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!

Bookfair weekend

Books, books, books. This year's Helsinki Bookfair takes place this weekend. Find out about the lastest trends and best sellers, talk to publishers and authors and find a few new additions to your book selection at home. 

This year's guest of honor is Italy. To see the whole program of today and tomorrow check out the program online.

And it's not just all about books. With the same ticket (16 €) you also have access to the Music Fair as well as the Wine, Food and Good Living Fair that are held at Messukeskus at the same time.

An Alko with flair

In Finland you unfortunately won't find those nice small wine shops you might know from other countries since wine always has to be sold in the state owned Alkos.

But the closest you can get to one of those beautiful intimate shops would probably be the small Alko at Vanha Kauppahalli at the harbour. The wooden shops inside the market hall has some of the athmosphere of what you might be looking for. Obviously due to the size the selection here is also quite limited. It is anyway worth a visit. 

Check it out!

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!

Wine at the supermarket

In Finland wine can't be bough at the supermarket but just at the state owned Alko shops, right?

Well, not exactly. At bigger supermarkets you will indeed also find some wine on the shelves next to the beer and cider. Those are no normal wines though but light wines. Since they have less than five percent of alcohol they can be sold at supermarkets as well.

So if you see them maybe give them a try. But be warned, they taste not like real wine and are also not much cheaper. An additional visit to Alko might make sense.

Perfect sushi in Punavuori

You might have read my review of Sushibar + Wine calling it THE place you should go for sushi in Helsinki. Well, that is not entirely true. You can also get the same great sushi at Sushibar in Punavuori by the same owners.

Located in Uudenmaankatu this small sushi place offers the same quality and the same wonderful wines you also find at Kampintori. All together there are now four of their places in Helsinki. For directions check their website.

Tip: Try the EDAMME soy bean next time as a starter while you wait for your sushi. They are delicious!

Vin-Vin for a good glass of wine

What better way could there be to start into the weekend than with a glass of good wine? And if you happen to be in the center of Helsinki the Vin-Vin wine bar is the perfect choice for that occasion.

The small bar in the corner of Kalevankatu and Yrjönkatu is well known for its excellent wine selection. At Vin-Vin you will most of all find organic wines from small producers. For that reason you can be sure to find get some wines here you most probably won’t find at Alko.

Ask the bar tender for a recommendation. There will surely be something to suit your taste. Vin-Vin of course also has other drinks than wine but for anything else. Wine is their specialty though and for anything else you will probably find something more suitable elsewhere in town.

Especially if you consider coming here during the weekend try to be early. The place doesn’t have too many seats and it get’s crowded here pretty fast. I managed to get in only after the fourth try.

Royal Bubbles Wednesday

Treat yourself with a bubbly glass of sparkling wine after a hard day of work today. Today is the perfect day for it. From now on every Wednesday is Royal Bubbles day at all HOK-Elanto (S-Group) restaurants, pubs and bars. From 16:00 till 18:00 you get 12cl of sparkling wine for just 1.50 €.

All HOK Elanto places are listed on their website. You can also easily spot them as the places offering discounts with the green S-Card.

Enjoy a sparkling afternoon!

Not too late to get a taste

In case you haven’t been to Taste of Helsinki yet there are still three sessions this weekend (Saturday at 11:00 and 17:00, Sunday at 11:00). Tickets are still available online or at the entrance.

Unfortunately it is basically impossible to try everything. Here are some recommendations:

Starters:

GREEN SHELL MUSSELS & YUZU yuzu-lemon dressing, seaweed caviar (Gaijin)

”EARTHQUAKE” – Organic egg 64,7°C with mushroom toffee (Luomu)

Main Dishes:

PORK BELLY YAKINIKU grilled pork belly marinated with sweet soy, Japanese watercress (Gaijin)

NECK OF WILD BOAR with false morel pie and sauce of raspberry leaves (Juuri)

Desserts:

ROASTED WHITE CHOCOLATE, strawberries with lemon verbena sherbet (Smör)

SALT-CARAMEL CAKE with pine fudge and rhubarb (Juuri)

Taste of Helsinki

Imagine picking your own dream menu with dishes from the best restaurants in Helsinki. That is exactly what Taste of Helsinki is about. It is the largest gourmet and wine festival in Finland and takes place from June 13 till 16.

Top restaurants like Demo, Gajin, Juuri and many more offer each three signature dishes. It’s up to you to combine them the way you like.

You can book a certain session (lunch or dinner) for one of the days. With special coupons (markka) you can then buy the different dishes. Tickets for the event are for sale online or at the gate. Better get your ticket in advance though.

Have a sparkling weekend

The week is over. Finally! Time to reward yourself for all the hard work. And what better way is there to start the weekend than to go for after-work drinks? And what about starting off with some nice sparkling wine in a classy new bar? 

In that case Shampers at Forum might be the place for you. This new bar has some good after-work offers. Have a glass of dry Cava for just 4 €. And if you are not that much into sparkles maybe a normal wine (white or red) for just 3 € might do. Shampers’ after-work hours are Mondays through Fridays from 16:00 till 21:00.

Have a nice weekend!

Wine in the treetop

Are you looking for a good wine bar in Helsinki? Then come to Latva (Treetop). The small bar in Punavuori offers a big selection of excellent wines from all over the world. Don’t just ask for a glass of wine at the bar but take your time to browse through the long list of delicious reds, whites and rosés. If you still can’t decide let the staff help you. Just let them know what you normally drink or what you are looking for and they will recommend you something.

Latva is not just a place for wine though. They also have tasty local beer on tap. Except for Sandels all their beers come from microbreweries in Finland. Try for example the New Zealand Amber Lager or the light Vehnä wheat beer.

Enjoy your evening!