What is the best lunch place in Helsinki? 78 restaurants reviewed
In August 2014, the Sharetribe offices were relocated to downtown Helsinki. One of the benefits of our new whereabouts was the huge variety of lunch joints around us. Our previous location was Startup Sauna in Otaniemi, where our options were limited to a couple of student restaurants. It was no surprise that we were excited about the change of venue. We decided to take the full advantage of our new surroundings and try out as many lunch restaurants as we could.
During the fall of 2014, we had a rule not to visit any restaurant twice. We would go to a new place every day, and after the lunch each team member would rate the joint. Each place got either +1 (very good, would recommend to a friend), 0 (ok, but nothing special) or -1 (would not recommend) from each eater. The final score is the average of these individual grades. Originally, we planned on visiting 50 different places, but after reaching that number we realized there were many quality restaurants nearby that we hadn’t tried out. The final number ended up being 78.
Our entire 9 person team participated in the review process. However, out of the 9, only 6 people spend their days at our Helsinki offices regularly, so most reviews are from that group. Among the six people, there’s one vegetarian, one who prefers vegetarian food (but also eats meat), two home kitchen master chefs and two “normal” eaters.
The instructions for rating were to evaluate the overall experience of the restaurant: the quality of the food, the price and the atmosphere. The walking distance from our office did not officially count, but it may have had an effect to the subjective dining experience, especially on some dark and slushy November days. Personal preferences also counted a lot: for example, one team member doesn’t like sushi, so all sushi joints got -1 from him.
Since we now have this list of 78 lunch places in Helsinki reviewed and ordered by the rating they got, we thought it might be helpful for others as well. So, we proudly present our entirely subjective ranking: the best places to eat lunch in Helsinki.
Restaurant, Score, No. of reviews, Address
Deli Café Maya, 1.00, 7, Punavuorenkatu 3
Cafe Trocadero, 1.00, 6, Uudenmaankatu 2
Cafe Rouge, 1.00, 6, Urho Kekkosen katu 4
Mille Mozzarelle, 1.00, 4, Pursimiehenkatu 7a
Tortilla House Kamppi, 1.00, 4, Urho Kekkosen katu 1
Presto, 1.00, 3, Eteläesplanadi 14
Kantipur, 0.80, 5, Lönnrotinkatu 25
Zucchini, 0.80, 5, Fabianinkatu 4
Chico’s, 0.75, 4, Hietalahdenranta 5 C
New Bamboo Center, 0.67, 6, Annankatu 29
Levant, 0.67, 3, Bulevardi 15
Cafe Balzac, 0.60, 5, Iso Roobertinkatu 3–5
Pjazza, 0.60, 5, Yrjönkatu 18
Fanny, 0.57, 7, Bulevardi 40
OmNam, 0.50, 6, Annankatu 29 B
Kin Sushi, 0.50, 6, Lönnrotinkatu 2
Sumo, 0.50, 6, Eerikinkatu 20
Beefy Queen Jambo, 0.50, 4, Pieni Roobertinkatu 13
Tony’s Deli, 0.50, 4, Bulevardi 7
Kokomo Tikibar & Room, 0.50, 4, Uudenmaankatu 16–20
Putte’s Bar & Pizza, 0.50, 4, Kalevankatu 6
La Crêperie, 0.50, 2, Aleksanterinkatu 23
Villa Thai (tue-thu), 0.43, 7, Bulevardi 28
Vivo’s Deli Roba, 0.40, 5, Iso Roobertinkatu 27
Thai Orchid, 0.40, 5, Lönnrotinkatu 27
Pompier, 0.40, 5, Albertinkatu 29
Habibi Sähkötalo, 0.40, 5, Malminrinne 6
Cholo, 0.33, 6, Lönnrotinkatu 9
Rulla, 0.33, 6, Yrjönkatu 30
Dong Bei Hu, 0.33, 6, Korkeavuorenkatu 47
La Torrefazione, 0.33, 3, Aleksanterinkatu 50 B
Splizzeria, 0.33, 3, Kaivokatu 10
Rivoletto, 0.25, 4, Albertinkatu 38
Skiffer, 0.25, 4, Erottajankatu 11
Maxill, 0.25, 4, Korkeavuorenkatu 4
Rafla, 0.20, 5, Uudenmaankatu 9
Soppakeittiö, 0.17, 6, Lönnrotinkatu 34
Bar 9, 0.17, 6, Uudenmaankatu 9
Don Corleone, 0.17, 6, Urho Kekkosen katu 1
Street Gastro, 0.17, 6, Albertinkatu 36
We also went to the following restaurants which didn’t reach top scores (in alphabetical order):
Restaurant, Address
Burger King, Mannerheimintie 12
Cafe Anna, Annankatu 22
Casa Italia, Bulevardi 11
Dennis Kamppi, Kansakoulukatu 1
Dennis Bulevardi, Bulevardi 32
Eerikin pippuri, Eerikinkatu 17
Factory, Aleksanterinkatu 13
Farouge, Yrjönkatu 6
Gastone, Korkeavuorenkatu 45
Golden Leaf, Fredrikinkatu 47
Hard Rock Cafe, Aleksanterinkatu 21
Hesburger Kasarmitori, Kasarmikatu 19
Hodari ja Hummeri, Pieni Roobertinkatu 2
Kiila, Kalevankatu 1
Kotipizza, Annankatu 6
Koto, Lönnrotinkatu 22
Krog Madame, Lapinlahdenkatu 3
Kuppi ja Muffini, Kalevankatu 17
Makki Makki, Bulevardi 19
Manhattan Steak House, Eteläesplanadi 24
Marski Bar & Restaurant, Mannerheimintie 10
Maya Bar & Grill, Mikonkatu 18
Mei-Lin, Lönnrotinkatu 33–35
Olipa kerran, Albertinkatu 34
Papa Albert, Albertinkatu 30
Puro Deli, Korkeavuorenkatu 27
Ristorante Italo, Mannerheimintie 20
Salt & Pepper, Fredrikinkatu 30
Singapore Hot Wok, Urho Kekkosen katu 1
Stadin herkut, Lönnrotinkatu 34
Tamarin, Iso Roobertinkatu 18
Tori, Punavuorenkatu 2
Tres Bones, Annankatu 6
Uggla, Annankatu 10
Vaelsa, Annankatu 4
Vespa, Eteläesplanadi 22
Wanhan Kellari ja Grilli, Mannerheimintie 3
Yamato, Iso Roobertinkatu 17–19
(Tip: Click the list icon on the left of the map to see the list of restaurants on the map. You can click the restaurant name to highlight it on the map.)
All in all, we learned that downtown Helsinki is full of very high-quality lunch restaurants and cafes. We hope you find new lunch places from the list!
Did we miss an essential lunch place in the area? Or maybe we didn’t do justice to your favorite spot? Tell us!
Originally published on the Sharetribe blog on January 27, 2015.
