Pretty comprehensive listings service from the 'Aktivist' network. Currently lists over 1,000 restaurants, bars and clubs in Helsinki. The main search pages are only in Finnish, but it is not difficult to work out (Click here for more help on using this service), and many of the restaurant pages have English language versions. . Or you could look at the restaurants summary page on Aktivist's "Helsinki in English" site for a more limited list of popular restaurants.
 

Consortium of 17 top restaurants in Helsinki. Provides individual web pages, and consolidated inquiry and table reservation services.
 

Promising new listings service, but very limited if you select the English option, which only lists places which have an entry in English. Printed leaflet versions are also avialable at some hotels.
 

Most of the on-line guide books have restaurant listings. Frommers and Fodors (which has user reviews) have been useful here in filling in some of the gaps left by the local services, although they only tend to list the top end restaurants. Other useful services are Yahoo! Travel, and the fair;y extensive listings on Sabre's Virtually There.

In the same street as Martta Hotelli,

Not very much like a Belgian bar or bistro at all, but a good attempt at a comfortable theme bar with wholesome food and a good selection of beer (Belgian and Finnish).

This restaurant, on the first two floors of a 1930s functionalist style appartment building near the far end of Bulevardi, was restored and reopened in 2002.

Excellent Finnish restaurant popular with artists, journos and politicians. When we were here in November 2002 we ended up giving English elocution lessons to an opera singer!

This stylish restaurant is set on the ground floor of a 1930s appartment building on the corner of Etläinen Hesperiankatu and Runeberginkantu, not far from the Temppeliaukio church (the church in the rock). It has been here since 1938, and the decor and furnishings retain all the best of that scandinavian functionalism whilst remaining cosy and comfortable. There is a pleasant time-warp feel about the whole place, and you half expect to emerge after your meal into 1960s cold war Finland. The service is quiet and professional, don't expect the waitresses to speak fluent English (most of them don't, and why should they), so it is worth learning a few basic Finnsh words (such as 'toinen' - another).

The food is a cosmopopolitan combination of continental and traditional Finnish cooking. Fish and game are the specialities, and there is always a standard such as steak, and at least one vegetarian dish. The quality of the food is excellent. We've had reindeer, bear, wild duck and snow grouse - all delicious!

By Helsinki standards this restaurant is a little out of the city centre, but it is only 4 tram stops or 20 minutes walk. It was recommended to us by English ex-pat journalist Tim Bird when we asked him for suggestions for somewhere to go for Dave's birthday in November 2000. We've been back three times since, and will almost certainly return the next time we visit Helsinki.

A bit quiet on the Friday night we visited, this place has the feel of a stylish night club, with a bar on the ground floor and restaurant and large bar on the first floor (2nd floor in Finnish counting!). The courtyard location off a relatively minor street close to the main "alternative" bar/club district enhances this image.

The food is modern Finnish/International - good quality and well presented. We ended up spending a little more than we had planned; but then we did have three courses, and two of the most expensive main courses on offer!

This establishment has several bars and dining areas extending over two floors between the Sinonkatu street frontage and the inside of the Forum shopping centre. Interesting and varied decor, it was fairly quiet when we went, but looked like it could get quite busy at times.

The food is good quality international bistro style, with generous portions (possibly too generous for what we wanted the evening we went). The menu includes substantial soups and lots of pasta, chicken, and steak dishes. Good value if you are looking for a decent hearty meal, or something lighter if you stick to one course, but probably not first choice for a special meal.

We had a really nice meal here in November 2000, not long after it first opened, and again in the summer of 2002, but unfortunately this rather promising up-market restaurant has now closed, and been replaced by a bar/club.

Stlylish reastaurant on the first floor of the famous 1930s functionalist "Glass Palace" media and cultural centre on Mannerheimintie. The non-smoking area is in the large conservatory section at the end of the building, but if you want to eat in the more vibrant, and architecturally interesting, main area, you will have to put up with smokers.

The service is efficient and friendly, and the food spot-on for this kind of establishment - effectively an up-market refectory, frequented by politicians, business people, works parties and ordinary people alike. The menu reflects this, with standard steak dishes presented alongside more traditional Finnish fare such as lamb vorschmack, sauted reindeer, and grilled herring.

The last time we tried going here (August 2002) they said that they didn't do dinner any more. Not sure if this is still true, so will try again, not least because the blini and roe was the best we have ever had!

Top class restaurant in an old brick warehouse on the North harbour quayside beneath the Uspenski cathedral. Excellent and highly memorable food, good wine list, and the largest selection of Calvados in Finland.

Only one negative point about this restaurant - we were served mineral water throughout our meal (which is a good practice), and since we had not asked for more we assumed that it was provided as part of the service. However, when we got the bill we found that we had been charged for 7 bottles of water, totalling €24.50 (about £16), which amounted to 10% of the cost of the meal. We felt that this was rather petty for a restaurant like this.

Art gallery/Restaurant. Another recommended by Tim Bird.

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