Finnish-French€€€€Around 95 euroskeskustaBook 2 weeks ahead
Savoy on the eighth floor of the Esplanadi has served Finnish-French cooking since 1937 in an Aalto interior; vorschmack is the house signature.
Order: Vorschmack, the minced beef and herring hash that Marshal Mannerheim made a Savoy fixture.
Tip: The 1937 Aalto-designed room and roof terrace look over Esplanade Park. It sits in the Michelin Guide, and lunch is the affordable entry.
Nordic-AsianChef Jari Vesivalo€€€€Around 120 euroskeskustaBook 2 to 3 weeks ahead
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.
Order: The signature Jason menu, or the Jason Plant Based menu for the vegetarian version.
Tip: Vesivalo ran the kitchen at Olo for years before going solo here. Two menus only: the Jason and its plant-based twin.
New NordicChef Pasha Demin€€€€Around 110 eurospunavuoriBook 2 weeks ahead
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.
Order: The full tasting menu; the kitchen rebuilds it around what is best each week.
Tip: A 40-seat room on Uudenmaankatu in Punavuori. Demin's Noma and Azurmendi training shows in the plating and the foraged notes.
Sustainable Nordic€€€Around 79 eurospunavuoriBook 1 to 2 weeks ahead
Nolla on Fredrikinkatu was one of the world's first zero-waste restaurants and now carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand, cooking local seasonal plates.
Order: Whatever the daily menu lands on; the kitchen cooks to what arrives package-free from producers.
Tip: The name means zero in Finnish. Producers deliver in reusable crates and the in-house composter closes the loop.
Contemporary Nordic€€€Around 75 eurosullanlinnaBook 1 to 2 weeks ahead
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.
Order: The four-course menu; spring brings white asparagus, summer the pike perch with fennel and apple.
Tip: A personal, low-key dining room on quiet Neitsytpolku. The menu is short and rewritten often, so trust the kitchen.
Modern FinnishChef Eero Vottonen€€€€Around 195 euroskeskustaBook 3 to 4 weeks ahead
Palace holds Finland's only two Michelin stars, on the tenth floor of a 1952 Olympics building, where Eero Vottonen cooks a Finnish tasting menu.
Order: The full tasting menu; Vottonen leans hard on Finnish lake fish and game in season.
Tip: The dining room is on the top floor with views over the harbour and Market Square. Book three to four weeks ahead for weekend tables.