ESTONIA - Scandinavia - page 1036

ables, mushrooms, dill, garlic, bread, and soup. Pea soup is a local specialty.
You usually get a few slices of bread as a free, automatic side dish (as in the
rest of the ex-USSR). A typical pub snack is Estonian garlic bread (küüslaug-
uleivad) —deep-fried strips of dark rye bread smothered in garlic and served
with a dipping sauce. Estonia's Saku beer is good, cheap, and on tap at most
eateries. Try the nutty, full-bodied Tume variety.
Dining in the Old Town
Estonian Restaurants
(See “Talinn Hotels & Restaurants” map, here .)
Vanaema Juures (“Grandma's Place”), an eight-table cellar restaurant,
serves homey, traditional Estonian meals, such as pork roast with sauerkraut
and horseradish. This is a fine bet for local cuisine, and dinner reservations
are strongly advised. No tacky medieval stuff here—just good food at fair
prices in a pleasant ambience, where you expect your waitress to show up
with her hair in a bun and wearing granny glasses (€8-17 main dishes, Mon-
Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-18:00, Rataskaevu 10/12, tel. [phone], Ava
mothers you).
Restorant Aed is an elegant, almost gourmet, health-food eatery calling
itself “the embassy of pure food.” While not vegetarian, it is passionate
about serving modern, organic Estonian cuisine in a woody, romantic setting
(€7-14 main dishes, Mon-Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-18:00, Rataskaevu 8,
tel. [phone]).
At Leib, at the seaside end of the Old Town, you enter up steps into a
fun garden under the medieval walls, and can sit indoors or out. As at other
reasonably-priced places, a great three-course meal costs no more than €20:
Try pea soup (€4.50), followed by free-range chicken (€10) and a €4 dessert
(daily 12:00-23:00, Uus 31, tel. [phone]).
Mekk is a small, fresh, more upscale place whose name stands for “mod-
ern Estonian cuisine.” They offer two great deals: artful weekday lunch spe-
cials for just €5, and a €30 four-course set-price menu for serious eaters.
Young, elegant locals take their lunch breaks here (€16-25 main dishes, Mon-
Sat 12:00-23:00, closed Sun, Suur-Karja 17/19, tel. [phone]).