MINI GUIDE
Food & drink in Helsinki
COMPILED BY LORNA PARKES, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ANDY SYMINGTON. PHOTOGRAPHS: TEURASTAMO.COM/EETU AHANEN, BRUEV/ISTOCK/GETTY, PEKKA KASTARI, HENRIK KETTUNEN, PROFIMEDIA.CZA.S./ALAMYHelsinki essentials The know-how
FURTHER READING
Lonely Planet’s
Finland guide
(£15.99) has a
chapter
dedicated to
Helsinki,
which is also available to
download at lonelyplanet.
com (£2.99). A good
resource for eating out
in Helsinki is the website
eat.fi, which plots
restaurants on a map of
town and sometimes has
reviews in English. For a
slice of Finnish culture and
an introduction to the
country’s cuisine, pick up
the fun Moomins Cookbook
by Samy Malilla and Tove
Jansson (£12.99;
Selfmadehero).BRUNSSI
Finns like a weekend lie-in after
the debauches of Friday and
Saturday nights, so brunssi
(brunch) was sure to catch on.
O What? In Helsinki, brunssi is
usually a buffet with everything
from fruit and pastries to
canapés, salads and pasta. Local
produce invariably features and
it’s a good way to try Finnish
breakfast specialities, such as
karelian pies (rye-crusted
pastries stuffed with rice
porridge and topped with egg)
and home-baked rye bread.
O How? Brunssi is so popular
that you’ll often have to book or
wait. It costs about £13 to £20.
O When? From around 10.30am
to 3.30pm,
on weekends only.
O Where? The Brunssipartio
blog keeps tabs on the scene
(brunssipartio.fi).Kalevankatu 3B; from £65).
In a central but quiet part of
town, Hotel Fabian has elegant
rooms with a restrained modern
design; the most luxurious come
equipped with kitchenettes. Staff
are super-helpful and breakfast is
cooked to order (hotelfabian.com;
Fabianinkatu 7; from £135).
Radisson Blu Plaza enjoys an
uber-central location near the
railway station. Rooms are
comfortable and functional, with
black-out blinds and massive beds.
There’s an excellent buffet
breakfast (radissonblu.com;
Mikonkatu 23; from £150).WHERE TO STAY
High in a city-centre building,
Hotel Finn is an upbeat option
with helpful service and art by
young Finnish photographers on
the walls. Bright rooms have
modish wallpaper and tiny
bathrooms (hotellifinn.fi;TRANSPORT
Finnair flies direct from Singapore
to Helsinki (from £613; finnair.
com). Kuala Lumpur travellers can
fly BA or Emirates with one stop
each (from £530; ba.com). Finnair
operates a bus service departing
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport for the
city centre every 20 minutes
(one-way ticket £5.50;
pohjolanliikenne.fi). The city’s
public-transport system is run by
HSL (hsl.fi); one-hour flat-fare
tickets are cheapest if booked
ahead (£2.50). The Helsinki Card
gives you free travel, plus entry to
more than 50 attractions; it’s only
worth it if you pack in a lot of
sightseeing (helsinkiexpert.com;
24-hour pass £37).Fresh, contemporary rooms are
on offer at Hotel FabianEating Sleeping