How I miss Sunday afternoon having a pint of beer or two at the Sea Horse, a.k.a. Sikala. Their…read morecabbage rolls were also some of the best I've ever had! Funny, the first time I went there (when smoking was permitted inside) I thought it was one of the most depressing places, where serious drinkers drink seriously, but then I realized the beauty of this iconic Helsinki institution and made it a regular place for me and my friends to drink when in Ullanlinna. Do they finally have waitresses that can speak English? Did they finally update the men's room in disrepair? (My grandmother, 82 at the time, said she liked the place since the ladies room was well kept.) All these things I'll have to find out on my next trip to Helsinki.

Very old style, traditional Finn meals. I enjoyed pan seared Herring, lots of food. Decent, a tad…read morepricey. Very good service.

Ties for best pizza in Helsinki. I know, I know...the reindeer pizza that is not on the menu is the…read morereal draw but for a vegan who likes to break her own rules every now and then, The choose-your-own €14 pizza with 4 toppings can't be beat! Go with bleu cheese, sweet pepper, onion, and rucola and you will be in heaven. The interior reminds me of my favorite place in my hometown (San Francisco), so warm and modern and cozy all at the same time. Nothing utilitarian or mundane about Central: a nice, sleek bar pairs well with the down to earth dining room. They have a large(ish) terrace for nice days, and the service is good while the food comes quickly. We recently entertained friends from San Francisco who loved Central. I highly recommend. Great value, great prices, delicious food, and good vibes. Definitely in my top 5 faves for Helsinki.

What I like about Central is that they have a child-friendly corner and some toys to distract them…read more And that there's a children's menu, even though there's not a lot of healthy choices with vegetables. I've always found the food a little dissapointing; either too fatty, too much sauce, or just not very tasty. But it definately is what I would call 'comfort food' and the dishes remind me of food that was commonly served a generation ago (my parents). The staff is friendly.

The food is good and the pasta portions are bigger than they appear on the photos because they…read moreserve in deep dishes . I was disappointed by not getting bread with the meal because the sauce was very good. there is not table service , they have beer and wine . I would repeat for lunch , not dinner .

Great service and wonderful food! We found Cafe Bar 9 while out walking and decided to stop in…read more Very glad we did. We will definitely be back.

We ordered a spicy pork dish (tulista possua ja chiliä) and the green curry with chicken (kanaa…read morevihreäcurry kookosmaidoss). Both were merely ok and came as very small portions for 14 euro each. The dishes were strangely similar - similar ingredients, vegetables, spice - which leads me to believe that they do not put much care into their entrees. Neither one was spicy even though the pork had 3 chili pepper signs and the chicken had 2. The Thai authenticity was relatively low compared to other restaurants I've been to. Will not be going back.

We weren't sure if we could ask for vegetarian options, we aren't strict vegan but didn't want any…read moreshellfish/sauce, chicken or beef broth used in cooking, and I'm not crazy about tofu. We were unexpectedly in a big rush the night in question and didn't have time to walk or tram to another part of Helsinki so we relationship looked at our take away options near our Airbnb and wow we were thrilled with the results ! First off, the lady helping us spoke excellent English, a huge relief for us in this situation. Secondly she assured us that all our requests were no problem, only 20 minutes later we were out the door with some of the best vegetarian coconut milk soup, vegetarian red curry, tofu pad Thai with egg for my husband, and a rice ball dessert in coconut milk that I used to get often in the states and missed : "Bua loi with coconut milk" everything was so tasty and tasted truly vegetarian to us both. Notably for the first time since moving to Finland my request for " extra spicy" was taken to heart to my delight and I was happily wiping my nose with joy! They take your request seriously unlike every other restaurant we've tried in Finland which serves my "level 10 extra spicy" at what I considered a "2" in the US. So do be careful to really order a true level of spicy assuming that the most spicy is really too spicy for you if your used to mild ( watered down flavor for the natives here) taste. The quality, speed, attention to our special requirements and reasonable price makes me very grateful for this ravintola being so close to us at during our visit and it's why I must recommend it to you! Give them a chance, I doubt you'll be sorry.

I love this place! It's my favourite place for grocery shopping…read more After 3 years in Helsinki I see a minor increase in food quality, but this mini-market has always been consistently good, sources local produce, a lot organic, and I can see they really make careful decisions about what to offer. And the staff are genuinely friendly (yes, warm and service-minded does exist here!) If you live here, consider this place to support local businesses. For visitors, consider stocking up here for a picnic in Kaivopuisto. If you're missing the picnic gear, you can probably get everything between this place and the kitchenware place next door.

Excellent pizza. Located not far from the center of the city. I came here with a friend on a…read moreTuesday evening. Nice quiet restaurant with a cozy feel. There are white walls with two brick pillars in the middle of the restaurant. I ordered the Capitano pizza, which was absolutely delicious. Organic Finnish dry-cured ham, mozzarella, smoked cheese, and almond green pesto. Crust was incredibly soft and chewy, which I think is key in any Neopolitan pizza. The flavors from the sauce and cheese were incredible. The pesto was mixed with the red sauce perfectly, slightly sweet taste. The ham was good, slightly salty but not too much. I forget what my friend got but it had salami and looked great. I included a picture. Service was excellent. Waitress spoke perfect English (I think most people in Helsinki do). Even though it wasn't the best pizza I've ever had, it was very good, and I'm going to give 5 stars because I think they deserve it. 4.5/5 if I'm being technical. I would go back without a doubt if I lived here.

We were looking for a pizza place downtown Helsinki, we wanted something new and since many places…read moreclose early we found this gem on Yelp and gave it a try. Excellent pizzas in a chill and cozy environment - accompanied with wines or beers. The staff is friendly and the place is good to stay for a few beers after pizza.

Came here on 2 separate occasions. Since it was near my hotel. The food wasn't anything crazy and a…read morelittle pricey. This place is known for their fried herring. First few bites of this were pretty good. Salty and flavorful that comes with mashed potatoes that helps reset your taste buds when it gets too salty. But after halfway, I got tired of the taste. Wasn't enough variety. The salmon wasn't anything crazy. The shrimp tartar sauce that came with it was really tasty.

First meal in Finland, after checking into the hotel checked Yelp for a real Helsinki style…read morecuisine. This came up and we took Uber and arrived 10 minutes later. We tried quite a few things, my buddy wanted to sample their different looking items as well. It was fun trying their seafood, their unique sauces that accompanied them, the lamb, the mystery fish which I couldn't find in google translate, the wild mushroom soup, and to top it off was that excellent cloudberry cheesecake. Had to google was 'cloudberry' was and this was the definition "Cloudberries are very juicy, and they taste a bit like a cross between a raspberry and a red currant". We were sold! So unique and different at the same time had to upload a picture so one could see what they look like before turned into a dessert. For sure would return to this place, great service, excellent tasting food which is so different from other countries.

12 euro bottles of sparkling wine from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays mean you can usually find me here…read moredrunk by 5:30. Fortunately it is stumbling distance from home... The guys behind the counter are always friendly, the interior is warm and cozy on the bar/cafe side, and their burgers are only 10 euros on Mondays. Lunch is standard Finnish salad/soup/etc for around 10 euros as well. All-around, you really can't beat the value and the restaurant side is just as sweet as the cafe/bar side. Food is standard and yummy. The staff is really nice and have always been patient when my Finnish fails me and I have a million questions for them in English :) In warm weather (or bundled up on cold days), the sidewalk terrace is the perfect place for lunch or sparkling wine with friends. Highly recommended!

What could be better than sleeping in on the weekend and then go to a fine café around noon and…read morehave a long brunch with friends? Why not go for brunch Primula in Punavuori this weekend? Primula is a bakery and restaurant and offers weekend brunch on Saturdays from 11.00 to 14.00 and Sundays from 10.00 to 14.00. For 16 € (18€ if you like a glass of sparkling wine with it) you can choose from a nice selection of cold and warm food. Especially for friends of salty brunch this is a good place to go. But of course you can also find some sweet dessert.

Visiting from North Carolina and found this place via google reviews, we were looking for vegan…read morefood - it was good but not as great as I expected from reviews. Few of the items we ordered were amazing and a few were not so good. Would be great if they add some vegan dessert options, there was only 1. Just an honest review.

Nice gem in Helsinki. We had the Halloumi Fries, melon salad, edamame beans as starters, and as…read moredinner the Buddha bowl, and Wasabi Kale and tofu bowl. Everything tasted fantastic. Possibly the best vegetarian food we ate so far.

We came here at 9:55 pm thinking that this place closed at 11 pm. But they actually closed at 10 pm…read morethat evening. The staff member was kind enough to take our orders even though we couldn't eat in-store. It took about 15 minutes to get our food. Everyone really enjoyed their food. The falafel wrap could have used more flavor though and I could barely taste the spicy sauce that I requested on it. But the ingredients were fresh. Someone else who ordered the beef wrap thought it was interesting that the beef was a patty but still liked it. The chicken wrap was tasty according to someone else. We also ordered the loaded fries, which were really good but the halloumi was kind of too stringy and weird for us to enjoy or finish.

So delicious! The pita's are packed to the brim, incorporating great flavors. Nice outdoor seating…read morein the side street