5 Best Restaurants in Helsinki, Finland

Award-winning chef Eero Vottonen has steered Palace to Michelin-star status with a single, sumptuous seven-course menu that utilizes fresh Nordic ingredients, from duck and salted trout roe to Norwegian scallops and lobster. Offering magnificent view of the South Harbour, it's on the 10th floor of a former hotel. Very upmarket, and a venue for special and perhaps more formal occasions.

Named for the architect Carl Ludvig Engel, this café on Senate Square serves traditional lunch fare, and it's also open for breakfast, with porridge, muesli, croissants, cheeses, eggs, and fruit on the menu. Lunch portions are hearty—you can fill up on salmon soup, meatballs, reindeer stew, or the cold smoked salmon sandwich; for a lighter snack, try a savory Karelian pie (karjalanpiirakka) or one of the smaller open-face sandwiches. Locals stop in for coffee, wine, and desserts, which include seasonal treats such as lingonberry cheesecake, fruit tarts, and an excellent Sacher torte. The outdoor Kesäkino Engel summer cinema is held in the courtyard, which is also the occasional venue for recitals and other events.

Look for a giant propeller and anchor to find the main door of Nokka in the redbrick buildings near the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral in Katajanokka, overlooking the marina. This innovative restaurant specializes in seasonal fare with fresh Finnish ingredients provided by small holdings across the country and the forests of Lapland. The rather limited but excellent à la carte menu might include pan-fried fish, lamb, mushrooms, and local cheeses, while vegetarians are well catered to in the four-course "Menu Green."

Right beside city hall and a handy place to take a break from shopping in Market Square, this building retains marble columns and deep wood panels that harken back to the days when it was a bank rather than an elegant restaurant, fitted as it is today with very plush and luxurious furniture. Toast Skagen, a Nordic classic, is a good bet—it's shrimp, mayo, and chives on toasted bread, topped with a generous dollop of whitefish roe. Pan-fried Baltic herring is another classic. A full five-course chef's menu costs €65, while the price of a more compact three-course Scandinavian menu is €45. Salutorget has adopted with gusto the very British concept of afternoon tea, served Monday to Saturday from 2 to 6 pm.

Given that its airy dining room was designed by iconic Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto and overlooks the Esplanade, it's no surprise that the Savoy is a popular spot for business lunches or occasion dining. This was Finnish statesman Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim's favorite restaurant (in the late 1800s); he is rumored to have introduced the vorschmack (minced lamb and anchovies) recipe here. Savoy's menu is described as "Finnish-French with a slight Russian touch" and was conceived by Chef Helena Puolakka. It consists of a changing menu of inventive fresh fish and meat dishes, embracing pelmeni, berries, mushrooms, duck, and whitefish.