Finland's range of restaurants and dining options has expanded significantly in recent years, and in addition to excellent menus comprising fresh, in-season Finnish ingredients, the country also caters for just about every conceivable ethnic taste, from Chinese and Thai to Lebanese and Brazilian.
In summer new potatoes, fresh vegetables, salmon, whitefish and Baltic herring are among the Finnish treats on offer. Crayfish are in season from late July through September. Mushrooms and game figure prominently later in the autumn. Cloudberries, blueberries and lingonberries are often served for dessert. In winter fish, such as burbot, whitefish and other members of the salmon family, often hauled from under the thick ice covering the sea and lakes, remains popular.
Restaurants have no general requirements as to dress, although some up-market establishments may prefer men to wear jacket and tie. Restaurant closing hours vary from 22.00 to 03.00. Night clubs are open until three or four in the morning. A few dance restaurants and discotheques may charge an admission fee of between 1.5 to 5 euros, and night clubs up to 10 euros.
Finland à la carte
Finnish dishes are prepared from pure natural raw ingredients. Each region has its own traditional dishes, dictated by local preferences and based on the type of produce most readily available. To savour these, you should try the à la carte menus devised in each region to introduce visitors to local fare.
The islands and Swedish-speaking province of Åland have their own distinctive menu, Skärgårdssmak, or ‘island flavours', for example. Naturally enough, fish features prominently. Karelia à la carte focuses on the Karelian buffet traditions and wholesome stews and casseroles. The Lapland à la carte features reindeer meat, the many species of local fish, the distinctive Lapp puikula potato and, naturally, berries.
A series of books and leaflets is available on tracing the culinary routes through Finland: Lapland à la Carte consists of three gourmet routes through Lapland. Kainuu à la Carte explores regional specialities in eastern and western Finland. Karelia à la Carte takes a refreshing new look at the recipes of this eastern region. The Uusimaa menu is a collection of recipes from southern Finland.
The Helsinki Menu can be sampled in many restaurants in the Greater Helsinki area. The goal is to promote and increase the knowledge of Finnish gastronomic culture and to improve the quality of Finnish produce, selecting the best-quality raw materials.
Service charges and tipping: Service charges are included in hotel room rates and also in restaurant prices, but although it is not expected, there's nothing to stop customers giving an extra tip if they think service warrants it.
Value added tax is added to invoices and normally included in the displayed total price for goods and products in Finnish shops and restaurants. The standard rate for VAT, the initials for which are ALV in Finnish, is 22 per cent, with a rate of 17 per cent for food and animal feed and 8 per cent for transport.
Pets are not generally welcomed in Finnish restaurants.
Drinking Age
In Finland a person aged 20 can buy alcoholic drinks of any kind from an Alko store. People over 18 years of age and over can buy mild alcoholic drinks containing at most 22 per cent alcohol by volume, such as wines and beers. The sale of wine and spirits to the under-18s is prohibited by law. Customers may be asked to show a passport, identification card or driving licence as proof of age.
The retail sale of alcoholic beverages in Finland is a monopoly run along the same lines as in the other Nordic countries (with the exception of Denmark). Retail sales of alcohol take place through the Alko stores. Medium beer is also sold in supermarkets and other stores. Alko stores are open from Monday to Friday 09.00 - 18.00 (20.00), Saturdays 09.00 - 16.00 (18.00).
In Finland any person who has reached the age of 18 may buy alcoholic beverages in a restaurant. Restaurants serve beer from 09.00 and other alcoholic beverages from 11.00. Service of alcohol ends half an hour before restaurant closing. The basic measure is 4 cl for spirits, 8 cl for fortified wines and 12 cl for table wines when ordered by the glass. Beer is generally served in third-of-a-litre bottles or half-litre draft measures. Not all restaurants are licensed to serve all alcoholic beverages.
Local vodka and liquors flavoured with local berries - cloudberry, arctic bramble and cranberry, for example - are popular. There are also many breweries, including an increasing number of macro breweries and restaurant breweries, while locally produced cider is also in great demand.
The blood/alcohol limit in Finland is 0.05. Travelers should be aware that drink driving laws are strict. Police strictly enforce all traffic laws and institute random roadside breathalyser tests. Those drivers who register a .05 or above alcohol content are subject to immediate arrest.
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