My Favorite Restaurants in Helsinki

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What I Miss about Los Angeles

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Is Santa from Finland?

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Helsinki

My Favorite Restaurants in Helsinki

by Audrey
written by Audrey

This quarantine life has hit so many businesses in what seems like a blink of the eye. Restaurants have been hit especially hard, which is why I’m doing what I can to support local restaurants and businesses. It has actually been beautiful to see communities come together and support each other. No matter how small you think your part is, every little act of kindness make a difference. I’m truly hopeful that the entire world will come out of this as more social and compassionate human beings. 💖

For now, I thought I’d reminisce about my favorite food spots in Helsinki until we can meet again.

Lunch Culture 🍽

Before I dive into my favorite lunch spots in Helsinki, I thought I’d share a bit about the differences in lunch culture between here and LA.

  • People actually go to lunch – The lunch culture in Helsinki is big. I never see people skip lunch and in fact, most people take their full lunch break, even if they decide to bring their own lunch to work. Back in LA, I would often skip lunch, or eat my lunch at my desk while I was working.
  • Meet up friends for lunch – Since Helsinki is pretty small, if you work anywhere near the city center, then it’s doesn’t take long to meet up people for lunch. This makes it really easy to stay connected with friends or have business/networking lunch meetings. There have been weeks where I had lunch with a different person each day.
  • Lunch card – Many businesses offer a lunch card benefit, which further encourages people to go out for lunch, especially with other colleagues. Your company basically pays 25% of your lunch up to €10.70. So basically free moneyyyy, why wouldn’t I take advantage?
  • Buffets galore – Buffets and salad bars are really common during lunch. Tons of restaurants either have a limited lunch menu with an accompanying salad bar or a full on buffet. They’re usually around that €10.70 lunch card price point. This has been a tough thing for me to get used to, because I have such a hard time with portion control. 🤦🏽‍♀️I often joke that I’m a 300 lbs (90 kg) man living in a 115lbs (52 kg) woman.
  • People don’t share food – When I started going to lunch with colleagues, I would ask if anyone wanted to share or split different dishes, and I got some weird looks. It’s not common for people to share food here. In Asian cuisine, we often eat family style, where we order several dishes and everyone shares. That’s how I grew up eating. Even in LA with my non-asian colleagues or friends, we often ordered different things and shared so that we could try several dishes. I’m just a lover of food, and I enjoy being able to try different things. Why order two of the same dish, when you can order two different ones?

Best Lunch Restaurants in Helsinki 🌮

Ok now that you how we do lunch in Helsinki, here’s where to go…

  • Vibami – Favorite Vietnamese spot. My go to dish is the Bun Thit Nuong.
  • Lie Mie – Vietnamese & Korean fusion. Shanghai Tacos are bomb diggity. Also, their lunch salad bar is 🔥.
  • Taqueria Lopez y Lopez – Favorite Mexican spot. Al pastor tacos. Enough said.
  • Xiao Mei Lin – Juicy soup dumplings and pan fried dumplings.
  • Red Koi Thai – Where I get my Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and Panang Curry on.
  • Fat Ramen – Best ramen in Helsinki. This is in the Hietalahti Market Hall, which by the way you can’t go wrong at any of the restaurants in here. I’ve tried them all, and they all get my stamp of approval.
  • Bali Brunch – Hip and delicious Indonesian spot. Rendang plate is my jam.
  • Hoku – Hawaiian Japanese fusion restaurant. Everything is delicious, especially the chicken katsu and salmon teriyaki.
  • Social Burger – My favorite burger joint in Helsinki.
  • Kabuki – The closest I can get to good sushi and Japanese food.
  • Sandro – Middle Eastern & African cuisine. This is one of the lunch buffet spots, but I’m into it. There’s always such a colorful spread with lots of great healthy options.
  • Cargo – Really good vegetarian option. Their menu changes daily. I don’t know what they put in this yellow spread they have for their bread, but I just want to drink it.
  • Sandro
  • Lie Mie
  • Vibami
  • Bali Brunch
  • Taqueria Lopez y Lopez
  • Fat Ramen

Best Dinner Restaurants in Helsinki 🍝

  • Farang – Asian fusion restaurant. A dinner spot to splurge and do the wine pairings. Everything was fantastic.
  • The Bull & The Firm – Tapas style dishes that change seasonally and according to local ingredients available. They also have really good cocktails and natural wines.
  • Pur Pur – My first time trying Georgian food, and it didn’t disappoint. Khachapuri, Pelmeni, beef shashlik, and some Georgian red wine, yes please!
  • Shelter – I’ve been here twice now, and their food is quality, but really I’d just go there for their Finnish malt bread. Seriously, the best bread I’ve ever had, hands down! 🤩
  • Juuri – So far my favorite Finnish restaurant.
  • Via Tribunali – THE spot for Neapolitan pizza.
  • Korea House – The closest I can get to some Korean BBQ.
  • The Bull & The Firm
  • That malt bread at Shelter
  • Korea House
  • Pur Pur
  • Farang

Filipino Restaurants in Helsinki 🇵🇭

I never would have guessed that Helsinki would have a Filipino food scene, let alone five Filipino restaurants! I’ve tried almost all of them now, and even though most of them are more fusion or inspired, they’re all actually masarap (delicious)!

  • Platito – This is a Spanish Filipino tapas restaurant. I recommend getting the Filipinas and España platters so you can try the best of both cuisines.
  • Sentro – I was finally able to find my favorite Filipino dish here, sisig! Ugh, so good.
  • Kamalig – The most authentic of all the Filipino restaurants I’ve tried. They’ve got the most traditional dishes like adobo and sinigang. Just like home.
  • Pobre – If you’ve never tried Filipino food, this is the perfect place to try it out. Filipino inspired dishes that are approachable, and more importantly delicious!
  • Paisano – From the same people who started Pobre. It’s Filipino food with a twist and tapas style so you can try a variety. I also have to mention that the cocktails are superb!
  • Kainan – Ok so this is the one I haven’t tried yet. Also, it’s in Espoo not Helsinki. When I’ve asked other Filipinos here what they’re favorite Filipino restaurant is, I’ve been told Kainan is the place to go. I definitely need to make my way out here.
  • Platito
  • Sentro

Best Desserts in Helsinki 🍦

To be honest I haven’t explored the dessert scene in Helsinki that much yet, but here are a few must try places that I have ran across. I do have to mention that my favorite dessert is ice cream, and for some reason the artisan ice cream scene hasn’t landed here yet. That’s surprising because Finland is 4th in the world for countries that eat the most ice cream per capita. I haven’t ran into any good ice cream shops, just ice cream stands with basic ice cream flavors. There are a few specialty brands that you can find at the grocery stores, but no freshly made ice cream with intricate flavors like Salt & Straw and Ginger’s Ice Cream in LA.

  • Suklaakeisari – The best raw chocolate in all of Finland! Guilt-free and freaking delicious chocolate. They’re sold in several cafes around town, but you can order them directly online.
  • Kanniston Leipomo – Great coffee, and even better pastries! They also bake their own bread. You’ve got to try some traditional Finnish pulla.
  • Petiscaria – This is a Portuguese restaurant in the Hietalahti Market Hall, but I go there for their Pastel de Nata. My favorite pastry from Lisbon.
  • Brooklyn Cafe & Bakery – Best cupcakes in town from two sisters from Brooklyn. Red Velvet and Carrot Cake, need I say more?
  • Jätskiauto (Ice Cream Truck) – Yes, you’re reading that right. We have an ice cream truck that comes a couple times a month around our neighborhood, and they have these Toffeevene bars which are toffee flavored ice cream with a toffee sauce in a waffle boat. Bomb dot com.

Favorite Local Restaurants in Jätkäsaari 🏡

I live in the Jätkäsaari area of Helsinki, which is a pretty new area. There’s tons of construction going on, as it’s still being built out. Restaurants only started popping up in the last year or so. Since we’re in quarantine, and a lot of the restaurants in this area are quite new, I really want to do my part to help support the local restaurants and businesses. Since being in quarantine, I’ve been cooking dinners, but grabbing takeout or delivery lunches from the nearby restaurants. I’ve been trying a different one every day and so far these are my favorites.

  • Urbine – I really dig the living room vibe of this restaurant. Really cool decor and cafe-style food is good too. The menu changes daily, and right now they’re doing free deliveries when you order 2 or more items.
  • Malaga Bar – This was a great local bar that sometimes had live music. It’s also dog friendly, which is always a plus. Their pizettas are yummy!
  • Vacco – The Diavolo and Vacco pizzas were 👍🏽
  • Faro – I love going to this place during the summer because it’s along the canal and has a beautiful patio and view. Their portions are huge and the food is fresh. But, the real reason I go here is for Finnish pancakes on Thursdays. There’s a tradition in Finland that every Thursday, you have pea soup and pancakes. I’m not really a fan of the pea soup, but I can eat Finnish style pancakes all day. They’re much denser and sweeter than American pancakes, yum!
  • Vessel Burger – My local burger joint. My favorite is the Gorgeous Goat. They also have a Bistro restaurant next door, but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet.
  • Be My Guest – Cute little Vietnamese restaurant. The bread on their Banh Mi is legit.
  • Ismet – Kebab spot, which is my go-to for hangover or cheat days.

So those are my favorite restaurants in Helsinki that I’ve been able to try so far. There are so many more on my list to try, so look out for an updated list in the future. Until we can get back into the restaurants, let’s all try to support them however we can. Thanks for reading!

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Los Angeles

What I Miss about Los Angeles

by Audrey
written by Audrey

I recently went back home for a couple of weeks during the holidays. I haven’t been home since I moved to Helsinki in April, so I was eager to get back to LA, especially during the darkest part of the year in Finland. Now that I’ve been living in Helsinki for over half a year, I can tell you a few things I miss (and some I don’t) about LA.

The thing I miss the most are my friends and family. Starting about seven years ago, I started an annual girls Christmas party that we call “Holla Bae Soirée”. It started with five of my besties and each year grew to include more of our girl squad. I thought that this would be the first year I wouldn’t be able to organize it or join, but luckily I was able to continue the tradition.

Food

After my family and friends, it’s the food!! In my opinion, the best thing about Los Angeles is the diversity. The melting pot of people can definitely be seen in the food scene. We even have pockets of LA designated for certain cultures like Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, Filipinotown etc. Don’t get me wrong, Helsinki has tons of amazing food, but there’s a few cuisines that I can’t get or the quality just doesn’t come close. Let me break it down for you:

Japanese Food:

Sushi – Yes there are tons of sushi restaurants in Helsinki, but the problem is the lack of variety. The options are usually salmon, some sort of white fish, and tuna if you’re lucky. I haven’t been able to find toro, albacore, yellowtail, sea bream, uni, blue crab, or spicy scallop sushi. So, one of my first stops in my LA food tour was my regular hand roll joint, Kazu Nori.

Other Japanese cuisine – I sometimes find elements of other Japanese cuisines at places like Kabuki in Helsinki, but I still haven’t found any dedicated Shabu Shabu, Japanese BBQ, Japanese curry, or Izakaya spots.

Boba: What coffee is to Finns, Boba is to Asians

Mexican food: $1 Taco Tuesdays, need I say more? Mexican food is pretty expensive in Helsinki, and I can’t seem to find some of my favorite traditional dishes like carne asada/al pastor/carnitas tacos and machaca/chorizo breakfast burritos.

Korean BBQ: So there are Korean restaurants in Helsinki, but no AYCE (All You Can Eat) for $25, where you can choose from a variety of cuts of meats and grill yourself at your own table.

Brunch: Brunch in Helsinki usually means a pricey buffet type spread. The spread usually involves salads, sandwich cold cuts, cheese, porridge, and fruits. Brunch in LA means you have the option to choose breakfast or lunch type foods, which usually involves eggs, waffles, or pancakes.

Weather

Obviously I miss the weather, especially the presence of the sun during winter, but one thing that surprised me is that on some days, Helsinki wasn’t that much colder than LA. The big difference is the drop in temperature between day and night in LA. On some days it reached all the way up to 75°F (23°C) but then at night dropped down to 44°F (7°C). Helsinki reached 44°F (7°C) on some days in December, but the temperature drop between day and night is usually only 3-6°F, compared to the 15-30°F drop in LA.

So while I was in LA I tried to soak up as much sun as possible. I realized what I miss the most about the weather is being able to hang out at the beach and rooftop bars to watch the sunset even in winter. I must have gone to at least four different rooftops around Downtown LA and Venice Beach and even took a boat out with some friends in Newport Beach.

Music

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch some big concerts in Helsinki like Lenny Kravitz and Ariana Grande, along with attending Flow Festival twice, but it’s not very often I get to see artists I’m familiar with. Helsinki isn’t a popular stop on big music tours unfortunately, but hopefully that will change in the future. I’m sure there’s a lot of great Finnish bands out there, but it’s tough when I can’t understand the language (yet).

That brings me to the LA music scene. On any given day, there’s usually a concert or broadway musical in town. There are also several music venues that have nightly performances by up and coming artists waiting to be discovered. On a brighter note, one of my favorite events for discovering new artists is Sofar Sounds, which has recently made its way to Helsinki. The only problem is that they rarely have shows, whereas in LA, there’s a Sofar Sounds show almost every day.

On New Year’s Eve, my friends and I went to Minimal Effort at the old Los Angeles Theater and saw several DJs perform, so I was happy to get my music and dancing fix. How gorgeous is this venue by the way? I can’t believe in my entire life living in LA, I had never been inside until recently!

Random Things

I couldn’t figure out a category for these next bits of LA that I miss, so I’m going to go with random things I miss.

  • Hulu (streaming service) – Some of my favorite shows like This Is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, and Broad City are on Hulu, and can’t be accessed in Finland. Disney Plus also just came out, which we can’t get in Finland. I checked it out though, and Baby Yoda is just as cute as all the hype!
  • Amazon Prime – 2 day delivery right to your doorstep. I did so much of my shopping on Amazon because of this. Out of batteries or moisturizer? Why go to the store, when it’s cheaper on Amazon, and gets delivered straight to you in 2 days. In Helsinki, we have to order through Amazon UK or Germany, and it takes longer than 2 days, and gets delivered to a kiosk that you’ll need to pick up from.
  • Trader Joe’s – My favorite grocery store that has their own line of everything and tons of delicious ready made meals. Speaking of everything, they invented the everything bagel seasoning, which I stocked up on when I came back to Helsinki, along with my favorite Mexican hot sauces (Cholula and Valentina).
  • Visual Voicemail – People don’t seem to really use voicemail in Finland. In fact, you need to pay extra for the service. But I always loved getting funny voicemails from my family and friends, and I lost all the ones I saved on my iPhone because they don’t have the visual voicemail service that we have in the US. You have to call a number to get your voicemail, so that voicemail feature on the iPhone doesn’t exist here.
  • Being able to read all the signs – I’m such a rule follower, but that makes it difficult in Finland when I can’t read any of the signs haha.
  • White Claw – Ok this is a new thing I just discovered when I went back home. It’s basically alcoholic seltzer water in a can. And it’s only 100 calories. So instead of beer or wine, people are drinking these and new brands have even started popping up. We need this in Finland stat!

What I Don’t Miss about LA

  • Driving & traffic – I thought I would miss my car and driving, but nope, I don’t at all. The public transportation system in Helsinki rocks.
  • Sheer massiveness – The vastness of LA makes it such a diverse city, but also impossible to meet people up if they’re on the other side of town.
  • LAX airport – It sucks. That’s it. Ok fine, a little more context. From the entrance of the airport, it took my parents over 30 minutes just to drive to my terminal because of the crazy traffic within the airport, and the terrible logistical design.
  • Homelessness – It only seems to be an increasing issue, especially in Downtown.
  • Tax not automatically added – When you see a price in Finland, it already includes tax, so there’s no guessing.
  • Tipping – Now that I live in a country where you don’t tip, it was hard going back to calculating that after every meal in LA.

So that’s what I miss about LA so far, I’ll be back again in May for my brother’s wedding and at that point it’ll be a year living in Helsinki. Let’s see how what other things I miss by that point…

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Audrey and Kimmo with Santa Claus
HelsinkiTravel

Is Santa from Finland?

by Audrey
written by Audrey

It’s officially the holiday season! I’ve already started jamming my Spotify Christmas playlists. Rambo also got his first Christmas Calendar from Kimmo’s parents, so that will be a new tradition. He gets a treat every day in December until the big day. How cute is this?

The history of Santa

If you ask a Finn, they’ll probably tell you that Santa is from a town called Korvatunturi in Lapland. I know when Kimmo told me this, I almost believed him. But as any good partner would do, I questioned him and googled the facts. Haha!

St Nicholas, the generous medieval Christian saint believed to be the inspiration behind the modern-day Santa Claus, was bishop of the small Roman town of Myra in the 4th Century in what is now Turkey. Turkey, what? Then where did the stories of snow, reindeer, and northern lights come from?

Before Christianity and Santa came to Finland in the Middle Ages, Finns celebrated a pagan mid-winter festival called Yule where men dressed as Nuuttipukki wandered from house to house, came in, and demanded food, especially booze. Nuuttipukki was a scary character (like Krampus) dressed in fur jackets, birch bark masks and horns. The Nuuttipukki were evil spirits; if they didn’t get what they wanted, they would make loud noises and scare children.

When St. Nick came along during the 1800s, his image blended with Nuuttipukki to create Joulupukki (‘Yule Goat’). Joulupukki handed out gifts instead of demanding them. Unlike Santa Claus who climbs down the chimney, Joulupukki would knock on the door and ask “Onko täällä kilttejä lapsia?” (“Are there any well-behaved children here?”). 

In November 2017,  Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture approved Joulupukki (or Finnish Santa Claus tradition, as it is known today) to be included in the National Inventory of Living Heritage (part of Unesco). This was huge for Finland, and strengthened its position as the country where Santa Claus lives.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171221-does-santa-claus-come-from-finland

Visiting Santa in Lapland

Okay now that you got the history lesson, let’s talk about meeting Santa and real reindeer! I might be a little partial to the fat man because I was a huge fan as a kid,  so when Kimmo told me he was going to take me to Santa’s official home, I was pretty stoked. We visited two places in Rovaniemi last November, and I’ll give you the lowdown on both.

Santa’s Village

Santa’s Village is free to visit, but you pretty much have to pay for any activity you do there.

  • Picture with Santa – If you want your kiddos to meet the real Santa, the jolly man in the post office is as good as it gets. They take a high-quality video of your visit and he genuinely asks about you and what you wish for Christmas. When I went in 2018, I wished for Kimmo and I to finally be able to live together in the same country, and guess what? A few months later, Kimmo proposed to me and I got a job in Helsinki! The man made my Christmas wishes come true and I have a video from that day to remember it by =)
  • Real Reindeer – I just about freaked out when I got to see real reindeer doing sleigh rides! They’re adorable. The only thing disturbing was that there was a reindeer restaurant right next to it, so after you meet the reindeer, you can also eat reindeer. Santa should probably think about making these two things further apart from each other.
  • Husky Park – We didn’t actually go in here because we didn’t want to pay the extra entrance fees, but from what we could see when we peeked through the fence, there were tons of cute huskies excited to greet the guests.
  • Cross the Arctic Circle – The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude that runs 66°33′45.9″ north of the Equator. It marks the southernmost latitude where the sun can stay continuously below or above the horizon for 24 hours – known as the Midnight Sun in the summer and the Polar Night (“Kaamos”) in the winter. In Rovaniemi, the Arctic Circle runs through Santa Claus Village, where it is clearly marked. You can even get a certificate confirming the feat.
  • Moomin Snowcastle – We didn’t get to see this because we went at the end of November, and there wasn’t enough snow yet. I would have loved to check this out though, so make sure you check what dates this is available.
The Arctic Circle
Audrey and Kimmo with the real Santa Claus
Reindeers in Santa Claus Village

Santa’s Park

Don’t let their cheesy website fool you, we actually enjoyed Santa’s Park more than Santa’s Village. You can think of it more like a theme park. Here are some highlights:

  • One ticket price to see everything
  • Ice Gallery – We wanted to visit the infamous Arctic Igloos, but you had to be a guest at the hotel to see them, so this was the next best thing!
  • Elf School – Yup, get your Elf Diploma!
  • Mrs. Gingerbread Bakery – Make your own gingerbread man or woman
  • Train Ride – Take a ride through Santa’s Workshop
Audrey and Kimmo in Santa's Park

Tips

  • Where to Stay – Hotels are pretty expensive. We stayed in an adorable Airbnb which was really affordable. 
  • Transportation 
    • Train – From Helsinki we took an overnight train that left around 9pm and arrived at 7am in the morning. If you have the time to kill, I recommend taking a morning train so that you can see the sites along the way. At night it’s pretty hard to see anything, but we didn’t want to waste an entire day traveling, so it was convenient for us to be able to sleep on the train and arrive there in the morning. We got a private room which had 2 bunk beds, bathroom, and shower even. 
    • Fly – We flew back to Helsinki through the Rovaniemi airport. This was a quick, easy, and cheap flight!
    • Santa Express Bus – Once you’re in Rovaniemi, there is a Santa Express bus that stops at Santa Claus Village, Santapark/Arctic Treehouse Hotel, Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle and the the Airport. See timetable here.

But Rovaniemi is just the tip of Lapland. There is so much more to explore. For instance this snowboarding video of Sanni Oksanen was sent to me from two of my American friends and is going viral because sites like TheCoolHunter reposted it. When I went last year in November, there wasn’t enough snow yet, and when we tried to chase the Northern Lights, there was no such luck. I’ll be back for you Lapland and aurora borealis!

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