11 editor picks in Helsinki.
11 nordic places in Helsinki we have eaten in, sorted by editor score. All cuisines in Helsinki | Nordic across every city.
Nordic dining in Helsinki spans grand historic dining rooms and contemporary fine-dining kitchens. Savoy on Eteläesplanadi, with its Alvar Aalto interior, and Elite in Töölö carry the classic tradition, while harbourside Nokka and Wellamo on Katajanokka pair the format with sea views. At the experimental end, zero-waste Nolla and Boreal in Punavuori push the New Nordic idea further.
Nokka, in a Katajanokka harbour warehouse, won a Michelin Green Star in 2024 for sustainable Finnish cooking around an open kitchen and named producers.
OrderGame in autumn, lake fish in summer; the kitchen names its farms and foragers.
TipA converted red-brick warehouse on the Katajanokka canal. The Green Star reflects long relationships with small Finnish producers.
Elite in Töölö has been the artists' restaurant since 1932, its walls hung with paintings, serving Finnish classics like vorschmack and fried Baltic herring.
OrderVorschmack, the minced-meat hash, or the platter of fried Baltic herring with mash.
TipThe terrace and the artist-portrait walls are the draw as much as the food. A living room for Helsinki's cultural set since 1932.
Wellamo has anchored a quiet Katajanokka corner since 1975, with a chef-led team cooking seasonal Nordic plates from local producers in an unhurried room.
OrderThe seasonal set of plates; the kitchen leans on small Finnish producers through the year.
TipOne of the older neighbourhood rooms in the city, on a residential Katajanokka street. Calm, local and reservation-friendly.
Savoy on the eighth floor of the Esplanadi has served Finnish-French cooking since 1937 in an Aalto interior; vorschmack is the house signature.
OrderVorschmack, the minced beef and herring hash that Marshal Mannerheim made a Savoy fixture.
TipThe 1937 Aalto-designed room and roof terrace look over Esplanade Park. It sits in the Michelin Guide, and lunch is the affordable entry.
Jason opened in 2024 as Jari Vesivalo's first solo room after years leading the starred Olo, folding Asian flavours into Nordic produce on Yrjönkatu.
OrderThe signature Jason menu, or the Jason Plant Based menu for the vegetarian version.
TipVesivalo ran the kitchen at Olo for years before going solo here. Two menus only: the Jason and its plant-based twin.
Boreal in the design district serves a roughly ten-course New Nordic tasting menu from chef Pasha Demin, who cooked at Noma and Azurmendi before opening here.
OrderThe full tasting menu; the kitchen rebuilds it around what is best each week.
TipA 40-seat room on Uudenmaankatu in Punavuori. Demin's Noma and Azurmendi training shows in the plating and the foraged notes.
Nolla on Fredrikinkatu was one of the world's first zero-waste restaurants and now carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand, cooking local seasonal plates.
OrderWhatever the daily menu lands on; the kitchen cooks to what arrives package-free from producers.
TipThe name means zero in Finnish. Producers deliver in reusable crates and the in-house composter closes the loop.
Aoi is a small Ullanlinna room in the Michelin Guide, run by a trio cooking a short four-course menu where global ideas meet Nordic produce like pike perch.
OrderThe four-course menu; spring brings white asparagus, summer the pike perch with fennel and apple.
TipA personal, low-key dining room on quiet Neitsytpolku. The menu is short and rewritten often, so trust the kitchen.
Kuurna is a small, family-run kruununhaka bistro whose three-week menu and fair prices keep locals coming, on a quiet street tourists rarely reach.
TipThe menu rolls over every three weeks, so regulars never repeat a dinner. Book; the room is tiny and well-loved.
Soppakeittiö in the Old Market Hall serves a big bowl of creamy salmon soup with all the rye bread you can eat for around 11 euros, great Finnish value.
OrderSalmon soup with unlimited bread
TipThe salmon soup with unlimited bread is the deal. Come at lunch; the market hall closes by early evening.
The upstairs counters at Hakaniemi Market Hall serve cheap daily lunches, from Finnish home cooking to world-food plates, value eating inside a market hall.
OrderMarket-hall daily lunch
TipHead upstairs for the lunch counters rather than the produce floor. Weekday lunch is the cheapest, busiest window.
Water activity · 3 hours
Explore the winter landscape of the archipelago on this tour from Helsinki. Stop on an island, experience a survival suit swim between ice rafts, and enjoy a campfire lunch.
Guided tour · 4 hours
Experience the snowy woods and the frozen Gulf of Finland on a snowmobile tour from Helsinki. Enjoy a delicious lunch cooked over an open fire on an island in the Gulf...
8 hours
Discover Finnish nature on a guided tour of a national forest park. Learn to identify local plants and berries, enjoy a Nordic craft workshop, and savor a Finnish univ...
