Eating, drinking and partying
Eating, drinking and partying
Helsinki offers a wide variety of bars and restaurants. Finns are rather exotic in their tastes so the city is full of Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Nepalese, Chinese and other eateries, or establishments mixing them all together. Finding Finnish food can be trickier, or certainly more expensive. Savotta in front of the cathedral is one of the best. Lappi offers food from Lapland, and if you like Kaurismäki movies and Leningrad Cowboys music a visit to Zetor is a must. Kahvila Suomi is a small lunch bar that offers good simple food. If it is filled with Japanese tourists, dont be surprised. A Japanese film Ruokala Lokki was filmed there in 2005.
There are many good cafes that also serve small lunch, sandwiches and cakes to every taste in town. Worth mentioning are Café Esplanad in Pohjoisesplanadi try their huge korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) and Strindberg almost nextdoor. Banana-chocolate cake in Café Engel in front of the cathedral is a must.
The Kampinkeskus shopping centers in front of Lasipalatsi fan center offer several cafes and restaurants. Café Rouge serves huge salads and Don Corleone authentic Italian food. Scanburger is a Finnish hamburger chain and serves the biggest fries in town. Waynes Coffee in the far end of the street level floor has a wide selection of coffees and teas besides muffins, cakes and sandwiches and a lot more.
If Italoamerican cuisine is your thing go to La Famiglia next to Stockmann's, where there is also has a wide selection of wines. The best Mexican restaurant is Santa Fé in Aleksanterinkatu. Eatz offers a wide mix of various styles of food including Finnish and is a perfect place for a group where everyone wants to eat something different so no one has to compromise.
For nightlife, besides Euroclub in Vanha worth mentioning are Con Hombres and Hercules. Both are gay but very heterofriendly and play Eurovision music all year, not only in May! DTM has also a café-bar during the day and at night turns into a disco. Click here for more information and links.
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