shannonmollyes: Dining Out in Helsinki

Dining Out in Helsinki

We are a couple who like to eat. We pay the price for it, mind you, with love handles and frequent indigestion and yet we can?t seem to stop. We feel it?s our duty as world travellers to eat out as much as possible as often as possible. At least that?s our excuse and we?re sticking to it.

So during our recent snowy stay in Helsinki despite the weather we were determined to enjoy eating out in Helsinki so we strapped on boots wrapped up in layers and headed out each evening and sometimes during the day to find restaurants that created warm ambience, offered a friendly welcome and served delicious food. Here were the success stories:

Rivoletto

Dining Out in Helsinki ? Rivoletto

On the first night in Helsinki we were tired and so we stumbled about 100 metres down the road to a restaurant that online reviews promised us ?the best pizza in Helsinki?. We are simple, pizza-loving folk. The pizza is thin base (I prefer the doughy pizza base from the south of Italy) and the menu offers a number of unusual toppings combinations ? duck and jalapeno peppers anyone? ? but it was authentic,??affordable and unassuming; perfect first night food. (We also went back for lunch one day and we tried a couple of pasta dishes, which were on par with the pizzas.

Patron Mexican Kitchen

Dining Out in Helsinki ? Patron Mexican Kitchen

We tried to dine in this packed Mexican restaurant on the Wednesday night of our trip but they were completely booked up. Call us dedicated followers of food fashion but we booked a table for the following night with a heavy-accented Mexican lady. I was expecting good things. And good things we got; excellent cocktails, funky wall art, a crazy calorific but crazy good starter (chorizo and cheese DIY tortillas) and waiting staff that were so stylish I wanted to go shopping with all of them. However, the main course ? a tricolor take on the classic chicken enchilada ? wasn?t full of the fireworks I was expecting and after a few mouthfuls almost became bland.

Dining Out in Helsinki ? A delicious starter

Cafe Gran Delicato

Dining Out in Helsinki ? A tasty salad at Cafe Gran Delicato

Again not far from our hotel on the fringe of the Design District was this Italian sounding coffee shop and cafe serving freshly made sandwiches, soups and salads during the day. It also had an impressively long list of coffees and it was in reading this that I noted the owners are actually Greek. It was for this reason that I opted for a Greek style feta salad to accompany my latte and generous doesn?t go far enough to describe the copious amounts of white stuff I was treated to.

Popular with locals what lunch and stick around for a coffee after, this was our go to for cheap and cheerful lunches and for coffee to write postcards with.

Kitchen & Co.

Dining Out in Helsinki ? Kitchen & Co.

We saved this upmarket and stylish spot for our Friday night. In the same building as an art gallery just off Bulevardi in the Design District, Kitchen & Co. has the wow factor with tall ceilings, minimalist decor and slick service by the friendly waiting staff. We shared a tasting menu starter, which comprised of mini versions of all the Finnish and European inspired starters before each tucking into meaty mains.

Dining Out in Helsinki ? Main Course at Kitchen & Co.

It was uncomfortable to think about desert let alone eat one so we finished our drinks, absorbed the atmosphere and prepared ourselves for the cold walk home. I highly recommend a luxurious night out at Kitchen & Co.

St Andre

Dining Out in Helsinki ? St Andre Restaurant

Next door to our hotel was this brasserie/bar/late-night venue. I know, that?s a lot of different things for this one room restaurant to be and yet it succeeds. Relaxed but reliable service helped ensure the evening was a smooth success from start to finish and the food ? a mix of Asian and European inspired dishes ? was well thought out and well cooked ? I particularly enjoyed the lamb sausages and thick cut chips. A DJ started playing as we began our main courses and the music was so good we stayed after our food was taken away and our glasses were topped up again and again.

A few additional notes and tips about dining out and restaurants in Helsinki

All of these restaurants provide tap water for the table and this is very much the done thing in cafes and coffee shops too ? London, take note!
When it came to paying a lot of the places we ate at asked if we wanted to pay separate bills and we saw this being done in nearly all the above restaurants ? again, London and now you Sydney, are you listening?
Eating out in Helsinki is not cheap. On average we paid around 60 ? 70 Euros for a two course meal and one alcoholic drink each. However, I found for Nordic Europe that this was comparatively cheaper than Stockholm and Copenhagen, and I?m sure if you looked you could find some more affordable options.
We also did some online research about tipping ? we generally always tip but never know how much so do a little research when we get to new places ? but we were surprised to see that there were a few online notes about how service is always included in menu prices and that some places in Finland consider tipping ?rude? or ?awkward? though we shouldn?t be discouraged from acknowledging good service. These was basically the rules we lived by when eating out in Helsinki, only tipping around 10% when we felt we?d had great service and we weren?t tripped up or pushed out of the door when we left the places we didn?t leave a tip. P.S. ?Tip? in Finnish is ?tippi?. Isn?t it the cutest of languages?

About Frankie_Thompson

Londoner turned wanderer, Frankie Thompson is often better known as "Bird". She and her Australian partner flew their London nest in October 2011 to embark on a life of flight, travel and nest-hopping across the world. A self-proclaimed Flashpacker, Frankie loves to snowboard, eat sushi and pretend she's a mermaid. Frankie documents her travels in words and photos at As the Bird Flies.

Source: http://coupletraveltips.com/1700-finland-travel-dining-out-in-helsinki-5-favourite-meals/

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