Restaurants
Restaurants & Dining
STENHUS
Pühavaimu 13/15 / 699 7780 / www.schlossle-hotels.com
Since 2004, this sublime restaurant and its chef de cuisine Tõnis Siigur have been winning top culinary prizes every year for their outstanding food and service. Their menu changes frequently but is always a fine balance between the traditionally elegant and the surprise of innovative ingredient pairings. Time seems to stop here, burrowed as it is in a cosy, limestone-walled cellar. Leave room for an unforgettable dessert – such as a tangy tomato and strawberry gazpacho with basil ice cream.
CHEDI
Sulevimägi 1 / 646 1676 / www.chedi.ee
Newcomer Chedi serves consistently superlative cuisine. The food is mainly East Asian, incouding dim sum, with a few fusion twists such as duck in pepper sauce. Chedi is also worth visiting for the interiors alone. The heavy furniture and dark tones somehow combine to create both spaciousness and privacy, at once being both exclusive and welcoming.
MERCADO
Lõõtsa 6 / 617 7135 / www.mercado.ee
The largest dining spot in Estonia may seem slightly out of the way (near the airport), but it’s just a ten-minute drive from the centre, and well worth the ‘trip’. Located in a redeveloped former industrial zone, this expansive dining emporium is self-serve and reasonably-priced, and also boasts one of the few gourmet specialty shops in the country. The simple food – Caesar salads, vegetable ragouts and especially the heavenly cakes – are well worth the trip thanks to head chef Imre Kose’s inventive and aesthetic touch.
MUSI
Niguliste 6 / 644 3100 / www.musi.ee
For a relaxed bite to eat and sumptuous wine, head to this cosy little gem decked out with graceful wood paneling and soft pastels. The menu is small but excellent and meant to complement the heady selection of wines on offer.
OLDE HANSA
Vana Turg 1 / 627 9020 / www.oldehansa.ee
One of the few ‘touristy’ places worth recommending in the centre of the Old Town Olde Hansa is better than its medieval-themed schtick might sound. Exuberant, friendly staff in courtly garb serve ‘authentic’ Middle Ages fare, including wild boar and elk. Juniper cheese is among the highlights (no, really).
AED
Rataskaevu 8 / 626 9088 / www.restoranaed.ee
This Old Town charmer takes freshness and healthy eating seriously – all dishes are made from organic or near-organic produce (even the edible flowers which adorn your plate). This is no Vegan co-op though; there’s an abundance of meat on the menu and the atmosphere and prices are as elegant and lofty as in Old Town’s finest restaurants. Typical dishes? Try the trout stuffed with cauliflower and celery or the barley pea stew.
GLORIA RESTAURANT & WINE CELLAR
Müürivahe 2 / 640 6800 / www.gloria.ee
An important part of Tallinn’s food map since 1937, Condė Nast is just one publication to name check Gloria as one of the world’s best restaurants. Renowned chef de cuisine Dmitri Demjanov still wows guests with refined food. The sedate, resplendent Old World interior is perfect for a luxurious, private dining experience. The wine cellar is spectacular if you find the tables at the end of the labyrinthine corridors and dine among the vintage bottles.
VANEMA JUURES
Rataskaevu 10/12 / 626 9080 / vanaema.juures@mail.ee
Much of traditional Estonian fare here ‘At Grandma’s’ is a blend of German and Scandinavian but it manages to reach perfection in these dishes through the lighter, more modern approach to traditionally rather rich, heavy fare, such as herring or pork roast with sauerkraut. Its Old Town cellar location makes you feel like you’re dining in the living room of a well-off but country-dwelling elderly relative. Even the waitresses remind you of kindly aunts once-removed. Highly recommended for its deceptively simple, deeply satisfying food.
VERTIGO
Rävala 4 / 666 3456 / www.vertigo.ee
A fashionable place to be seen this combo restaurant-lounge bar is perched atop the 9th floor of City Plaza in the city’s modern downtown core, boasting nice views and very popular summer terrace. The menu is diverse enough to satisfy small and large appetites and is definitely exclusive, but the fanciness of the ingredients and attention to aesthetics never overshadows what’s most important: taste, as in the tuna tartar or the lamb ragout.
NOP
Köleri 1 / 603 2270 / www.nop.ee
Somewhere between a corner store and a health food café, Nop is a pleasant and down-to-earth addition to the Tallinn food scene. Simple in décor and environmentally-friendly in spirit, NOP incorporates ingredients foreign to the unwordly Estonian palette like coriander, hummus and lentils. The chefs use organic or locally-grown produce whenever possible in their simple, light offerings. The breakfasts are the healthiest in town with spelt porridge, thyme-infused plums and spinach ‘egg carbonara’. It’s located just off the main Narva road at the very beginning of the pretty Kadriorg district.
TCHAIKOVSKY
Vene 9 / 600 0610 / www.telegraafhotel.com
Voted locally Estonia’s best restaurant in 2007, this is among the best places to try out Russian cuisine in Tallinn without being subjected to kitsch folk costumes. Fear not, however: caviar and vodka shots are part of the scenario. The cuisine celebrates the long-standing love affair between France and Russia by fusing both cuisines into something truly delectable. Try the Siberian pelmeni for starters followed by pigeon with juniper sauce. All this in a small, delicately restrained setting made airy and spacious by high ceilings and a wall of leaves.