Restaurants in Southwestern Finland
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A
Panimoravintola Plevna
Inside the old Finlayson textile mill, this big barn of a place offers a wide range of delicious beer, cider and perry brewed on the premises, including an excellent strong stout. Meals are large and designed to soak it all up: massive sausage platters and enormous slabs of pork in classic beer-hall style as well as more Finnish fish and steak dishes. Vegetables here mean potatoes and onions, preferably fried, but it’s all tasty, and service is fast.
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Bodega Salud
Though no budget bargain, this Tampere favourite is enduringly popular for its cosy atmosphere and good salad, fruit and cheese bar (included with main courses). It styles itself as Spanish and certainly does a decent paella, but most dishes have a distinctly Finnish feel, with salmon, reindeer and creamy sauces all present and tasty. More adventurous are snails, gnu steak and Rocky Mountain oysters. You get a certificate if you eat the latter – shellfish are scarce in Colorado, but rams have been heard bleating in countertenor tones.
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Wistub Alsace
This small, authentic spot specialises in Alsatian cuisine and accomplishes it well. The seasonal menu offers a small selection of quality dishes, including an always-delicious fish of the day, as well as pizzalike tartes flambées (€14 to €16). Presentation is excellent; deliciously aromatic Alsatian white wines are available, as well as cheaper choices by the glass or jug. Desserts are original and scrumptious; a small terrace offers more casual dining.
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Teatteriravintola Tillikka
In the Tampere Theatre, this old-style restaurant has classically elegant decor and views over the Tammerkoski. The outdoor tables are popular for buffet lunches, while the evening choices include smoked moose on a tasty appetiser platter for two, and traditional Finnish mains. The building also has a bar-cafe with a great terrace on the main square, perfect for catching the evening sun.
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E
Finlaysonin Palatsi
This grand centenarian residence behind the Finlayson centre has gardens and grounds and houses a classy restaurant offering elaborate dishes with classically Finnish ingredients such as pike-perch with crayfish sauce. The relaxing terrace (open noon to 9pm Monday, 11am to midnight Tueday to Friday, noon to midnight Saturday, 2pm to 9pm Sunday) has meals plus a range of cheaper snacks.
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Seglis
On Vaskiluoto, and part of the local sailing club, this is a stylish but surprisingly reasonably priced restaurant. It has a terrace overlooking the marina and features dishes such as whitefish fillet in lobster sauce, and chicken in cola sauce. There's plenty of value in the steaks, and there's also a decent lunch buffet and plenty of children's choices.
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Wanhan Rauman Kellari
Looking for atmospheric dining? Serving easily the best meals in Vanha Rauma, this ever-busy cellar restaurant has a sun-drenched rooftop terrace in summer. Meals run to top-notch salads and French food, with seafood and chicken prevailing. If you can, snaffle a booth, because historic leather slingback chairs prove to be crippling for longer meals.
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Viikinkiravintola Harald
With a dragon-ship salad bar, stuffed animals, costumed waiters and long-hall wooden tables, this Viking-theme restaurant isn’t subtle but is plenty of fun. Dishes all bear Norse-sounding names and feature big steaks and game choices. Signature dishes are shared platters served on a shield, or enormous vegetable or meat kebabs speared on a sword.
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Gustav Wasa
This underground restaurant is one of Finland’s best with a concise gourmet menu that blends classic Finnish with modern cuisine such as reindeer on tangy risotto. Once a coal cellar, the transformation to suave restaurant is achieved through low lighting and attentive service. For business meetings there’s a sauna to put the heat on clients.
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Tuulensuu
The best of a range of gastropubs that have recently sprouted, this corner spot has a fine range of beers and wines, as well as a lengthy port and cigar menu. The food is lovingly prepared and features staples like liver and schnitzel as well as more elaborate plates like duck comfit. Even the bar snacks are gourmet: fresh-roasted almonds.
reviewed
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Veganissimo
A short stroll from the station brings you to this pleasing new vegan restaurant with smart contemporary decor and good vibes. Lunch (€7 to €9) is a bargain, with delicious salads; evenings offer a quieter ambience, with dishes like paella, seitan fillet and big burgers available, as well as various tapas-sized portions and organic wines.
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Bacchus
This golden wooden building not far from the water has a well-chosen menu that could include slow-baked hare with potato terrine. The rustic brickwork interior is warmed by animal skins, though the Wineroom section is minimalism chic. As you’d expect from a place named for the Greek god of boozing, the wine cellar is exceptional.
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Loftet
This cafe-cum-craft shop does great cakes and coffee. It’s a relaxed lunch spot that does good vegetarian-friendly soups and salads, which makes a change from heaving plates of meat. Aim to snag a room in the wood-panelled room out back then browse the adjoining craft shop that has good jewellery and linen.
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Thai Na Khon
This Thai restaurant at the centre’s western end is soothingly and tastefully decorated, with plush seats, varnished tables and a colonial-era feel. The mains are generously proportioned and come with rice; the menu has an English translation and spiciness key, as well as plenty of vegetarian choices.
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Finlaysonin Palatsi
This grand turn-of-the-20th-century residence behind the Finlayson centre has gardens and grounds and houses a classy restaurant with a relaxing terrace. The food is ambitious and delivers, with a short, quality selection of dishes such as reindeer carpaccio or lamb kidneys and tongue in port sauce.
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Steak & Whisky House Galle
This is a lot classier than it sounds. The interior is stylish and elegant, with intimate tables and a decent Finnish-continental menu of steaks, fish and salads. The lunch specials are the most worthwhile. Attached is a sophisticated bar with frequent live jazz; it's open fairly late most nights.
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Hella & Huone
This smart spot serves exquisite French-influenced gourmet creations off a short menu that features wild duck with lingonberries or roasted whitefish with white truffle foam. Fine cheeses and fresh Finnish berries round off a memorable meal, with wines matched to every course (per glass €11).
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Raatihuoneen Kellari
One of the top plates in town, this swanky cellar spot is in the town hall, designed by CL Engel. The weekday buffet luncheon impresses but Finnish cuisine is the speciality in the evenings, when meals include salmon tournedos with morel mushroom sauce, or roast reindeer with sea buckthorn.
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Rosmariini
This winning lunchroom is decked out in traditional woods and throws on good old-fashioned belly-busting buffets that include salads, sweet-grandmotherly pastries, house-baked breads and fruity pot roasts. The terrace out the back is relaxed given its closeness to the bustling kauppatori.
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Konditoria Kotileipomo
This place, on the kauppatori (market square) in the city centre, is a pleasant café with a light, quiet, interior and a small terrace in summer. It serves tasty pastries in particular, and if you're planning a picnic, you can't beat one of the many types of loaves they bake fresh.
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Wanha Vanilja
True to its name, this homelike cafe, a treasure-trove of timeworn furniture, is bursting with the aroma of vanilla, which they add to the coffee. A range of plump homemade cakes and pastries make the perfect accompaniment; sundaes, quiches and a lunchtime salad bar are also on offer.
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La Braza
This hip little spot is on the other side of the river, and has a decor that recovers a raw brick cellar to marvellous effect. The menu is wide ranging, from a hearty borscht to escargot in a Roquefort sauce, before bringing it home with grilled Arctic char with goat’s cheese.
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Strøget
A small bright spot at the quay, this place specialises in spectacular Danish open sandwiches, huge things brimming with tasty fresh ingredients, as well as burgers and American-style tuna and club sandwiches. Outdoor seating lets you watch the marketplace and boating action.
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Faros
This boat restaurant is moored in Kalaranta Harbour south of the bridge and makes for an atmospheric bite, especially its salmon soup with a dollop of mousse. They also do great steak and reindeer tournedos. Don’t miss the bathrooms with portholes (making them ‘portaloos’).
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Kaffehuset August
This wonderfully central spot attracts an older crowd with Swedish pastries and sandwiches for lunch then more substantial dinners such as plank-grilled salmon on a bed of horseradish and mussels. It’s ideal if you like your coffee served with a side of people-watching.
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