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!