I decided to try Hoku at the recommendation of our AirBnB host and Yelp. 40 reviews on…read moreYelp...that's impressive for Finland! This place lives up to the hype. Since it is located on the 5th floor of Kamppi Square and has floor to ceiling windows, the views are reeeeal nice. The boyfriend and I came for lunch at 11:30am on a Friday and were seated without a reservation after we placed our order and paid at the counter. I tried the Kalua Pork & Tiger Prawns (14€) while the boyfriend went with the Salmon Teriyaki (15€) after reading the glowing reviews on here. The Kalua Pork dish was super tasty and had more broth than I was expecting; I was glad it came with a bowl of rice. The salmon was SO moist with a teriyaki sauce that wasn't too overbearing! Needless to say we finished both our dishes without a bite to spare. The portions are medium-sized. If you come starving, it may not be enough to make you feel 100% satiated. However, the sophisticated atmosphere and unique & flavorful dishes made Hoku a great experience.

Hoku is really small place, but their portion are really H-u-g-e and lunch-time the place is always…read morefull. Salmon Teriyaki with potato-salad as japanese-style.. yes please! On dinner-time you have to make a reservation if you are coming with big groupie or 2 people. For 1 person... Sometimes there is window-place for walk-in people, so just try your luck if there is the place for you. Their Dinner-menu is sort and not so long. The price are ok. Must try Hoku's Chicken Katsu!

Closed an hour earlier than listed on their door or on Google. For shame Koto. I wasted 30 minutes…read moregetting here for nothing.

Finally! We found a place serves hot Asian dishes. Though the food was on the more pricy end, we…read moreunderstand it's the cost of living in Scandinavia. If you got craving for some hot soupy Asian food while traveling in Helsinki, I highly recommend giving Koto a try.

I am turning Finnish. By that, I mean places I would have 1-starred in the US are now elevated to…read more3-stars here and 3-stars are now elevated to 5. What's that? You didn't see what I just did? I politely implied that the food here is nothing to (literally) write home about. On that note, I'd still give Domo a 4 by US standards. I am not an adventurous person and I was pregnant when I was there twice so no raw fish for me. But the vegetarian sushi I had was great. The miso soup was very tasty. The seaweed salad? Just no. Run screaming. It tastes like it was farmed in the part of the Baltic Sea with the highest levels of chemical contamination. Minus one big radioactive star. That aside, the interior reminds me of the sushi shacks in San Fran or NY. It's awfully zen in there and at the same time manages to be warm and cozy enough that you forget you just almost froze your tits off walking a block to get here from the shopping centers. It's super close to Stockmann, Forum, and Kamppi but far enough away that there aren't irritating crowds and lines to wait in (why are there always lines in this city?? It's like the freaking soviet union except you have to pay). Very good service, very cheap (by Helsinki standards) prices, and high quality tasty food. I am a fan. I'll come back. I'll give praise. I will not touch the radioactive seaweed. Sorry, guys. You gotta work that out.

So far I have been spoiled by the good sushi in Helsinki at Sushibar + wine near Kamppi. Time for a…read moresmall change in diet and check if I am not missing out great sushi. Domo is close by Kamppi as well. The place has a nice simple Japanese touch to it. Went for the asparagus and two kinds of sushi. Must say the sushi's were good, but a bit too expensive for my liking. Service is really, really fast and nice. Dishes are traditional Japanese, no scandic flavour to it. Don't get me wrong, it's good food, but I will stay at my regular place. Better price/quality.

Some of the best sushi I've ever had, served by a sweet and kind family. We enjoyed a lovely…read moredinner. Just not that they slow down taking orders in the hour before closing.

"Seriosly Good Sushi" Not so big place but most of japanese people recommend Sushi Wagocoro. When…read moreyou get in you feel like you are in Japan, you can hear the people talking in japanese. All the fish are really fresh and my favorite one is Marinated Shimesaba. Sometimes you can get Hotate (another menu on the wall) or you can ask from the chef what kinf of fish do they recommend today :) Just forget the sushi-buffet in Helsinki. Minus thing that they close on the weekends and weekdays really early at 18 pm :'( But if it's special-day like father's day, easter, then on sunday they are open sometimes. If you want some exciting, weird taste from Wagocoro then probably wasabi-maki or natto-maki is for you.

A lovely little Japanese cafe with great service and delicious food…read more We came in a group of four adults, plus a baby. Unfortunately there was already a family there and only one baby seat so we had to endure for a while. After they left, the servers asked if we didn't want the table with more room (previously occupied by the family), and quickly cleared and cleaned it when we accepted. They were so kind and friendly! I got the Hokuo Roll Set (€9,90) which comes with miso soup or tea. The salmon one was OK, though I should probably have asked for it without cream cheese. Shrimp was very good with vermicelli and fresh coriander! And there are too many times I've had a half-assed miso soup but Mizu's was great. I also ordered Matcha Latte (€4,50) with soymilk (+€0,50) which was perfect and came with some green tea and ginger-flavoured crispy rice snacks. I don't normally enjoy puffed rice but I could easily eat a bag of these. All of the gluten-free and lactose-free menu items are marked. Two of my friends got the teriyaki chicken donburi and pork donburi and both said they were happy with it. Looked great! We also tried the An Danish (€3,50) which was sweet red bean paste in a flaky pastry. I am not a fan of red bean but this was perfectly moist and not too sweet. Makes me feel like I'm back in Japan. Do yourself a favour and visit this cafe!

Truly an amazing experience! very welcoming atmosphere and the matcha latte is out of this world.read more

What an adorable place this is! Nowhere else can you see the chef wearing a tie and a perfectly fit…read moreand clean white coat while cooking. The atmosphere here is almost meditative. That said you should probably consider another place if you're heading out with a big bunch of loud people. The food is traditional Japanese with a tad of Scandinavian influence. They only serve one menu at a time of which you can choose 3, 4 or 5 courses. They also have an excellent sake selection. Service is minimalistic and polite. Everything in this tiny little nook seems very honest - they're not trying to impress anyone with polished decor or extremely exotic food. They rather keep it simple and focus on doing everything that they do well and with love. It's simply fascinating to watch the couple (I think) work in the open kitchen as their level of concentration and calmness are the kind that one seldom gets to witness in a restaurant kitchen. Like the total opposite of Gordon Ramsey & co. Definitely worth a visit!

Hidden away from the centre of Helsinki, this tiny restaurant is a fusion of Japanese and Finnish…read morecooking. The very simple menu has a three, four or five course option. We went for the five course, wanting to try everything. The space is bright, clean and open, and we watched the chefs work as we sipped Iki green tea beer. The waitress explained every course in English. The first course was delicious potatoes and beef with linen seeds, which reminded me a bit of Brazilian picanha, dipping the umame sirloin in the crunchy seeds. Then a salad with beautiful chantarelles and peas, followed by a chirashi bowl and miso. By this point we were very, very happy. Then the dessert: a strange cheesecake that tasted like it was made of rubber (or at least, tofu). I don't even eat dairy anymore, so I wouldn't have minded if it was vegan, but if you have to ask...which we did, and the waitress confirmed it was cheese. A disappointing end to an otherwise great meal.

Good sushi for lunch, miso and green tea included…read more One negative point - the rice was warm. But I can imagine it's hard to do it right for the lunch hours.

One of the best places in Helsinki to have Japanese food is Sumo. The rather small restaurant on…read moreEerikinkatu has a lot to offer and is the perfect lunch place. Apart from sushi you will also find other exciting dishes on the menu like their famous bentos. A bento is a box containing everything essential for a good Japanese meal. It usually comes with rice, spring rolls, small salad and - depending on your choice - meat, fish or vegetables. They have changing bentos on the lunch list every day and they are all amazing. Just pick one and you won't be disappointed. All lunch orders come with a tea and a miso soup. Lunchtime is from 11 to 14.00 but you can of course also order a la carte here at any time. Go ahead and try it!

When I walked in, I instantly received nice warm greetings from the waitress and 2 guys in the…read morekitchen. I also like the japanese minimalist style of the restaurant. Very friendly and helpful staff. I ordered pork on rice with some snow peas, ginger, boiled egg, and some sauce garnished with sesame seeds for 11€. I like that they served it real hot but I wasnt too impressed with the taste. It is mild for my taste and quite bland compared to other japanese pork dishes Ive tried. It is a good basic warm food but nothing special for me. I heard that the fish dishes are good. I should try it next time! Overall I still recommend this place.

Great tasting, simple Japanese food for a very reasonable price. My new lunch-favorite!read more

Good ramen. We ordered the spicy miso ramen (2) and fried chicken. It was raining outside all day…read moreso it was a good meal!

This is the second store of Momo Toko in Helsinki and seems relatively new. All the noodles were…read morecooked perfectly and the meat was generous in my chili tonkotsu ramen. The Dan Dan noodles also were very tasty. The bao was tasty though a little soggy at the bottom. Highly recommend coming here if you're feeling some filling ramen!

Reminder to a future self: do not go here. Quality of the…read moreplace has gone down heavily. About half of the sushi were made with canned tuna. Limited warm food. Really low quality ice cream, tasted old. So sad. The other Haru on Annankatu has been much much better. Hopefully they still are.

Honestly? The price and quality are fantastic. Nice selection of everything including fried food…read moreand some other options.