My Best Helsinki Restaurant Reviews

MY BEST HELSINKI RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Wherever we go, we eat out all the time. We love good, creative and well
prepared food and good wine, in both formal and casual restaurants. We
particularly enjoy dining with groups of friends and family. These are some
of the restaurants that we and our friends have visited and liked in Helsinki.



	ON THIS PAGE (click on restaurant names):
	carma, demo, fish market, george, katajanokan kasino, kuurna, la petite maison, nuevo, sasso, savoy, strindberg, tony's deli & via.
	(alexander nevski)

	ON PAGE 2:
	chez dominique, farouge, la cocina, maxill, mekka, nokka, palace gourmet, sundmans, sundmans krog, torni. CAFES: aalto, carusel, carusel esplanade, chapman, ekberg, engel, esplanade, fazer, ursula .



	ON PAGE 3:
	belly, havis, kabuki, klippan, kuurna, kynsilaukka -garlic, kämp café & bar, la place, olo, postres, safka, yume. SUMMER RESTAURANTS, LOCATED ON HELSINKI ISLANDS: boathouse, chapman, njk, särkänlinna, uunisaari, walhalla & a general Suomenlinna link. ALSO: a restaurant list & more photos.

MORE MY BEST HELSINKI: HOME RESTAURANTS 1 RESTAURANTS 2 RESTAURANTS 3 PHOTOS 1 PHOTOS 2 PHOTOS 3 PHOTOS 4 HELSINKI ARCHITECTURE

HELSINKI MUSIC HELSINKI CLUBS & BARS HELSINKI SIGHTS & DESTINATIONS HELSINKI HOTELS, TRANSIT & TRAVEL SERVICES FINNISH WORDS


		NOTE: Many top restaurants in Helsinki are closed during the whole month of July, some for even longer. So if you are planning a "foodie vacation" in Helsinki during the summer, July is not a good choice. Check in advance. July, which usually is the warmest summer month, is "vacation month" in Finland. Most Finns start their vacation around the 21st-24th of June, when "Midsummer Eve", a huge holiday in Finland, is celebrated.

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RESTAURANT SAVOY. Our revisit to this old, and very expensive, establishment years overdue, but a happy one. Savoy has been known as a quality eatery since it opened in 1937. Many top Finnish chefs have worked their magic in its kitchen over the years. The decor was designed by, among others, Alvar Aalto, the famous Finnish architect. (See "history" on the Savoy home page.) While I appreciate the genuine historic interior, for me the charm of Savoy is sitting on the summer terrace, overlooking the Esplanade Park, over its treetops and toward the beautiful, newly restored buildings along the Northern Esplanade and the beautiful glistening white Dome a little further away. The service was professional and friendly and much less self important than it had been years ago when we dined there last. The food is world class. The nice house champagne, Gosset, set the mood. The amuse bouche just melted in our mouths. Our appetizer, a langoustine ravioli with lobster and vegetable ragoût absolutely delicious. Our friend also enjoyed hers, a beef carpaccio. For our main courses my husband and our friend had grilled sea trout, sauté of new potatoes and chanterelles, smoked roe and sauce Rémoulade . They loved it. The restaurant was very accommodating about substituting some ingredients. They were more than happy to let me have the before mentioned main course with fried fillets of Finnish perch (which I love in the summer - and cannot get in New York, sigh!) instead of the grilled sea trout. Delicious. The Tahiti vanilla soufflé, marbled cherry ice-cream and compote of cherries flavored with hops, was good but not exciting. With the food we shared a bottle of Volnay, 1989, Camille Giroud. We award his Restaurant 4. 5 GIFU STARS. Eteläesplanadi 14, 00130 Helsinki Tel: (358) 9 - 6128 5300 Second link		RESTAURANT GEORGE We do not really understand why it took us so long to try Restaurant George. Happily, in late October, 2003, one of our relatives invited us there, and we immediately accepted. We went on a Tuesday night. The restaurant was surprisingly empty, but it evidently had been packed on Monday evening. We were greeted warmly and seated in a spare yet attractive and cozy room. There was no hint of cigarette smoke, but since the restaurant was empty, we do not know what their policy is. Our waitress was a sweet young woman, who was simultaneously polite, friendly, utterly professional (without being stiff) and quite capable of dealing with our New York brand of humor. Family dining at George. Click on photo to enlarge. We have not been this delighted in a Helsinki restaurant for a while. While there are many good restaurants in Helsinki that serve skillfully prepared food, sometimes it seems like all these restaurants have the same menus, and very similar, predictable and mostly seriously overpriced wine lists. George, in subtle ways, has managed to put together a menu that, while serving seasonal classics, also offers choices that you do not see on the other Restaurants' menus.
	TOP

	DOWN	The same goes for the wine list. In Helsinki
RESTAURANT DEMO is an ambitious, relatively new, small place, and so popular that it is hard to get in. We have been told that the food is very good, fresh and, for the quality and level of cooking, very reasonably priced. Reservations highly recommended weeks in advance. The menu changes daily. We hear Demo offers the best "bang for the buck" in quality food Helsinki right now. Demo has one Michelin star.		we often feel put off by the pricing of quality wines. Here, we were pleasantly surprised. George's wine list, though not as comprehensive as Sundman's, was still far more than adequate, offering not only expensive wines, but also a respectable selection of more affordable wines. The service was impeccable, perhaps the best service we have had in Helsinki at any restaurant. Here is what we had: Starters: -Crayfish soup gratinated with Chimay cheese. -Parma ham-cep risotto with cep dauphine. Entrees: -Poached whitefish with avocado-tomato salad.
		-Ptarmigan breast with black currant sauce.

			Desserts:
	LA PETITE MAISON is a small restaurant serving French Cuisine. This restaurant is very popular and seems to always be packed, and therefore we have not been able to score a reservation during our stays in Helsinki. (Next time we will book in advance of the trip). But we have heard people sing this restaurant's praises. One gentleman even took the time to e-mail us, to warmly recommend the place and suggested that we put the restaurant on our site. Thank you for the feedback. A second link.		-Apple-almond tart with ginger cookie ice cream. -Black currant fondant, chocolate mousse and arctic bramble. -Cloudberries with licorice mousse. George also provides an amuse bouche at the beginning and a palate cleanser late in the meal. Each of the five of us thought our food was extremely well prepared, fresh and delicious, and well presented. For the first time in a long, long time in Helsinki, I was left happily curious about the rest of the menu and wanting to come back soon, to sample some more of it. If you love good food and good service, and do not mind the prices (worth every penny): Eat here. A second visit, in April 2004, confirms everything above. The best restaurant service we ever had
			in Finland.

	TOP	A recent visit confirms everything above & then some!
KATAJANOKAN KASINO - a favorite of ours for many years- is located on Katajanokka, a bit of a walk from the market square, behind the Uspenski Cathedral. The restaurant is in a mansion-like building, on it's own lot by the sea.	DOWN	A recent renovation has given George a new, modern look. The color scheme is mainly white and brown. We highly recommend this restaurant and give it 4. 8 GIFU STARS. A second link However, before deciding, take a look at: RESTAURANT CARMA
The main dining room on the ground floor is

	grand in an old style. Upstairs there are smaller
	rooms for private meetings and dinners and there is also a big banquet room for larger parties. The restaurant also has a terrace facing the bay, and, a few steps down, summer outdoor seating in the garden, by the water. The garden is wonderful for dining or drinks. We have had both dinner and lunch at the "Kasino" on several occasions over the years, both indoors and in the garden, usually in a group of four plus a baby. The reception and the service have been warm and friendly. The quality and consistency of the food is quite high. They have also been very gracious about substituting items on the menu or mixing items from different dishes on the menu. One evening we went there and the restaurant was closed due to a private reception. Nevertheless, they accomodated us by placing us in a private dining room upstairs. These are nice people who run a great restaurant with delicious food and frendlier service than most restaurants in Helsinki. Addition in July, 2002: This time we dined here twice. On our first evening in Helsinki, it was just the two of us. We were so impressed that we decided to return in a bigger		ALEXANDER NEVSKI is gone. Too bad; it was our favorite Russian restaurant in Helsinki. We have noticed that many people are still looking for the restaurant. RESTAURANT SASSO, with Italian fare, now proudly stands in "Nevski's" space, which has been thoroughly transformed into quite the opposite of what the "old" space used to look like, with heavy draperies, etc. Now, a modern interior, mostly in light earth tones, has emerged. We have yet to sample the place ourselves, but have heard pretty positive reviews. A second link. Downstairs, replacing Restaurant Havis Amanda, is FISH MARKET, a seafood restaurant, just like it's predecessor. Also this space has been renovated and updated. We have heard very favorable reviews and opinions about the Fish Market. A second link.
	group.


Everyone in our group of 6 adults (and a child) was blown away by how good the food was. Even the desserts were wonderful. So good, that we were "teasing" each other about who had the better choice. Again, the service was warm, natural and filled with of good natured humor. We wanted to go back for a third time, but they were hosting a couple of weddings that night. We are not surprised: it is a beautiful place to have a wedding. P.S. Ask the waitress to tell you about the friendly house ghost. Recent visit: Still delicious. We give it: 4 GIFU STARS.	TOP	RESTAURANT NUEVO, a popular spot, was our "best bang for the buck" restaurant in Helsinki, in 2003. The location, in a historically preserved alley in the heart of the "Empire Centre", between the dome and the Market Square, is great, especially if you sit on their sidewalk terrace, enjoying the historic ambience, facing the Dome or the harbor. Wow. The food was surprisingly good and the service fun and friendly. Based on our experiences there in 2002, we ate at Nuevo 3 times on our eleven day trip in 2003. We particularly enjoyed their gazpacho and their whitefish. Our dinner guests told us that the meat dishes were quite tasty. The wine list actually has some decent affordable choices, not so common in Helsinki. We had a
	DOWN	very nice Rioja, Fuedo Crianza,

			for less than 28 Euros.
	STRINDBERG is two different restaurants. Downstairs, Cafe Strindberg offers sandwiches, salads, pastries and coffee (espresso, cappucino, latte etc.). They also serve wine and beer. You take a tray, and move down the line picking up the stuff you want and you pay at the end. In the summer, you can sit outside and enjoy the Esplanade park and some great people-watching. Upstairs, Restaurant Strindberg serves pretty good fare at both lunch and dinner. Window seats overlook the Esplanade park. Strindberg has a lounge, with comfortable sofas and chairs, good for late night drinks and conversation, if you do not mind the smoke. You can click here for a second link.		Nuevo imports its espresso from Spain, and for our taste, it was the best coffee in Helsinki. Recent visit; still good. Nuevo is one of the few restaurants that are open Sundays, a day when staff has to be paid double in Finland. 3 GIFU STARS. A second link The patios of Restaurant Nuevo & Café Sofia. Click to enlarge

	CHECK OUT OUR REVIEW OF: RESTAURANT KUURNA THE HOTTEST NEW HELSINKI RESTAURANT, ON OUR: RESTAURANT REVIEWS, PAGE 3 TONY'S DELI "Tony´s Deli is a declaration of love to Italian and Mediterranean food." Nice place. Address: Bulevardi 7, 00120 Helsinki, Tel: 020- 7424 268 Second link		RESTAURANT CARMA The very talented chef Markus Aremo, whose cooking we loved so much at George, has opened his own small restaurant in the center of Helsinki. We have not yet had a chance to sample his cuisine there, but have heard only good things, so we cannot wait. Address: Ludviginkatu 3–5, 00130 Helsinki Tel. (+358) 9- 673 236


Be sure to check out our "SUMMER RESTAURANT - LIST" that features restaurants on different islands, just a few minute boat ride from the center area. Below, just one of these "hidden" Helsinki gems that are worth a visit: Klippan island & Klippan restaurant & bar: CLICK ON PHOTO for place names and a much larger view: So many restaurants, so little time! Unfortunately we never have the time to explore all the splendid restaurants we would like to while in Helsinki. We would love to hear from fellow Helsinki travelers & foodies. PLEASE LET US KNOW WHICH RESTAURANTS YOU HAVE ENJOYED IN HELSINKI	TOP	RESTAURANT VIA is a reasonably priced, relaxed restaurant that serves casual but pretty good food in a nice, large and open room, casually elegant furnishings and lots & lots of light. There are small tables and big square tables that seat up to 12 people, but you can sit wherever you choose. It is easy to just drop in, during a Saturday afternoon of shopping, or for lunch during the week. The restaurant has a lunch menu that changes daily and a larger menu that consists of salads, pastas, woks, curries, etc. On a recent Saturday visit the lunch turned out to be very enjoyable. The service was friendly, relaxed and fast. Our lunch, for three adults and one child, was 52 Euros. For that we got two Chicken-Thai Curry’s, one Chicken & Shrimp Wok, one glass of wine, half a Salmon Salad and one portion of Blueberry Ice-cream -and lots of friendly smiles. Address: LUDVIGINKATU 8-10, tel. +358 (0)9 681 1370
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		General about Finnish Cuisine and Helsinki Restaurants For years, Finland has been one of our top destinations partly because of its excellent and constantly evolving culinary scene, that encompasses not just the Scandinavian way of cooking, but also integrates international flavors and styles. Every time we travel back to Helsinki, there is something new and exciting going on in the restaurant scene. The culinary know-how and the skill level of many of these chefs is truly impressive and often delights even the most demanding and spoiled patrons.


General about wine pricing in Helsinki Restaurants:
Be aware that Finnish restaurants generally appear to mark-up their wines to a higher degree than comparable American restaurants. For example, it is not uncommon to see a wine that would retail in a	wine store for $15 in the US, selling for over $50 on a menu in Finland. An example: We saw a Marqués de Riscal Reserva 2002, Rioja for 42 Euros (= $ 55.5 in Feb., 2007) on the wine list of a casual restaurant	in Helsinki. In New York the retail price for this wine ranges from $13 to $14 The Marqués de Riscal Reserva 2001 (that has an IWS rating of 90 points) sells between $10 to $14 in New York.


		You should now be able to dine totally smoke-free in Finland: A SMOKING BAN IN FINNISH RESTAURANTS TOOK EFFECT on the 1st of June, 2007. LEARN THE DETAILS


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MORE MY BEST HELSINKI: HOME RESTAURANTS 1 RESTAURANTS 2 RESTAURANTS 3 PHOTOS 1 PHOTOS 2 PHOTOS 3 PHOTOS 4 HELSINKI ARCHITECTURE

HELSINKI MUSIC HELSINKI CLUBS & BARS HELSINKI SIGHTS & DESTINATIONS HELSINKI HOTELS, TRANSIT & TRAVEL SERVICES FINNISH PHRASES