Manala was open late on Sunday and well worth the trip. You might want to confirm its hours. Not sure if it is picturesque enough though (we ended up on the wrong road and arrived via back streets)- the locals can probably offer more assistance.

Cheers -

Welcome to FlyerTalk, AUSSIEFOODIE.

Thanks for clarifying that; otherwise, we might have thought you meant 8am in the evening. :)

I'm not sure if / how it will affect your plans, but you should be aware that 26 December (Tapaninpäivä, or St Stephen's Day) is a full holiday in Finland. Public services, opening hours, etc. might well be different from those of an ordinary Sunday.

cheers,

Henry

You are pretty much out of luck -- most places worth visiting stop serving dinner around 10 even on normal nights and Boxing Day won't make things any better.

I'd stay at the airport Hilton and try to get some sleep.

Cheers,
T.

Thanks guys, maybe we will try Manala then if that is nice. I emailed Helsinki Tourism and they sent me a long list of Restuarants/Bars/Clubs that were open on 24th/25th/26th December last year and the times they were open to. Manala was open from 6pm - 4am on the 26th last year so no problems there but there were other restaurants that were open until 11pm or later. Is Manala close to an area where we might be able to take some nice photos around town after dinner? Or any other suggestions are welcome!! These were some of the other restauarants that were open late according to the Tourism Office, are any of these any good food/location wise?

Belge, Kluuvikatu 5, tel.010-766 3590 11-23
Kynsilaukka Garlic, Fredrikinkatu 22, tel.651 939 (garlic) 13- (entr. before 23)
Kämp Cafe, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, tel.5840 9530 11.30-01
Lastu/Scandic Continental, Mannerheimintie 46, tel.4737 2207 17-23
Makasiini/Scandic Grand Marina,
Katajanokanlaituri 7, tel.09-16 661 18-23
Manala, Dagmarinkatu 2, tel. 580 77 707 (Fin-nish/home-cooking) 18-04
Savotta, Aleksanterinkatu 22, tel.7425 5588 (Finnish) 17-23
Salve, Hietalahdenranta 11, p.603 455 14-23
Teatteri, Pohjoisesplanadi 2, p.6811 1311 11-01
Zetor, Mannerheimintie 3-5, t. 010-7664 450 (Finnish, tractor theme restaurant) 12-24

Thanks again for your help!

Based on the address, I would say that the Teatteri has the best location regarding picture taking (Senate square, the Esplanade). The Kämp comes second (on the same street) and includes the advantage of a great hotel in the same location.

I hate to sound negative, but if you are a food lover as your handle indicates, you are unlikely to get anything really worthwhile in any of those places. Most are generic hotel restaurants, the rest are iffy qualitywise, at best. The one place with some authenticity is Salve, which is a greasy spoon serving some pretty good fish. They are located very close to a decent hotel (Radisson Seaside).

Manala (meaning The Underworld) is a late night standout in town, but mainly because you can get food very late. Quality and selection wise nothing to write home about, though.

Whichever place you decide to choose, be sure to email them directly to make sure they are open and serve food at the time you plan to arrive.

One further suggestion, firmly off the beaten path, is Eerikin Pippuri, a legendary kebab joint on Eerikinkatu. It is cheap, portions are huge, and the food tasty. Definitely not gourmet, but a very authentic slice of late night Helsinki. They are open til midnight plus they have a hole in the wall that is open til 5 am.

Cheers,
T.

Recommending Allotria
 

I've found a new worthwhile place in North Helsinki, called Allotria. They are located at Hämeentie 68 in the Hermanni area. It is unpretentious, relaxed, and the food is always good (based on four visits of late). Not gourmet, but tasty bistro-type food at decent prices. On some nights, there is dinner theatre available.

Nice and relaxed, excellent price/qualty ratio.

Cheers,
T.

I agree with Thalassa that Allotria is an ok place when it comes to price/quality. Just be aware that at least a few months ago the staff was clueless when it came to special diets. We checked with the waitress before we ordered that a dish was gluten-free. She checked with the kitchen, and we ordered it when it was confirmed it's gluten-free. When the dish came, it contained loads of barley, which definitely is not gluten-free. Luckily my girlfriend noticed it before eating.

They were very sorry and handled the situation quite well, but still we have been quite afraid of going there since, even if it's walking distance to the place.

Not cheap, but it does look lovely. I must admit, I've never tried bear before, what's it like?

Meat. Couldn't really tell the difference to beef, except in the price tag. :td:

Two new-ish additions worth mentioning to the Helsinki dining scene:

La Table is the new restaurant of Markus Aremo, who has been awarded the Michelin star twice. Whenever he gets a star, he closes the restaurant and opens a new one. So where he had Carma before, he now has La Table http://www.latable.fi. I went there the other night, and the food was excellent. Price-wise it's very reasonable I would say.

My better half went to another new place called Muru. Two young chefs who used to have a TV-show (perhaps still to some extent do) have opened a restaurant. I haven't been there myself, but the reviews I've heard from friends are quite good. Rumours say it's booked 2-3 months forward for weekend-nights. Price-wise also reasonable. http://www.murudining.fi/

Nice to see more reasonably priced, quality restaurants in town!

One New Michelin Star in Helsinki
 

The Michelin men (and women) have been in town again and we have one new starred restaurant - Olo, which concentrates in modern Finnish and Scandinavian cuisine.

My only experience at Olo was rather lacklustre so I guess I better go and revisit to see if they have improved or I just happened to be there on a bad night.

Others retained their stars: CD still has two (and their €29 three-course lunch remains the gourmet deal of the decade) and Demo, Postres, Luomo still have one. As Carma was closed, it naturally lost its star (the word on Carma's successor, the more relaxed La Table has been positive and they did earn a Bib Gourmand).

The Asian fusion eatery Farang also earned a Bib Gourmand (with a little bit of polish, they are a likely candidate for a star in a couple of years).

Grotesk and Solna kept their Bib Gourmands while Mecca lost it (deservedly, in all instances).

Cheers,
T.

I had dinner at Olo about a week ago. We had the five course "Menu Nordic" and every bit of it was really good. My favourite was the king crab with pork, and my husband enjoyed the "Onion with onion and onion" dish (that doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore). We also loved the yoghurt and rosewater marshmallows that came with the bill. I almost want to go back just for those.

The service was a bit unpolished compared to the other Michelin-starred places I've been to (Postres and Carma). Some of the waiters were clearly not very experienced and as our table was near the bar we could hear the senior waiters teaching them how to do things.

I'll definitely go back sooner or later. The lack of polish in the service is something that doesn't bother me much when the food is that good. :)

And what, pray may I ask, is the "Onion with onion with onion" dish? :D

Dined at the Postres last month - deserves the star!

Another nice place we were lately is the Ateljée Finne. Farang is on the list for April.

Fried onions, sauteed? onions, onion ice cream and some other things that I didn't even recognize because I was enjoying the delicious onion flavors :D

Greetings! I am heading to Helsinki for the first time next week. I'll be there on business and mostly likely eating by myself. Anyone have good suggestions for solo dining? I generally trend toward places where I can sit at the bar and eat and drink, avoiding hotel restaurant as much as possible. thks

Having a meal at the bar is pretty rare in Finland and you might be in for a disappointment in that department, especially if you do not wish to eat at hotel restaurants.

As for solo dining, I'd consider these places:

Nuevo – Spanish cuisine, modern decor
Ateljee Finne – relaxed near fine dining from local ingredients
Kolme Seppää (here you migth even be able to eat at the bar, not sure) – "California type" cuisine
La Table – French bistro style, run by a Michelin chef
Grotesk – a stylish, relaxed dining place, owned by Michelin starred chefs
Salve – an atmospheric greasy spoon, good fish dishes
Chez Dominique – not good for solo dinner, but for the far and away best lunch in town. Two Michelin stars, 3-course lunch for 29 €.

If you can give a bit more detail as to what you are looking for food and pricewise, we can probably give better recommendations.

Cheers,
T.

Thanks for the recommendations! I would definitely like to have some local dishes and fresh local food, and/or unique places. Other than that I am open to most anything: Spanish, French, Japanese, Middle Eastern, pub food, etc. My price range is up to 40€ (ex. drinks).

I'd definitely do Ateljee Finne and Salve, then. Also, Chez Dominique for lunch is a great experience.

Also, if you are free some morning, do go to the Hakaniemen tori (Hakaniemi market place) and have a plate of porridge at Kahvisiskot (orange tent, a large coffee pot for a sign) for breakfast amongst the locals. Unique, fun, and cheap.

Kabuki is a good and fun Japanese restaurant. Farouge is a pretty good Lebanese place. They might also be worth a shot.

Cheers,
T.

Storyville is kind of a pickup joint. I had the worst burger of my life there for 22 Euros last night. it also bills itself as a jazz and blues venue. Last night's band was good, but it was Rock-a-Billy, Boogie Woogie and country, not jazz or blues.

Sounds interesting!
Any additional info about the market itself? What other local breakfast type of food might one find here in this market? Thanks.

You can have porridge (the flavour depends on the day), coffee and pulla, sandwiches (I'd recommend the rye bread with gravlax), or, if your cardio-vascular system can take it, a deep-fried rice and meat pastry (lihapiirakka or "lihis"). Some of the places may also have quiche etc. Another typical Finnish delicacy available in some of the places is the Karelian pastry (karjalanpiirakka), which is best had with some egg butter. If you crave something sweet, munkkipossu (a rectangular, sugar-covered donut with apple jam filling). All quite delicious.

If you don't want to wander over to Hakaniemi, you can have most of the same stuff at the main market place. The only drawback is that the main market place is far more touristy. A further alternative is a small family bakery called Eromanga, which is located at Pohjoinen Makasiinikatu 6, quite close to the dead centre of town. Eromanga is famous for their meat pastries and their munkkipossus.

Cheers,
T.

We came to Helsinki from London on 29th May 2011. Now we have spent couple of weeks and enjoyed wonderful weather but all junk food available in Helsinki (Finland). Yesterday we have found one Indian/Nepalese Restaurant called Revintola Buddha which is better then KFC, McDonald's and Pizza's Companies JUNK FOOD just at last.
I and mywife are eating in this restaurant from yesterday listining to Mount Everest background music. I am sure you'll also enjoy this restaurant.

Please find Link: http://ravintolabuddha.com/nepal-res...and-aboutus-en

Today, I want to try MOMO (Tibetian & Nepalese food)...LOL

While there certainly is junk food available in Helsinki, there is not one single KFC outlet in Finland... And the amount of fast food chains overall is smaller than in most European capitals.

If you desire Indian/Nepalese food, you can try several places, including Namaskaar, Annapurna, Maharaja, Samrat, Satkar, and several others.

Cheers,
T.

You may want to check out http://eat.fi/en/

Plenty of choices available, no need to eat junk :)

Just FYI, while an improbable number of restaurants in Finland claim to be "Nepalese", they actually serve the same diluted Mughal/Punjali curry-in-a-hurry Indian as almost every Indian restaurant in the West. I've always wondered why they bother with the label, especially given that actual Nepalese food is, um, less than scintillating. :confused:

Restaurant and Bar Juuri
 

While Juuri is not a new restaurant as such, I went there for the first time yesterday for an early dinner.

The food and service were a bit of a mixed bag.

Our waitress started out a bit surly but did warm up a bit once we engaged her a bit in conversation. However, she seemed a bit out of place in a restaurant like this.

The appetizers (called Sapas, which is apparently Juuri's term for Finnish tapas type bites) were quite good. Both of us had three different dishes. My wife's fish dishes were all very good (the miniature kalakukko was especially good). Of my three meat dishes, the smoked reindeer heart was excellent, the sausage quite good (although the vodka mustard overpowered it a bit), and the game vorschmack was quite dry. Overall, we liked 5 of the 6 sapas.

My wife had sirloin of organic lambkin with a puree of smoked celery. The lamb was perfectly cooked but the dish was overly salty and the taste of the lamb was lost in the saltiness and the smokiness.

I had perch en papillote with a potato-fennel gratin with a dill-horseradish sauce. The sauce was very good but the fish was unevenly salted and the en papillote preparation did not work very well with the perch.

We only had local cheeses for dessert and the cheese platter was actually quite good - it seems that Finnish artisanal cheeses are starting to come of age.

We did not survey the wine list very well, as we quickly settled on champagne. The bone dry organic Laherte Frères Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature worked quite well with the food and it was rather well-priced.

The cost of the food for two (three sapas per person, main courses, one cheese platter, and one coffee) was 90 euros, which is not cheap but OK by Helsinki standards.

Overall, we thought Juuri was above average but not quite in the top tier of Helsinki restaurants. The main dishes were a little disappointing, but the inventive appetizers make the place worth a visit.

Cheers,
T.

There's a fairly new restaurant in Helsinki, Gaijin. It's the same owners as the quite nice (IMO) place Farang, but located at Bulevardi.

Gaijin is supposed to be a northern Asian restaurant, which I guess means Japan, Korea and Eastern parts of China. Well, I went there with my better half and a friend and his better half. The experience was next to horrible.

First of all, when I have reserved a table at a restaurant, I don't expect to be sitting around for 30 minutes at my table with a glass of water in front of me, and not even a menu!

We eventually got around to order their signature menu Gaijin (I think 9 dishes if you include boiled rice as one as they seem to count) with the wine package. For the record, this was 200€+ for two persons, so for that price expectations are quite high.

The majority of the dishes are poor and close to not edible. This comes from a person who has lived in Japan and is used to eating all kinds of stuff. Some dishes (2-3) were really good, excellent, among the tastiest things I've eaten in Helsinki. Sadly the majority weren't up to the standards. Somehow the place felt like wanting to do hardcore quirky Asian, rather than good tasting Asian food.

I enjoyed the flavours of Farang (although I think their tasting menus also are overpriced...) but Gaijin is sub-par. I think the responsibles should be less in TV and look more at what their restaurants are serving. And the service needs to take the noses down a few degrees and smile a bit more.

BTW, if you're coming to Helsinki and surroundings for a longer time in the summer, I can recommend the town of Ekenäs/Tammisaari one hour west of Helsinki and restaurant Albatros. For such a small town, I think the restaurant has a nice wine list, and the quality of the food is quite nice. The terrace is beautiful on a nice summer day or evening.

+1000:)

By the way, I wish they'd take this out of the Scandinavian forum. Only Americans think Finland is Scandinavian.

I tried yesterday http://www.murudining.fi and I say we have a new best restaurant in Helsinki, at least when it comes to quality of food compared to the price. The menu changes very often, they take great pride in coupling nice wines with the food, and the service is genuine and unpretentious! In addition, it's very affordable. I had a glass of cava, 4 course meal (poached egg with truffles, slow-cooked lamb confit, cheese and white chocolate mousse) with wines (Riesling, Amarone etc) and espresso, and the final tab was well under 100€. That is an extremely good price for food and wines of that quality.

How about extending the Russia forum to "Russia and Baltic Countries" and then moving this thread there?

Btw, I can't see any evidence for some specific American "misunderstanding"?

I'm not Finnsih, but I would be surprised if anyone in Finland would place his/her country in that category.

The most natural change would of course be to name this a Nordic forum instead of a Scandinavian one, since that is what we already have in all but the name.

We don't consider Finland a Baltic country. Also, from visitor perspective, I'd imagine it makes more sense to include Helsinki in this forum than in a Russia/Baltics forum.

However, although not geographically or linguistically part of Scandinavia, we can live with the moniker Scandinavian. The name of this forum is quite well established and I don't think changing it really has any added value.

Cheers,
T.

I am at the Savoy right now. The pianist is playing "Skyfall" and "All by myself" etc. In my humble opinion, overall, this is still the best restaurant in Helsinki.

Michelin start are out, and all the old Michelin restaurants in Helsinki still have their glittering stars: Chez Dominique has two, and Demo, Luomo, Olo and Postres have one. G.W. Sundmans is "rising star" (and it used to have one star, of course), and Bib Gourmands are Farang, Gaijin, Grotesk, Solna and Pure Bistro (the only new entry on the list). I'd like to recommend Solna, which is not in the center, but some 20 minutes by tram to Munkkiniemi. And if you prefer Hilton properties, it is an easy walk from Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa Hotel!

I'm with you, T. -- but it seems that someone 'knows better' and has changed the name of our Forum "for our own good" (i.e., now 'Nordic Countries').

cheers,

Henry

Thanks. I tried G.W.Sundmans last week and their pike-perch (in three variations) with scallops and cauliflower. The dish came with three appetizers, some crackers and bread with different breadspreads. The appetizers were excellent but the main course quite artificial IMO. Sundmans is probably trying too hard to get the star instead of providing hearty meals.

Have to try Solna soon if it is close to the Kalastajatorppa (I usually eat in their own excellent restaurant with great service and beautiful view).

Solna is about 1 km from Kalastajatorppa - a nice stroll through Munkkiniemi before and after the meal.

Cheers,
T.

Helsinki is lovely, I just spent 24 hours there (extended layover) and it wasn't nearly enough time... we were based at Hotel Kamp and walked everywhere

Ravintola Nokka - as a starter, don't miss the Nokka small farm delicacies - an assortment of different appetizers they had on the menu, including beef consommee, air-dried Finn cattle, herring, and salmon. We had the roasted duck as well as the pike which were both very nice.

Ravintola OLO - we had lunch here during the weekday and they had set menus depending on your time restraint. 39 Euros for 2 courses (~40 minutes), with a choice of raindeer or vendace for starter, and lamb and fish for entree it was an affordable and tasty meal.

Liberty or Death - pleasant cocktail bar, after a few days in Italy and being wine-d out, this was a welcome change, drinks were expertly mixed with ingredients like Aperol, Bitters, Crowberry, Chartreuse, Hendrick's, Elderflower, egg whites... you get the point. Kippis