| |
At last there’s a budget Caucasian restaurant in the Old Town! As the [name] suggests, this one offers Azerbaijani cuisine, and it comes in great quality and at a low price. The shish kebab for two can actually feed two very hungry men. The service is somewhat slow, though.
|
The city’s only garlic restaurant, offering unusual treats (like garlic ice-cream) in addition to a good range of mostly meat dishes.
|
Estonia’s only restaurant with its own micro-brewery, Beer House is also quite big and is great for an evening out with a bunch of friends. If the standard sauerkraut and pork don’t tempt you, turn the menu page to the grill and wok section. For especially friendly prices, come during the happy hour that lasts from 12am to 2pm. You can buy their beer—Pilsner, Märzen and Dunkel—in one- and two-litre bottles to take with you. Reservations recommended.
|
Not only is Bocca blessed with tasteful interior designer Pille Lausmäe, who won an award for his decor in this restaurant, but it also has a skillful chef taking care of an impressive variety of appetisers, pastas and main courses. This quite expensive— by Tallinn standards—place would be a good option to impress a business partner.
|
When you get tired of somewhat bland Estonian cuisine, a plate of hot nachos here, set near the beautiful Kadriorg park, will warm your spirit up.
|
Diplomats based in Estonia and highranking local officials frequent this upscale restaurant on Toompea hill. Reserve a table by the window to observe both the spectacular Alexandre Nevsky cathedral and the Estonian MPs rushing to the nearby parliament building. A couple of Russian recipes are on the menu in addition to French varieties.
|
Hidden in Katariina passage, one of the most beautiful little streets of Tallinn, Controvento is an icon of high-quality Italian cuisine in a romantic atmosphere. The extensive menu includes delicious lamb chops with thyme in black olive sauce. Reservations are recommended.
|
This Italian-run establishment, divided into a more formal restaurant and an easygoing café, fills the niche of quality Italian restaurant with modest prices and trendy interior. The oven-baked pizzas are a real bargain, given their quality. Tourists and young locals make up most of the clientele.
|
“The best food for an Estonian is a fellow Estonian,” says a popular Estonian joke, referring to the rough edges in the national character. A main course called ‘A fellow Estonian’ is on the menu in this cosy restaurant, set across the street from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Don’t miss the sült, a meat jelly served with mustard.
|
Estonia’s most prominent chef Dmitri Demjanov takes great care with the magnificently served and equally tasty high-end European cuisine here. Classy and very expensive by local standards, this restaurant with a wine cellar and cigar saloon has preserved the late-1930s interior of its early days. This used to be Tallinn’s poshest restaurant in Soviet times, and it remains one of its culinary gems.
|
If you forgive the staff for not switching to super-sonic speed in lunch hour or Friday evening, the Golden Dragon will leave a very positive impression. Occasional Thai specialties are hidden among the Chinese menu and Chinese food fans say it’s one step ahead of competitors quality-wise.
|
Be it borrowed from books or the movies, but the look and atmosphere of Klafira restaurant indeed has that feeling of 19th-century tzarist Russia, when wealthy Moscow businessmen took their time while eating a 12-course meal. Gypsy music fits perfectly with Russian food generous in calories. In addition to the standard blini and caviar, the menu includes wild boar and elk specialities.
|
Pork is the key word in the Golden Piglet Tavern, which serves the best of Estonian and German cuisine in a laid back atmosphere. White rustic walls are covered with Estonian proverbs, the light wood furniture is massive and the staff friendly.
|
Head for Le Chateau for inexpensive haute cuisine treats like champagne-marinated goose liver with apples and game in port and grape juice. The wine list includes only a handful of French wines focusing mainly on Spanish and South American.
|
This cheap and simple eatery carries the burden of being the only one of its kind in the city centre. The menu has so many different meals the waitress will want the number, not the [name]. The smell of garlic, oil and something fried makes it difficult to enjoy the meal inside, so consider a take-away. Oh, and it’s totally no-smoking and there’s no alcohol available.
|
Nevskij, the restaurant of the Schlössle Hotel St Petersburg, is decorated so smartly you may feel you came to visit a person hooked on 19th century Russian interiors. If you’re after cabbage soup, sturgeon and vodka, make sure you have them in a place like Nevskij, the most upscale (and perhaps most expensive) Russian restaurant in Estonia.
|
Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the [name] of this expensive restaurant, set next door to chic nightclub BonBon in a renovated warehouse building a stone’s throw away from the Old Town. International seafood recipes rule the menu and the wine list includes mostly French [name]s. The crowd - hip.
|
The lights may seem a bit too bright in this small Italian, but the modestly portioned and reasonably priced food is delicious. A number of small tables available in addition to family-size tables make this a good post for solo dining.
|
Just across the cobblestone street from Olde Hansa, Peppersack offers contemporary European cuisine in a medieval-themed ambience and in generous portions. Book a table in the main hall to see a fascinating sword fight performance that begins a little after 8pm.
|
Popular among true connoisieurs of Georgian cuisine in spite of its remoteness from the centre, Pirosmani is the place to try harcho lamb soup, chahohbili chicken and hachapuri cheese pastry. A full range of authentic Georgian wines is another reason to visit this restaurant, designed in country tavern style and set in a quiet forest area next to the University of Technology. in the restaurant market in Estonia in 1997 and remains its leader. Don’t forget to taste the honey beer and aqua vitae.
|
There are two purely Japanese restaurants in Tallinn and Silk is the more upscale one. Baked and spicy sushi is accompanied by maki, miso, kimchi and other soups and appetisers. They even [name]d one fancy maki Vana Tallinn to blend with the medieval surroundings. The owners plan to open their second Silk at 15 Narva Road.
|
Visit this oasis of cheap food in southern- US style when you get tired of the Old Town’s medievalness. Decorated with standard American paraphernalia, this place can get noisy in the evening. Great for a burrito or chicken wings a la Texas, and the variety of tequilas on the drinks menu is truly impressive.
|
Located right on the Town Hall Square, Troika is perhaps the most mainstream Russian restaurant in Tallinn. The rich menu shows proper respect for the traditional Russian pot-cooked recipes and also includes bear meat stroganoff, but it’s not always available. Sampling all the vodkas on the menu will probably take several visits. It’s a pity the owners chose such colourful, pseudo-Slavic outfits for the staff—it’s painful on the eyes.
|
You can expect a warm-hearted welcome and generous portions from a restaurant with a [name] meaning Grandma’s in Estonian. The interior is no tackier than your average Estonian-themed restaurant, but please note that the place closes at 6pm on Sundays.
|
| |