen or teekkarin erikoinen.

Nobody should leave Finland without visiting Jaska or another of these small independent hamburger stands. They have always been an original part of Finnish food culture and the food they serve is surprisingly tasty and always filling.

Some photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertran...in/set-223318/ not mine.

Yeah, people come to the city to get drunk, and then they queue at the overpriced grills to get greasy junk food and fight. :rolleyes: This is the one part of Finnish culture I always advise visitors to HEL to avoid, at least at night -- there's a very real chance of getting beaten up if you look at somebody the wrong way or have the wrong skin color.

And to add insult to injury, the false Jaskan Grilli at Museokatu is an impostor: the original is in Tapanila, way out in the 'burbs.

I do think there is one acceptable place in the premises of the old longhaul bus station downhill from the Scandic Simonkentta. Their burgers are quite exceptional and actually use quality ingredients.

Are you serious? This is like writing about hot dog vendors in Manhattan
or which McDonald in London has the best hamburgers.
There are very many different type of restaurants in Helsinki and you talk about grill kiosks.

Nakit ja muusi
 

Dude it's about food culture. Not eating at a burger box in Finland would be like going to Japan and not eating yakitori. Or traveling through Russia without eating a single seljanka. Germany without bratwurst or eisbein.

If you're serious about experiencing real unique foods in any given place this is what Finland has to offer. Real Finnish food culture. Respect your local 'nakkari', 'snagari' or whatever it's called in your area. After all it's a commercialized form of something even more Finnish, frying sausages on a campfire on a forest camping trip or after a sauna with a good beer. It just doesn't get more Finnish than that! :cool:

Perhaps it's an age/sex/cultural thing. I'm about 40 years too old to use the word "Dude" (wrong sex too) - and burgers aren't my thing (in the US - Finland - or just about anywhere else - except maybe my backyard grill once in a while). I managed to spend 3 weeks in Japan this year without eating a single burger - or street food yakitori for that matter. Did I eat "authentic" Japanese food - yes. Did I eat what a typical 20-30 something company worker might eat as a fast food meal on his way home - no. Just like I don't eat similar food designed for people like that at home.

Reminds me of our trip to Norway. We stayed a couple of nights in Molde at a business hotel (not a tourist destination - we just wanted to see a typical smaller Norwegian town/city). There was a large buffet. Not cheap. About $40 (and this was maybe 20 years ago). Salmon and other more exotic fish and fish products prepared every which way (which more than justified the price to us). But the hotel catered to German businessmen (there were also some Norwegians - and we were the only Americans) - so there were lots of "wursts" and the like. And I was amazed that the wursts were devoured - while the fish went begging.

I'm not saying that a particular person might not enjoy one thing more than another - just that people of different ages/experiences/cultures might enjoy different things.

By the way - while I'm here. Is there such a thing as contemporary Scandinavian cuisine (in Helsinki or anywhere else) - "new Scandinavian" as it were? I'll probably be planning our travel for 2007 in a couple of months. When I travel - I like to experience local food - no burgers please - but no attempts at French or Italian food in places other than France or Italy respectively either. And I wonder what the current "state of the art" is in Helsinki. Apart from Finland/Sweden - I'm also looking at Germany (especially Berlin) as a possible trip. Robyn

In Helsinki there is a new, very good (fine dining) scandinavian restaurant Olo at Kasarminkatu 44.

Oh, I would thoroughly recommend frying sausages after a sauna with a good beer. But at grill kiosks, 99% of the time the food is nasty and overpriced, and getting it involves long queues in unpleasant weather with unpleasantly drunk people.

If it's "real Finnish food" you want, without any foreign imports or fancy-schmancy affections, there are an increasing number of restaurants catering to it, some already mentioned here: Ravintola VPK and Kahvila Suomi in Helsinki both come to mind. At these you can get a whole meal for the price of one meat pie with the works at a snagari.

If you want to strike a compromise, Finland's markets (eg. Kauppatori in Helsinki) always have stalls selling meat pies, sausages and cold pints of milk. Tampere's Tapolantori, in particular, is famous for its black (=blood) sausage mustamakkara. The catch is that, like most "real" markets, you have to get there morning-ish before they sell out and close down...

With your preferences I'm sure you'd rather go for cellophane packed onigiri in Japan and frozen dumplings in Russia. ;) I'm just leaving HEL for PVG and will update later...

This time my short stay in Helsinki turned into a kind of trip down the retro lane: Husmannskost and 60'es Scandinavian design are definetily in the limelight just now.

Thursday evening, after a perfunctory meeting straight off the plane I headed into the city centre to meet my restaurant proprietor friend.

His newest project is a slightly upscale burger joint called Morrison's in the premises of the old Dick Tracy's. Of course we had to test drive the menu, me having the rye burger with steak fillet ( medium ) and him the veggie burger.

Don't know if I'm impartial with this but he knows what he's doing: The fillet, albeit slightly more done than medium, was good and the composition of the portion smart. But also Morrison's serves Scandinavian comfort food at lunchtime, a good move it seems as customer numbers have tripled since this was introduced.

Next morning I declined to meet anyone and chose to stroll through Helsinki instead: At the railway station, the pleasant Pullman Bar ( including a separate press club section for Helsinki's hacks ) was in the middle of their Oktoberfest, offering Bavarian beer and food specialities. I've always liked their panorama windows towards the station hall below. The cigar and single malt selection is also fairly impressive.

Next stop was the new and shiny Kamppi shopping centre. As far as I can judge, the single culinary highlight there is Henri'x BBQ. This well designed BBQ, Grill and Salad Bar eatery is owned by a Danish born talented chef who is now running a mini empire of three or four restaurants in Helsinki. And I was somewhat astonished to find a shop selling Japanese and Korean fashion and music at substantial prices on the top floor.

Continuing towards the southern tip of Helsinki, it was slowly time to lunch. Keeping with the everpresent husmannskost theme I tried to find a seat both at Slussen and Tori, two fashionable small places offering meat balls, pytt i panna and the like, but they were hopelessly packed.

Ok, if the imposters are a no-go, then it's time to head to the originals. A short way south along Fredrikinkatu there was a promising sign of a traditional lunch cafe. They had shrimp soup, danish meatloaf and salads on offer, but I had already discovered a fatty minced meat pie looking to be devoured with lots of tabasco. A glass of milk to accompany and I was ready to face lounge food again.

Before returning to the airport I still had time for a post-lunch stroll past Olo, the "Modern Scandinavian" place mentioned in this thread. The space, previously occupied by one of the best Russian restaurants in town, looks good in the souterrain setting. Only a few tables were occupied but then it's only been open for a short time.

Lots of new bars and design shops opening in the southern part of central Helsinki. Some of them look fitting in Helsinki traditions and settings, some... Well, Barcelona imitations don't necessarily work elsewhere.

But at the Annankatu/Iso Robertinkatu corner there was a small bar that caught my attention. Well designed furniture, interesting lights etc. Pity it was closed or I would have headed inside for a last strong coffee before my flight.

Did you actually eat at HBBQ? My only experience there was an utter disaster. The service was silly -- we could not tell the waiter what we wanted, we HAD TO pencil in our choices into their paper placemats/menus. The Ceasar salad I had was one of the worst in memory, and the meat very mediocre. Dessert was poor. The three of us paid 90+ euros for main course and desert without any drinks. While that is not really expensive in Helsinki, it was one of the worst value meals I've had in a long time. I hope they get their act together, as the other Henri'x places are decent and we could use a steak house in town...

I wonder if you mean Lost and Found. It is a self-styled "hetero-friendly gay bar" which can be quite fun. Can't think of another place there apart from Cafe Riva which I don't think you mean...

Cheers,
T.

Thalassa: You are correct, I didn't eat at Henri'x BBQ, but have had great meals at the original Henri'x at Tehtaankatu. A close friend has been a key figure in the Kamppi project so I've got a few comments on the new restaurants from him...

As for the bar mentioned before, it's not Lost & Found where I've only visited once back in 1998 after a looong night with an American and a Helsinki artist friend...Sufficient to say our few early morning hours there were fairly interesting but somehow I've never had a strong urge to go back...

Actually I meant the small space on the southern side of Iso Roobertinkatu sandwiched between the large Cantonese restaurant and the Subway outlet. I believe it used to harbour a Japanese themed bar before.

I love the original Henri'x, too. That's why the poor experience at BBQ was particularly disappointing. Maybe I should give them another chance one of these days...

Cheers,
T.

I guess we have to wait until Henrik Poulsen bumps into an enterprising Argentinian or Texan chef with a taste for colder climates... :) I wouldn't mind London's Gaucho Grill or Arkansas Cafe replicated succesfully in Helsinki, if possible with locally sourced meat of course.

They say that the best steaks in Helsinki are actually horsemeat, not cow. I think this says more about Finnish cows than horses... :eek:

Yeah... I don't think either that Finnish beef is known for its high quality despite of government's promotional efforts. Grocers of Helsinki, please just keep importing that Brazilian beef! (If real Kobe niku isn't available, of course :p )

Ok, now that we've breached the subject, what does the jury think of my earlier recs on steak? And I'm sure that most of you would prefer Coeur de fillet... ;) Less sure about any recommendable BBQ although Henry's attempts at Grande Grill and Santa Fe are supposed to be quite passable.

Toro is nice for a beefy lunch but unfortunately the concept tends to cater "for people like that" :D

Is that a chip on your shoulder? Can I have a bite? Seriously, it would be nice if you had more to contribute... ;)

While the steak & BBQ discussion is still ongoing, let's try to get this thread back to eating from the class warfare aspect. :)

Now that HEL is getting more and more transit passengers on their way from Asia to Europe or vice versa, many might want to have a bite during their layover. I personally can't recommend any of the restaurants at the airport itself, although the landside Fly Inn at least used to do a passable burger.

During a recent stopover at HEL, I had the chance to explore the aptly named shopping mall, Jumbo :D , just five minutes by cab ( is there a bus connection? ) from the terminal.

The new concept Fazer cafe & restaurant on the third floor stood out for nice interiors and relatively tasty and varied food. And it seems that I'm not the only one to have discovered this place as on a recent AY flight cabin staff told me they also go there to eat on their breaks at HEL.

Here's the official propaganda in English: http://www.fazeramica.fi/templates/F...epslanguage=EN

Any other airport area recs or dislikes?

The 60s Scandinavian design pleases my eye... but the husmannskost... I really have to wonder why did it suddenly become so popular? Oh, well, these restaurant trends come and go. This one should go. Soon. This is not to say that those restaurants you mention wouldn't serve decent meals. It is just the "trendiness" that bugs me. I rather have the real deal in homestyle cooking.

The whole new Kamppi Center seems like a flop businesswise. Many shops are already moving out of there due to high rents and low traffic on the upper floors. I have to say I haven't explored their restaurant offerings yet except for the Ichiban sushiya on the ground floor (decent by Helsinki standards; they also have an outlet in the second floor of Aikatalo/WTC). Henri'x BBQ sounds like a more serious culinary attempt than the other mall offerings. Have to give it a go someday.

So you found the Blippo store? Japanese pop culture seems to become more and more popular among the Finnish teenage girls. This summer I spotted several girls doing cosplay. The prices really seem to have substantial margins, but if are in need for something "kawaii" this is your shop in town.

Do you mean Hiutale Bar right at the opposite of Beate Uhse (what a landmark, huh? :D)? It is quite a cute small bar.


To finish off this posting I'd like to mention a new(ish) and fine restaurant Postres at Etelä-Esplanadi 8. They declare desserts as their specialty and even say that you can come in for a dessert only -- not usually the case at Helsinki establishments. Food is relatively ambitious, usually with good results, and served as menus. Effort is put on the presentation too. Service is nice and knowledgeable.

I don't anything about Fazer's restaurant at Jumbo -- I have never even visited the mall! It is just that my office building's cafeteria is operated by Fazer and... well... the whole brand is somewhat tarnished in my mind :P Maybe they do a good job at this restaurant.

At least the city bus 615 from the airport to downtown Helsinki drives by Jumbo. Or you could take the hotel shuttle bus to Cumulus Hotel which is sort of across the street from Jumbo.

I haven't found any culinary delights at the airport or nearby. However, usually before a long-distance flight I opt for a burger at the second floor restaurant in the international airside. It is not too bad and definitely beats anything Finnair catering has prepared (having the heavy burger pre-flight allows me to skip the inflight meals altogether).

Postres had quite a slow start this summer, it got a lot of publicity for being a dessert restaurant while that's only partially true.

You can have a full dessert menu but most of the menu is fixed with real starters and main courses. The food is purely excellent and by far the best new restaurant in town. Well worth the visit -- or two!

I suddenly remembered something related to Helsinki restaurant history and wonder if Mr.Poulsen got his inspiration from the same source? In the 1970s and probably well into the 80s there was a well known steak restaurant called Rautagrilli opposite of Stockmann that pioneered this form of ordering.

Eating there is one of my favourite childhood memories and as a kid the penciling in was actually still fun...

Toro´s nice for a greasy lunch if you´re planning on going drinking in the evening. Especially I like the "pekoninyrkki" or "a fist of bacon". The name says it all. It does come as a double as well. :p

Some gossip I heard from a reliable source concerning ethnic restaurants ( especially Bangladeshi/Indian/Nepalese/Pakistani ) in Helsinki:

-The workers are often not paid any wages but assisted by the management to claim EU social security/refugee immigrant benefits

- The restaurant owners act as a sort of mules for human trafficking from the Indian subcontinent and other similar areas to the Schengen area and possibly also take money for their "favours"

- Staff at these places changes often as the previous workers get their Schengen visa and move in with relatives/friends in other EU countries or return home after an unsuccesful sojourn to the Schengen area

- Living conditions are spartan and free time minimized

No wonder the old school Helsinki greasy spoons can not compete with these slave trade utilizing entrepeneurs. Hope to see them changing their ways once they become more established.

Of course this is not to say that all Indian or Chinese restaurants in Helsinki were involved in questionable business practices. One example of success by the (law) book is the Namaskaar mini-Empire that is frequented by loyal habitues. Not really my kind of place but respect to where it's due.

So what about ethnic dining in Helsinki in general? The OP refers to several places offering European and Asian specialities. I am a tad more sceptical and pessimistic about finding good Italian or Chinese in Helsinki.

The lack and high prices of imported quality ingredients, the bizarre Finnish habit of going to a Chinese or Indian lunch place only to drink cheap beer, too polite customers ( like in Britain before the gourmet boom ) who do not make a fuss when they get bad food...It all adds up to an ethnic restaurant scene with lots of "development potential". ;)

A few places that come to mind as exceptional:

Farouge for Lebanese cooking. Two Lebanese sisters and a Finnish gent give this place the proper "family touch" that is so often missing in Helsinki's unionized restaurants. Prices are high but what are corporate cards for...

Villa Thai ( mentioned by the OP ) is the sister restaurant of a place in Hamburg, Germany and run by the same extended family in both cities. Not a cheap place either but rather elegant and well suited for hosting Asian visitors to the Finnish capital.

The New Aussie Bar at the Kamppi Shopping Centre. Unpretentious drinking bar serving a good selection of Aussie and Kiwi wines and beer and those irresistible meat pies from down under. Certainly not for dinner but rivals the Angleterre for the best cricket and rugby watching venue title.

Italian, hmmm...The last good Italian meal I've had in Helsinki was in 1995 in the downstairs place at Hotel Palace. I believe it hosts a Spanish eatery now(?) But for family style Italian the closest to the real thing might be Villetta not far from the Opera House and Olympic stadium. But if you have something against the Fiorentina football club, better watch out...

Chinese, nah...Any street kitchen can do better.

I think this happens in a lot of places. We had an "immigration bust" recently here in Jacksonville where a restaurant owner was accused of using illegal Chinese immigrants to work in her restaurant. Immigration officials didn't start the investigation. It was local zoning officials - after neighbors complained that it seemed like about 20 people were living in a house zoned for a "single family" (think it turned it that it was actually about 25 people). Robyn

Christmas lunch season is here again, so let's take a look at what Helsinki has on offer this year:

Japanese(!) Christmas lunch at Yume: http://www.ravintolaopas.net/yume/in...wsClassID=1107

Traditional Christmas buffet at Katajanokan Casino ( Officer's Casino ): http://www.ravintolaopas.net/katajan...wsClassID=1107

Russian and french influenced luxurious buffet at the Börs Club ( Helsinki Stock Exchange club restaurant ): http://www.ravintolaopas.net/porssi/...anyID=&lang=en

And fusion themed at Toolonranta along Toolo bay: http://www.ravintolaopas.net/toolonr...anyID=&lang=en

I'm almost regretting my decision to spend Christmas in Brussels...

Xmas lunch season
 

As mosburger suggests one of the prime dining seasons is upon us in Helsinki. Several restaurants offer excellent Xmas lunch menus starting soon... Actually I have the first "Xmas gathering" tomorrow (well, it is a dinner this time, but I don't complain... :) )

One of the classic buffet style Xmas lunches is offered at Hotel Torni's restaurant. More accurately there is a sumptuous "appetizer" buffet and the main course and dessert are served to the table. From my own experience I recommend maybe skipping the main course altogether and focusing on the buffet (and drinks ;) ). It is truly excellent!

Now that we are in the area and maybe fancying a bite later after the long lunch (and a few additional rounds of drinks -- does any work get done in Helsinki during the Xmas lunch season??) ... head to the O'Malleys pub in the Hotel Torni building and order the Moose steak a la Wallenberg! Although somewhat pricey for pub food at 18 euros it's worth every penny, I'd say. And goes really well with a pint of your choice!

Merry "little Xmas"! ("pikkujoulut" in Finnish)

Visited the Hiutale bar and Juuri ( http://www.juuri.fi ) in charming Turkish company yesterday. A short report to follow soon...

A rainy Helsinki November Saturday saw me jetlagged and waiting for my companion for the evening at the Kamppi shopping centre. Soon the charming Turkish lady arrived, which was as well considering the boozing teens of all ethnic backgrounds getting more annoying by the minute.

We headed south towards the more laid-back Punavuori area where many smallish quality dining and wining places are located. During my last Helsinki visit I spotted an interesting looking bar at the Annankatu/Isorobertinkatu corner, the Hiutale Bar, so that became the first stop.

It´s small and cozy, electronic tunes were playing in the background and the windows offer a view of the large sex shop opposite. It was a little bizarre to talk about modern lifestyles in Istanbul etc. while the red lights were flickering across the street. But it is indeed a nice place to talk and "chill" over a glass of wine or cider as I had or a quality coffee.

From there we hopped over to Juuri, an equally compact restaurant claiming Finnish tapas as their main attraction. We ordered a mushroom soup, some gravad whitefish, lamb sausages and winter veggies to taste. And it was first and foremost sweet, too much so in fact. I wish they´d balance the sweetish sauces with stuff like horseradish or Sichuan peppers, even if that doesn´t make for 100% Finnish ingredients anymore. For now, I cannot really recommend the place and would still head to Sea Horse, Salve or other classics for "real" local food.

After she called it an early night, I nursed another cidre at the scruffy Bar Ilves, an old favourite and musician´s haunt, watched some live Serie A football and then used the excellent public transport to my quarters for the night.

George
 

I was in Helsinki 6 ears back.

Due to various airline adventures, it took me around 24 hours to get to Helsinki. I was back in coach on LH, and did not get a wink of sleep.

I was exausted, but the local account team insisted in eating at the fanciest restaurant that they could spend expense account money on. They called me the instant that I arrived at the hotel and told me to meet them at George.

I remember searching the menu for some simple comfort food that would sit well in my exausted state. I recall that the simpliest entre on the menu was an Elk dish. :rolleyes:

EtherWeasel.

Can one exceptional Chef change this state of affairs? :cool:

I'm of course referring to Mr.Markus Maulavirta and his American style restaurant Filmitahti at the Klaus K hotel. Knowing his style, all dishes are sure to be of carefully selected and organic local ingredients.

I´m planning to host a dinner there in January and would be interested in opinions about the place. Has anyone tried the reindeer ribs or entrecote there?

Maulavirta controls three restaurants in Hotel Klaus K.
Filmitähti (Film Star) is like Planet Hollywood, Toscanini is Italian trattoria and Ilmatar is for fine dining.

Thanks for the info. My primary interest would be to try his take on steak. And to see how the combo of local first rate ingredients and kitsch American dishes and interior works.

I wont eat Italian in Helsinki restaurants apart of Villetta if someone doesn't convince me otherwise and for Finnish fine dining have longstanding favourites like Karljohan, Savoy and Lehtovaara.

Saw all the posts about "high end" Finnish cuisine...is there a "low end" one?
I did stop by a couple of the "high end"-labeled places--Lappi, Somi/Soni-something (can't recall), etc., but it looked like you were paying more there for "atmosphere" than food. I walked past PLENTY of budget burger- and Asian places...had a hard time finding a "budget" Finnish place. But, I did absolutely LOVE that city, and will go back again, so thought I'd start the research early :D.

I did find a locals tavern called U.Kaleva that had that really tasty drink special w/ Finnish Vodka & Ligonberries, and some great Estonian ales.

There are a few, but you'll have to hunt them out. Two personal favorites cribbed from Wikitravel:

* Kahvila Suomi, Pursimiehenkatu 12, tel. +358-9-657422. Huge portions of no-nonsense Finnish food like meatballs and mashed potatoes, which explains the dock workers that crowd here at lunchtime. The Japanese tourists, on the other hand, come because the cult hit movie ''Kamome Shokudo'' was filmed here! Most mains under 10e, including salad bar, drink and coffee. Open Mon-Fri 7 AM to 6 PM.
* VPK, Albertinkatu 29, web. Run by the Volunteer Fire Brigade, this restaurant serves a daily changing buffet of hearty Finnish fare in a cafeteria straight from the 1950s, complete with grim portraits of moustached Hosemasters staring down at you. Pea soup and pancakes on Thursday are particularly popular. 7.70e per head, open weekdays from 11 AM to 3 PM only.