The Best Cafés in Helsinki
Finland’s oldest bakery is a proper institution with table service and chandeliers. It was opened by Fredrik Ekberg as a French-Russian confectionery in 1852 and is now run by descendant Otto Ekberg. The Napoleon cake follows an unchanged recipe; the Alexander Torte honours Czar Alexander I.
Inspired by Tokyo, Paris, and Copenhagen, the seasonal pastries could include matcha tiramisu, Basque cheesecake, and cardamom buns with a twist. Andante doubles as a flower shop with three decades of history; the Japanese baristas pull espresso with precision. A favorite in the Design District.
Founded by childhood friends Svante Hampf and Benjamin Andberg, Kaffa grew from a garage experiment to Finland’s largest artisan roastery. Guests can watch the roasting on a 50-year-old Probat through glass; the School of Coffee trains baristas next door. Voted Finland’s best coffee shop in 2017 and 2019.
Behind a narrow glass door on the main street Aleksanterinkatu, a staircase leads up to the café where this third-wave chain began in 2009. Jens Hampf runs the café while his brother Svante roasts the beans at Kaffa Roastery. Weekend brunch in the light-filled rooms is highly popular.
Cinnamon buns stack high in the display of this small café in the Art Nouveau district of Ullanlinna. The Romanian couple Cosmin and Cristina Tatosian bake everything in-house and pull espresso from top European roasters. The terrace catches afternoon sun by the park.
The Helsinki outpost of the Swedish specialty roastery uses a brick warehouse from the 19th century that once served as the Russian tsar’s stables. Single-origin pour-overs, Chemex, and Aeropress share the menu with raw cakes from pastry maker Suvi Tikamo. Harbor views from the terrace.
Single-origin beans from Helsinki’s Good Life roastery, ranking among the world’s top five percent, define this bohemian coffee bar. Pastries arrive from quality bakeries across the city, including croissants from Greenbake. All-day breakfast, seven days a week.
In 2018, four friends from fine-dining restaurant Grön, Good Life Coffee, and Let Me Wine joined forces for a common project: a bakery in a former dentist’s practice where sourdough is proofed for 48 hours. Not only the bread but also their reinvented cinnamon buns create queues.
Ornate ceilings, stained glass, and a fresco by Vilho Sjöström fill this 200-year-old Art Nouveau space on the Esplanade. This flagship café, run by Robert Paulig’s children, houses a gelato factory and a bakery known for its cinnamon rolls. A grand piano invites spontaneous performances.
The red wooden cottage sits on the shore of Taivallahti Bay, near the Sibelius Monument. Built in 1887 as a fishnet shed for the Paulig coffee family, it became a café in 2002 and won Best Café in Helsinki in 2014. Cinnamon buns, blueberry pie, and sausages grilled over an open fire.
The 1925 Art Deco building in Töölö houses a roastery with Peruvian roots and a gelato lab that has won multiple national competitions. Head roaster Iván develops both the coffee profiles and the frozen flavors. Try the coffee gelato: it captures both crafts in one scoop.
The Fazer café, established by Karl Fazer in 1891 as a French-Russian confectionery, marks the starting point of Finland’s most famous chocolate company. Parts of the original interior remain; confectioners still work behind glass. The chocolate cake remains a house signature.
Velvet sofas, curated fashion rails, and the scent of fresh baking fill the Relove flagship address, opened in 2016. Browse designer secondhand finds between bites of avocado toast or house-baked pastries. Vegan and gluten-free options are always available, as well as light breakfast and lunch dishes.