"Parking Space" Restaurants in Estonia
Renowned Berlin chef Matthias Diether has moved to Tallinn, bringing with him a healthy dose of big-city glamour. Enchanted by the interior, the attentive service and the first promising tastes, diners are discovering that classic fine dining, often considered a little passé, is alive and well here. Matthias Diether runs his kitchen in the spirit of proper German organisation, while the dining room embodies effortless French elegance. The combination creates a refined dining experience unlike any other restaurant in Tallinn.
If you are here for the first time and something seems familiar, there is no reason to be surprised. Today's leading chefs of several dozen restaurants cooked their first great dishes over the same hearth, following the guidance of mentor chef Tõnis Siigur. Dishes that are considered classics here live on in other restaurants in a slightly different style. At NCH, however, they taste completely anew with each successive menu that Tõnis creates in collaboration with his mentees. NCH is at the forefront of Estonian gastronomy.
The Fotografiska restaurant has been serving sustainably prepared, zero-waste food since it opened. Food produced without waste tends to be more flavourful. There are more textures on the plate and the dishes look more colourful and elegant. Today, using ingredients from leaf to root and from nose to tail is a novelty and people come to Fotografiska out of curiosity. In the future, it should be the norm. Fotografiska's kitchen is leading the way and sharing its knowledge.
Pädaste Manor serves Nordic island cuisine. Just like the Nordic weather, the dishes are subject to frequent changes and the menu is completely new for each season. However, you will not be served the traditional simple, rustic dishes of the past, but dishes inspired by them, using the same ingredients. In all other respects, Pädaste's cuisine is a unique form of contemporary culinary art.
Maidla Nature Resort is a micro-hotel with three small forest villas. SOO is a restaurant for ten guests within the resort. It couldn't be more exclusive. The chef personally brings all the dishes to the table and introduces them to everyone. It's like having your own private chef. The only difference is that instead of you deciding what to eat, he does it for you.
It is generally accepted that a good restaurant can be opened anywhere. People who love good food will discover it. Lahepere Villa is such a place. The driving force that keeps food lovers flocking and queuing is Chef Silver Saa. Silver's fine cuisine is a fascinating contrast to the summer house atmosphere of the restaurant.
The glamorous lifestyle is rather unfamiliar to Estonia. Those who can't live without glamour look for it elsewhere, for example in Monaco. But there is one place in Tallinn that bears a strong comparison with Monaco. This restaurant is Puri in Kakumäe Marina Haven. Start with champagne and caviar, move on to sole or halibut and finish with a dessert called Malibu Club. Tallinn is just big enough for a well-run, classy restaurant to thrive, especially as the glamour is authentic and not a carbon copy from somewhere else.
NOA Restaurant is the little brother of the famous NOA Chef's Hall and is located next door in the same building. The casual dining here is not far from the fine dining experience offered by NOA Chef's Hall. The view of Tallinn Bay and the Tallinn skyline is just a little more impressive. The cuisine reflects the latest trends.
In a single summer, the little yellow wooden house has made the tiny village of Lüllemäe a household name among Estonian gourmets. Here, the journey from farm to fork is the shortest in both time and distance, as most of the ingredients are grown by the three sisters either in the greenhouse or on the various allotments nearby.
The windows of Laulasmaa La Spa Restaurant Wicca offer a majestic view of the sea through the pine trees. It would be hard to find a more beautiful natural setting for a restaurant. Wicca brings all this beauty to your plate in the form of flavours. The windows of Laulasmaa La Spa Restaurant Wicca offer a majestic view of the sea through the pine trees. It would be hard to find a more beautiful natural setting for a restaurant. Wicca brings all this beauty to your plate in the form of flavours. At least one of the flavours in every dish confirms that the food's origin can be found right here in the natural surroundings.
Horisont is worthy of its lofty location on the 30th floor of the Swissotel. Since it opened, it has set such high standards in terms of food, drink and service that few restaurants on the ground floor can come close to matching them. The bar always offers cocktails with very exquisite flavours and the restaurant offers fine dining at the highest level. Horisont's standards are consistently high. A solid choice for entertaining.
The GMP Pühajärve Restaurant in the only tower block in the Pühajärve area, surrounded by the ski paths of Otepää, is a place with a long tradition. The legendary party place of the Soviet period has ripened into a restaurant that demonstrates tones and to all the undeniable charm of food that is taken straight from the field to the kitchen.
If you could describe this restaurant with just one adjective, it would be charming. The first thing you notice is the discreet and competent service provided by the staff, who are always on hand. It continues with a sip of wine recommended by the sommelier that you wouldn't have thought to choose yourself. It is visible in the appearance of the dishes and pervades your senses with its aromas.
The Hedon Hotel and its spa are undoubtedly among the best in Estonia, as is the hotel's Raimond restaurant. The food alone shows that the restaurant dares to experiment. This is the birthplace of Pärnu's culinary style. The service is elegant. Local craft drinks are well represented on the drinks list.
Rudolf is an elegant restaurant. The interior has strong Nordic influences, but the ambience is truly French. A glass of champagne is always the perfect drink, and the hearty onion soup is one of the most requested dishes. There are several French restaurants in Tallinn, but they can't quite compete with Rudolf's elegant service. Rudolf is like a French Academy of Etiquette in Tallinn.
Located in a small wooden building next to the large Kadriorg Park, the restaurant is designed to represent the Mediterranean spirit of Estonian life. The competent and always young and cheerful service will advise each guest on the most suitable dish and drink. However, the tasting menu is the restaurant's best experience.
Kalana is a small village on the island of Hiiumaa. It's a place where the bold and the beautiful gather in the summer months. One of the reasons to come here is KalanaÄÄR, a holiday-style restaurant in an old boathouse. The pizzas straight from the stone oven and the fresh fish straight from the smokehouse are hard to resist. You are guaranteed a hip drink to complement your meal from one of Estonia's best sommeliers.
In recent years, the Baltic Sea has been unpredictable and it's hard to be sure of a good catch, but something is always caught. Toomas Leedu, the chef at Kuursaal Restaurant, gets the first pick of that 'something'. That is why the restaurant's main menu is always accompanied by a separate daily fresh fish menu. On the worst days, the menu consists of two lines, but there is always something eye-catching.
Life literally follows the sun at Lore, a bistro on the pier of Noblessner's harbour. As soon as the sun comes out from behind the clouds, the bistro is filled with people wanting to eat, drink and socialise. But don't underestimate Lore on a gloomy day. If you run out of things to talk about, the food will make up for it. Eclectically prepared from local ingredients, it boldly incorporates flavours from all over the world and is paired with drinks from an extensive menu.
During the Soviet era, Tuljak was built in the Flower Pavilion so that the whole complex could be seen as an example of the success of socialism. In the early years of Estonia's regained independence, the Carina restaurant on this site was like a bright dream of what life would be like in the future. Now the dream has come true. Tuljak is one of the most stylish restaurants in Estonia, both inside and out, and the food and drinks are equally impressive.