Helsinki's first time cafe

There is a new pop up cafe Hauskafe in Lasipalatsi that you really should try. It is Helsinki's first time café. The concept already exist in some other big European cities and now also came to the Finnish capital.

Instead of paying for what you order you pay for the amount of time you spend here now. When you enter you receive a card marked with your entrance time. Every hour costs 5 €. During the time you spend you can have as much delicious Johan & Nyström coffee, tea and cookies as you like. 

You can also play table football, board and cosole games, read books or use the meeting room. Some special cakes and sandwiches are charged extra but still for a rather reasonable price. You can also bring your own food or beverages if you like.

For now Hauskafe will be at this location until mid December. If things go well, the cafe will be established there permanently.

Give it a try!

Beach feeling at the ferris wheel

With the new Finnair SkyWheel another new attraction came to Helsinki: Allas. The terrace is located right next to the wheel and makes Katajanokka a more attractive place to visit.

This year Allas is a pop-up where containers function as café and ice cream parlor. The terrace itself offers several grass areas with comfortable wooden chairs to sit down and enjoy drinks and snacks. From here you have a great view over Kauppatori, the ships in the harbor and some small islands. Watch the ferries to Stockholm leave while having a cold beer, wine or cider.

You can already look forward to next year. During the fall and winter Allas will change into a permanent café and restaurant. Along with it a pool at the waterfront will be built. 

But for now enjoy the great beach club atmosphere at Allas (which btw means "pool" in Finnish) during the summer days. Allas is open daily from 9:00 to 24:00 and on Fridays and Saturdays even till 2:00.

8 Metre Worlds in Helsinki

The 8 Metre Sailing World Championships are held in Helsinki at the moment. Till August 3 boats from all over the world will compete in several races. The main hub of the competition is Liuskasaari.

The organizing sailing club HSS even opened a Sailors Café just for the event. From its terrace you have a wonderful view onto the open sea and can also follow the races. They serve coffee, tea and small snacks for reasonable prices. Especially when the sun is shining it’s a great place to enjoy a fresh sea breeze.

From the mainland you can take the small ferry going to Skiffer and Boathouse to get there.

Café on stage

The season at has started Espan Lava again. And as last year the stage turn into a pop-up café for a few weeks before this year’s cultural program starts.

Café Köket which is located at Kukkatori (next to Kauppatori) during the summer invites its guest to coffee, self made cake and pulla. For lunch Köket offers a salad and soup buffet on weekdays between 11 and 15:00.

The pop up café is open daily and its motto for 2013 is South America. Check out their special Vappu brunch offer!

Enjoy a unique atmosphere at Café Köket’s pop-up café!

Restaurant Day is coming to town

Sunday is Restaurant Day. This weekend hundreds of pop up restaurants in Finland and the whole world will open their doors again for one day. For the third time this year the Restaurant Day (Ravintola Päivä) is organized. Everyone can open their own restaurant on that day.

a gallery becomes a restaurant for one day

Living rooms, galleries, shops, garages, terraces and lots of other places turn in to cafés and restaurants on Sunday. The variety will be huge again. Just in Helsinki over 300 pop up restaurants will participate. Before you go on Sunday you should really check the website. There you find all the places that are going to be open. Try to make a plan where you want to go and what you want to try. Also download their app to your smartphone to have an overview over all the places also on the go. You should have some cash with you though. Since this is organized by private people you won’t be able to pay by card.

Restaurant Day is always a great experience. You get to try new food and get to meet a lot of new interesting people. Go there!

Pop-Up Café at Espan Lava

Espan Lava Pavilion on Southern Esplanadi is used as a stage for music and theater or hosts art installations during summer. The rest of the year it is normally closed. But a few days ago Café Köket opened its doors there. The pop-up café will be there till April 10^th. 

 

It is a really nice and bright location. You should check it out. They have delicious cakes and a nice variety of coffee and tea. (Try the licorice tea and the sitruuna-marenkipiirakka!)

After April 10^th Café Köket will move to its normal location a few meters down the street to a tent next to Kauppatori.

UPDATE: Café Köket is now back at it's ususal location on Esplanadi a few meters down from Espan Lava.