Eating and Drinking

For Smokers

There is a smoking ban in all of Helsinki’s restaurants and bars. If you want to smoke, you have to do it outside or in purpose-built smoking rooms inside restaurants (where you are not allowed to eat or drink). This is less of a problem for smokers during the summer, when most restaurants open terraces on the street where smoking is allowed.

Hima & Sali

Kaapelitehdas houses a very nice Bar/Café and Restaurant Hima & Sali, right next to entry to Fan lounge and SF program rooms. Bar/Café sells alcohol, coffee, snacks, sandwiches, etc. The restaurant offers lunch on weekdays and soups and salads on weekends. Hima&Sali offers free Wlan for its customers.

Restaurants in Ruoholahti

Basilica (Kellosaarenranta 2) Italian-influenced kitchen with Indian Buffet Lunch
Tang Dynasty Chinese and Thai restaurant at Ruoholahti Mall
China Food Garden (Itämerenkatu 12). Local Chinese
Meritähti (Itämerenkatu 14) Local bar/restaurant offering burgers, pizzas, steaks etc.
Thaiger (Porkkalankatu 13) Thai Kitchen
Viola Italian restaurant at the Radisson SAS Seaside.

Some restaurants near by

Here are some random favourites reasonably near Ruoholahti.

Koha (Lauttasaarentie 1) Nepalese restaurant just over the bridge in Lauttasaari.
Ani (Telakkakatu 2) Oldest Turkish restaurant in Helsinki, good buffet.
Antiokia Atabar (Eerikinkatu 44) Another popular Turkish restaurant.

Drinking in Ruoholahti

If it is liquid nourishment you are after in addition to Hima&Sali and Meritähti Ruoholahti has a decent pub Amsterdam, which has a good selection of beers on tap and a lovely terrace right next door to the Ruoholahti canal.

Fast Food in Ruoholahti

Hesburger (Porkkalankatu 9-11), Small drive-in Hamburger place with few chairs and tables.
McDonald's (Itämerenkatu 14)
Subway The multinational sandwich place can be found at the Ruoholahti mall
Café Picnic (Itämerenkatu 11-13). A Chain café/restaurant offering salads, warm sandwiches, spuds, soups etc.
Kotipizza (Itämerenkatu 2) Takeaway Pizza chain
Spizy & co In the Shopping Centre, an Italian style fast-food restaurant: pastas, salads, wraps.
Pizzataxi (Itämerenkatu 12) Takeaway pizza chain.

Finnish Restaurants

Zetor (Kaivopiha) offers traditional Finnish treats in a unique surroundings. Designed by rock star turned into restaurant designer, it boasts among other things real Zetor tractor in its décor.

Lappi (Annankatu 22) As the name should tell you, this high-end restaurant offers food from the north: reindeer, salmon etc.

Salve (Hietalahdenranta 11) This more than a hundred years old restaurant serves the best baltic herring in town.

Bars and Pubs

St. Urho’s Pub (Museokatu 10) is where Helsinki Fandom meets every other Thursday. Just behind the National Museum, the pub has an impressive range of beers and decent amount of ciders on offer. The kitchen offers pizzas, snacks, salads and few other basic dishes. Urho shares kitchen with Manala restaurant just next door where wider variety of dishes are available.

Bruuveri is another place where you can with reasonable certainty find Fandom in Helsinki. It is a microbrewery/pub in Kamppi shopping centre. The beers are good, the place is big, and the bus, tram and underground stops are right next to it.

Kaisla. Board-gamers, students, and yes, fandom, also hangs out in Kaisla, a large pub with decent list of beers and a large and intriguingly labyrinthine rooms.

Pikkulintu. For a real adventure, we suggest a visit to Pikkulintu. A pub in the 1970s shopping mall of the less than upmarket suburb of Puotila. Pikkulintu has mind boggling selection of malt whiskies on offer (over 300) and the staff is very knowledgeable. You see the suburbia of Helsinki and get to drink really good whisky at the same time. The Mall also boasts one of the better Kebab-restaurants in Helsinki.

For more choices click through to Eat.fi listings of Helsinki Restaurants.

Here is a link to a Google map marking the locations of restaurants mentioned on this page.