Old Town
Leib (Estonian black bread) is a thing of great beauty and quiet national pride, and you'll find a peerless rendition here: dense, moist, almost fruity in…
Must-see restaurants in Estonia
Tallinn
It's worth the trek out to the far side of Pirita to reach this top-notch waterside restaurant, which consistently backs up its elevated reputation…
Old Town
This restaurant-bar is truly a multisensory adventure. Housed in a French-style villa built in 1872 and once used as a pharmacy, its interior is a wacky…
Old Town
This superb pan-Asian eatery adjoining Manna La Roosa feels like a baroque fever dream. Picking a focal point among the opulent kitsch is hard: the…
City Centre
Award-winning Ö (pronounced 'er' and named for Estonia's biggest island, Saaremaa) has carved a unique space in Tallinn’s culinary world, delivering…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The name means 'shed', but this delightful harbourside restaurant easily confounds any low expectations that name sets. Smoking its own fish, welcoming…
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
Quietly but consistently the best restaurant in Kalamaja, Moon (pronounced 'moan'; it means 'poppy') is a gem, combining Russian and broader-European…
Kadriorg
Tucked away in the leafy, weatherboard-lined streets that merge into the greenery of Kadriorg Park, 'Cloak and Chimney' welcomes guests to a smartly…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The menu at this stylish little cafe-bar is deceptively simple (mainly burgers, with a few wraps, soups and seafood dishes thrown in), but Retro's kitchen…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Occupying the elegant 1889 Spa Hall from which it takes its name (Ku Kuu is short for Kuressaare Kuursaal), this is Saaremaa's loveliest dining room. The…
Old Town
Located in a glass-roofed pavilion within the upscale Hotel Telegraaf, Tchaikovsky offers dazzling fine-dining mise en scène: armchairs surrounding linen…
Tartu
A spacious, eclectically furnished 1st-floor dining room looking up to the green slopes of Toomemägi is the very pleasant setting for crowd-pleasing fare …
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
In an unlikely looking commercial building just north of Telliskivi, 'Follow the Cow' is a super-welcoming Argentinian-style parilla (grill) that will…
Tartu
In a modern, vaulted space beneath the London Hotell, Polpo isn't the Italian restaurant the name might suggest, but produces some of the best modern…
Western Estonia & the Islands
A reboot of a famous, early-20th-century Haapsalu bakery-cafe of the same name, Dietrich is clearly a labour of love, with elements of 1920s and 1930s…
Tallinn
A judicious hand in the kitchen respectfully reinterprets the cuisines of China, India and Southeast Asia, scattering European staples such as schnitzel…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Named for Estonian composer Raimond Valgre, this is the Hedon Spa & Hotel's night-time fine-diner. At the rear of the complex, opening onto the beach, it…
Old Town
Nestled inside the picturesque Masters’ Courtyard and offering respite from Old Town hubbub, this snug, lavishly decorated cafe is renowned for its…
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
The trailblazing watering hole of the uberhip Telliskivi complex, the industrial-chic 'Building F' offers a quality menu of pasta, burgers, soups, salads…
Southern Estonia
Defying the adage that restaurants with stunning views never deliver in the kitchen, Privileeg serves delightful fare in a light-washed, glass-walled…
Kadriorg
Occupying an old Baltic timber house well off the tourist trail, near Kadriorg Park, NOP (Neighbourhood Organic Place) is the kind of wholesome deli-cafe…
Western Estonia & the Islands
The name roughly translates as ‘organic-ish’, and wholesome, largely seasonal food is the focus of this cosy all-day cafe. There are cooked breakfasts…
City Centre
Chic Sfäär delivers an inventive menu highlighting great Estonian produce in dishes that gesture east (veggie curry) and west (Arctic char with potato and…
Estonia
The refurbished ambience of Põhjaka Manor (founded in 1820) serves as a blank canvas for a wonderful restaurant showcasing fresh Estonian farm produce,…
Old Town
Visiting vegans are spoiled for choice in this wonderful restaurant in a timber-ceilinged, stone-walled setting. In summer the four streetside tables…
Old Town
Unlike many places around Tallinn's Town Hall Sq, this cosy chocolaterie-cafe has an invitingly relaxed ambience. Stretch out on a couch, read by…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Last named Estonia's best restaurant in 2015, Alexander is the culinary centrepiece of the ultra-luxe Pädaste Manor. Offering either a three-course or…
Old Town
With a softly lit, old-fashioned dining room inside a 14th-century house, good French-inspired cooking and a winning wine list, 'Wine Restaurant' Dominic…
Old Town
An excellent example of the flourishing vegetarian and vegan dining scene in Tallinn, Plant is the finished article, from the clean style and hanging…
Lahemaa National Park
Part of the complex containing Viinistu Art Hotel and Museum, this smart restaurant-bar specialises in fish from local waters, some of it smoked in-house…
Old Town
With eclectic retro furniture matched by an equally wide-roaming soundtrack, courtyard seating, excellent coffee, long opening hours and select nights of…
Old Town
You'll find plenty of greenery on your plate at this rustic, plant-filled restaurant (aed means 'garden'), beneath the rough beams of a medieval merchant…
Tartu
A proper, old-school, stiff-linen-and-formal-service fine diner, Restaurant Antonius cocoons its guests in an art-strewn, atrium-lit dining room in the…
Kalamaja & Telliskivi
Spilling out from an old clapboard house on one of Kalamaja's main arteries, Boheem is a firm favourite with local bohemians. The cheap and tasty fare…
Tallinn
A little sister to Estonia's top-rated restaurant NOA, OKO sits pretty on Haabneeme's popular foreshore, sustaining holidaying families resting between…
Tartu
Tallinn’s favourite chocmeister has set up on Tartu’s main square, offering a refined atmosphere, old-world decor and perfect, melting truffles. It's a…
Lahemaa National Park
Set in a thatched, wooden building with a large terrace, this uber-rustic place is run by the same folks behind Palmse Manor. Operating in spring and…
Old Town
Aside from the wild boar, you won't see any of the stuffed animals carousing at a table in the front window (a wolf, a fox and others) on the menu, but…
Tartu
Upstairs there's a proper restaurant serving proper meals in sober surrounds, but we prefer the cafe downstairs – judging by the buzz, so do the locals…
Western Estonia & the Islands
Housed in an 1834 postal building, this rustic tavern has excellent Russian cuisine (ranging from simple to sophisticated), a convivial crowd and imperial…
