FINLAND - Scandinavia - page 961

Strindberg isalsopopular(atthecorneroftheEsplanadeandMikonkatu).
Downstairs is an elegant café with outdoor and indoor tables great for people-
watching (€8-9 sandwiches and salads). The upstairs cocktail lounge—with
big sofas and bookshelves giving it a den-like coziness—attracts the after-
work office crowd. Also upstairs, the inviting restaurant has huge main dishes
for €18-26, with fish, meat, pasta, and vegetarian options; reserve in advance
to try to get a window seat overlooking the Esplanade (restaurant open Mon
11:00-23:00, Tue-Sat 11:00-24:00, closed Sun; café open Mon 9:00-23:00,
Tue-Sat 9:00-24:00, Sun 10:00-22:00, Pohjoisesplanadi 33, tel. [phone]).
Functional Eating
(See “Central Helsinki Hotels & Restaurants” map, here .)
Lasipalatsi, the renovated, rejuvenated 1930s Glass Palace, is on Mannerhei-
mintie between the train and bus stations. The café (with a youthful terrace
on the square out back) offers a self-service lunch buffet for €12 on week-
days and a €15 brunch on weekends; there are always €5 sandwiches and
€4 cakes (lunch/brunch served 11:00-15:00, café open Mon-Fri 7:30-22:00,
Sat 9:00-23:00, Sun 11:00-22:00, more expensive restaurant upstairs—closed
Sun, across from post office at Mannerheimintie 22-24, tel. [phone]).
Dressy Splurge Dinners
(See “Central Helsinki Hotels & Restaurants” map, here .)
Savoy Restaurant, where locals go for a special occasion, is expensive,
formal, and drenched in Alvar Aalto design. Everything—from the chairs and
lampshades to the doors—is 1937 original. The food is Continental with a
Finnish touch. While the glassed-in terrace offers a great eighth-floor, rooftop
view, the interior is where you'll experience a classic Finnish atmosphere
(€39-44 main courses, €80 three-course meal, €110-120 four- to five-course
meal, Mon-Fri 11:30-14:30 & 18:00-23:00, Sat 18:00-23:00, closed Sun,
Eteläesplanadi 14, tel. [phone]).
Picnics
(See “Central Helsinki Hotels & Restaurants” map, here .)