Helsinki's coolest sauna

After months of construction a new pearl on the Helsinki coast has opened a couple of weeks ago. Löyly, the new sauna and terrace in Hernesaari is worth a visit. Its builders spared no expense to make the place as nice as possible.

The philosophy behind Löyly is to have a sauna next to the sea that is open for everyone. For that reason the owners also decided against a VIP opening party with selected guests but just opened for public right away.

Apart from the sauna Löyly is also home to a beautiful new restaurant and bar overlooking the Baltic Sea. During the summer months visitors can take advantage of the spacious terrace and enjoy food and drinks in the sunshine. During the winter months a cozy fireplace in the middle of the restaurant and the sauna heat up the guests.

Sushi and more for 10 €

Until this week's Thursday you can still enjoy dishes at various restaurants in town for only 10 €. SYÖ! is on again.

Have some burgers, Nepalese or Mexican food, pizza or some fresh sushi. New on the SYÖ! list is Kita, a Japanese restaurant on Eteläesplanadi. Here you get a nice delicious selection of different sushi or alternatively some beef noodles as a SYÖ! offer.

The list of all participating restaurants can be found on the City website. Enjoy!

Burger with a view

The location of Kiila is probably one of the best in town. Through the big glass windows you have an excellent view over the busy square at Mannerheimintie/Aleksanterintie. Watch people passing by while enjoying your breakfast, dinner, lunch or just a glass of wine or beer.

If you are just up for small meal then check out Kiila's burger menu. Every day starting from 15.00 you get good burgers for just 10 € like e.g. the pulled pork, the vegie-halloumi or the salmon burger.

Give it a try and enjoy!

Cowboy Lunch

Searching for a new lunch experience? Then head to Shanghai Cowboy for a change. The offer one of the probably best lunches you can find in Helsinki.

At the cozy restaurant below König in the city center you get everything you could wish for for an amazing lunch. As a starter five delicious and fresh salads are waiting for you. The main dishes are changing daily and introduce you into the Mexican fusion kitchen Shanghai Cowboy is famous for. But don't take too much. Otherwise you might miss out on the outstanding dessert.

The Cowboy lunch is 10,10 € and is served on weekdays from 11 to 15.00. Give it a try!

From Peru to Asia

Want to try another excellent restaurant in Helsinki? It's not that easy to make a choice. But why not try Pastor this time?

The new owners hava turned the former home of Cuba on Erottajankatu into a beautiful restaurant and bar. The menu here is a mix of different word. The food is based on the Peruvian kitchen but also has influences from East Asia and Spain. All this together forms an excellent combination for a great meal.

If you want to get the best experience you should go for one of their set menus that consist of four, six or seven dishes. But be aware that in contrast to other fine dining restaurants the portions here are quite big and seven dishes might be quite a challenge to finish.

The food is excellent and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Pastor is definitely worth a visit. Give it a try. And to be on the save side better make a reservation before.

Enjoy!

Eat with the firefighters

Are you searching for a real lunch gem? Then check out Pompier. It is well hidden in a backyard on Albertinkatu and extremely popular amongst locals.

The owners took over a 150 year old former firefighter club house and turned it into now one of the most original lunch restaurants in Helsinki. Grab some good home made Finnish food together with some delicious salads from the big buffet and sit down at one of the old wooden tables in the big canteen like room.

Pompier is definately wort the visit. And the food is great. The restaurant is open only on weekdays from 11 until 14:00. Be prepared to queue for a few minutes before getting in.

45 restaurants for 10 €

How about going out for dinner this weekend? It would be the perfect timing since today Syö Helsinki starts again. For the next two weeks 45 restaurants throughout the city offer selected main dishes for just 10 €. 

This is always a great way to get to know some new restaurants you haven't visited so far. All offers can be found on the Syö Helsinki website.

Enjoy and have a great start into the weekend.

Tasty Saturday

Not just the Street Food Carnival takes place in Helsinki today. It's also Restaurant Day again. For the last time this year you can again visit hundreds of pop-up restaurants, cafés and bars around the city and whole Finland.

So don't worry about cooking today. The streets are literally full of delicious food on this Saturday. Find your favorite pop-up restaurants on the offial Restaurant Day website.

Enjoy!

Shanghai Cowboy is back

Today the Shanghai Cowboy finally opens its doors again. With its modern Mexican-Asian fusion kitchen it is one of the best restaurant in town.

At the new location in Mikonkatu 4 in the basement of Könog Shanghai Cowboy also has a bar and a club that are open already since last week. Today also the famous kitchen opens again.

Drop by for their amazing food and stay to dance and party! Have a great weekend!

The Story of Vanha Kauppahalli

With the rennovated Vanha Kauppahalli a new gem came to Helsinki. Ravintola Story is located right in the middle of the old market hall and is a wonderful place for a break on your grocery shopping tour.

Story offers delicious smaller and bigger treats. You can have a filling handmade burger or some cocos curry clams accompanied by a glass of wine of their wide selection from small wineries from around the world. Or just go for some sweet or salty freshly baked pastry together with a cup of coffee.

All the food is for take away as well as to have there. But take the time and suck in the athmosphere of the beautiful old market hall while enjoying your food. Watch the people pass by or look out onto the harbor through the big windows.

Check it out and enjoy!

Food Helsinki? HEL YEAH!

Helsinki is probably one of the most exciting food cities in the world. With its wide variety of outstanding restaurants it provides something for every taste and every budget. Helsinki can easily compete even with cities like Paris and New York.

The guys from HEL YEAH! have now made it easier to find all those great restaurants, cafés, bakeries, markets and street food places with their brochure Food Helsinki? HEL YEAH! They have devided the city into five districts, maped all the places you should check out and put them in price cathegories.

Check out this excellent guide and start exploring the amazing food szene of the Finnish capital.

Food, food, food for 10 €

Yesterday Syö Helsinki started again. For the next two weeks 35 restaurants around Helsinki and Turku offer selected dishes for just 10 €.

Among the participating restaurants are the Hard Rock Cafe, Woolshed, Sumo, Mille Mozzarelle, Santa Fe, Basecamp and many many more.

Syö Helsinki continues till October 16. For more information on the offers and all participating restaurants take a look at the City Syö website.

Enjoy!

Tea time at Helsinki's best hotel

Why should going out always be just about lunch and dinner? How about having a really good tea time instead? And how about having at the best hotel in the city?

Hotel Kämp offers the Afternoon Tea every day in their Brasserie. And it is not just about tea. Here you can lay back and truely endulge. Choose from the selection of outstanding teas and enjoy their fine sweet and salty snacks. The Afternoon Tea includes everything you could hope for for a terrific afternoon after a hecktic work day. And all in the classy athmosphere of the Kämp Hotel.

The Afternoon Tea is served served Monday to Saturday 14.00-18.00 and Sunday 15.00-18.00. The price is 37 € per person. Make sure to reserve in advance.

Art goes Kapakka

The art festival Art goes Kapakka already started last week but there is still a lot of great program to come during the upcoming couple of days. Art goes Kapakka is all about combining art and food and is celebrated in 34 restaurants throughout the city. Music, theatre, dance, choirs, food menues, art exhibitions, science panels and fashion shows are awaiting you.

Till August 23 there something is happening every day. Check out the program and find your favorites.

Have a great week!

Birgitta - summer terrace by the sea

The great weather doesn't seem to stop. If you don't have any lunch or after work plans you should head to Hernesaari and visit the new cafe and restaurant Birgitta.

Located right next to the sand beach Birgitta is the perfect summer hangout. Sit down on the summer terrace, smell the salty sea air and watch the boats entering and leaving the harbor.

But it's not only the location that makes Birgitta a great place to be on a warm day. Their offering is as well. To keep a cool head get an iced latte, a cold lonkero or cider or one of their delicious homemade fruit juices. Getting hungry? Go either for some tasty pastry or check out what their food from the grill. A nice burger with potato wedges might fit well with your cold drinks.

Birgitta is open daily from 9:00 till 22:00. Between 11:00 and 14:30 they also serve lunch. Check it out and enjoy the wonderful summer day!

Lonna, the new island

This summer Helsinki opened a new island to the public. Lonna might be small but is a wonderful place to go on a sunny day. The former military island is still undergoing some mayor rennovation but most buildings and the rocks surounding the island.

To get to Lonna you need to take a boat from Kauppatori. The JT Line brings you there. You get a ticket from their small blue ticket office. You might be surprised that Lonna is not mentioned on any of the signs and timetable but their ferry going to Suomenlinna (not the from HSL) makes a stop at Lonna as well. Return tickets are 7 €.

On the island you can visit both the new cafe and restaurant that are residing in one of the old storrage buildings now. In the big yard you can also sit outside if you like. On the summer weekends they have quite often have parties in the yard with DJs and delicious bbq snacks.

But you don't have to visit them to enjoy Lonna. Head to the rocks facing Helsinki. This is just the perfect picnic place and it has an amazing view towards the city. Stay till the evening to see the sun slowly go down over the city.

Don't miss it!

Lunch at Bronda

Are you up for something a bit out of the ordinary for today's lunch? Then an excellent choice would be Bronda, the new restaurant of Tomi Björk (Farang, Gaijin, Bulevard Social).

The modern European restaurant on Esplanadi is already design wise worth the visit. Bronda has a timeless yet welcoming and cozy interior and a very surprising architecture. In difference to the neighboring Kasarmikatu that ascends towards Kasarmitori the restaurants stays on an even level which gives it a unique look. But Bronda is of course mainly about the food and not the look.

And that is, as expected from BW restaurants, exquisite. For lunch you can go with a single main dish (around 18 to 20€) or chose a two (25€) or three (29€) course menu. You can choose from three starters, three mains and two deserts. The lunch offers are changing constantly. They give a good first impression of what Bronda has to offer also for later visits for dinner.

As Bulevard Social also Bronda is oriented mainly towards the Southern European kitchen. Bronda impressed with fresh and pure ingredients and a very skilled way of both preparing and presenting the dishes.

The lunch menu is highly recommendable and especially the desserts are amazing. But come hungry. The portions are surprisingly big and size wise one main dish would probably be enough.

All together Bronda offers an outstanding quality. It lacks the surprise aspect of Farang and Gaijin though. For a wonderful lunch or dinner experience it is definitely a save bet though.

By the way you can also just come to Bronda for drinks. A big part in the front of the restaurant is reserved for the bar.

Rolls for lunch

Any plans for lunch yet? What about some filled rice paper rolls? The perfect place for that is Rulla. They have a wide selection of rolls with different exciting fillings. Pick a meal of three, four or five rolls accompanied with one of two delicious daily salads. And don't forget the dip for your rolls. Everything here is fresh. And you can taste that. The food is great, really delicious and makes you full without feeling stuffed afterwards. 

The small restaurant in Yrjönkatu is sharing its premises with Nudge. That means that you can not only have a really nice lunch in a cozy atmosphere. You can also find sustainable products from small local shops that sell cosmetics, children's clothing and Finnish design.

Dinner with a Michelin Star

Ravintola Ask is without a doubt one of the best restaurants in Helsinki. And that is not just according to my humble opinion. The Michelin jury agreed and awarded the small restaurant in Kruunuhaka a Michelin star.

Ask is run by the couple Filip and Linda who together with their staff are doing an amazing job of making your evening an unforgettable experience. 

Ask offers a list of eight outstanding dishes and gives you the opportunity to choose four out of them or go for the whole menu. If you have the time (about three to four hours) go for the full experience. You can also choose a wine menu in combination with the food. Single wines are a good choice as well. But in any case ask for their recommendation. All their wines are carefully selected and have their own story.

When it comes to the food be prepared to be amazed. The dinner starts of with two small greetings from the kitchen to give you a first hint of what is still awaiting you. 

At Ask they don't need many words to explain their dishes. The menu doesn't reveal to much. The food here speaks for itself.

All their ingredients that come from farmers and producers are organic and biodynamic.

If you want to experience Ask for yourself don't forget to book a table in advance. The restaurant is quite small. And if you are planning on having all eight courses don't be there too late. It takes a while.

Enjoy and have a wonderful time at Ask!

Last chance for the 10 € deals

City's SYÖ viikot are going on in Helsinki again. Till Thursday (April 10) you can still get main dishes all over the city for just 10 Euros. 31 restaurant in Helsinki are participating. Check out their special offers and enjoy some nice food at a reasonable price.

You can find the whole list of restaurants and offers from the official website.