Helsinki’s best Japanese restaurants

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Ramen, udon, yakitori, tataki, tonkotsu, karaage, teriyaki, gyoza, wagyu, and, of course, sushi and sashimi. Helsinki’s Japanese restaurants include a diverse selection of relaxed izakaya style bar dishes as well as omakase dinners with the appropriate drinks to match for a longer evening. Restaurant expert Timo Santala reports to MyHelsinki on Helsinki’s noteworthiest Japanese meals.

Several of Helsinki’s Japanese restaurants offer a full omakase dinner where the chef prepares all dishes directly in front of the patrons. Latitude 25 has received plenty of praise for its 16-course omakase featuring high quality and rare ingredients such as uni, meaning sea urchin’s roe, and fatty melt-in-your-mouth toro, or tuna belly. By separate booking, a full omakase can also be enjoyed at Murasaki and Fuji Biyori, as well as at Kamome – where the 15-course menu goes by the name chef’s table.

A more traditional Japanese dinner is found at Koto – one of Finland’s oldest Japanese restaurants – as well as at the artists’ favourite Kabuki and Fuji Biyori, all featuring a somewhat typical Nordic-Japanese minimalism with subtle wood panels and humble décor – although the Studio Ghibli film posters at Kabuki add a nice kick to the interior. The lists of all three include plenty of Japanese classics from sushi and sashimi to tonkatsu, karaage, tempura, and tataki. Koto’s list also features sukiyaki and shabu-shabu hot pots, whereas Kabuki’s breathtakingly extensive menu also has udon and soba noodles. Fuji Biyori’s speciality is a selection of teppanyaki sets, each grilled in front of the diners and named after different natural elements.

A slightly more contemporary mood is in the air at the minimalist shop Muji’s café-restaurant. One enjoyable option is the Hassun menu, which is served in the evenings, and consists of a selection of seasonal starters. Sushibar+Wine is specialised in sushi and sashimi and the several locations stand for a modern European dining twist on Japanese staples in an atmosphere of trendy interiors, with a drinks list dotted with wines from many small European wineries.

One fine choice for a fine dinner is Murasaki, where Saki Tatsunori creates dishes as a one-man show on a small counter right in front of customers. Murasaki is known for carefully prepared izakaya bar snacks and Japanese homestyle classics. Kamome is another restaurant focused on izakaya and presents a diverse list, as well as set menus of five or 10 dishes. Kamome’s specialities include reindeer onigiri, matcha parfait, and an umeshu tasting of eight distinct umeshu plum liqueurs. 

A more relaxed izakaya – with moody paper lanterns and pop culture paraphernalia echoing Tokyo’s bar streets – is found at Shinobi, Kokoro, and Sake Bar & Izakaya. Shinobi serves Japanese street and bar food, a wide selection of Japanese sake, soju, beer, and whiskey, as well as creative cocktails whipped up by the restaurant’s Ra-yu cocktail bar. Shinobi’s izakaya classics include scallops fried in miso butter, tuna tataki, miso aubergine, and coal-grilled yakitori skewers. Kokoro has opted for a focus on top-quality sushi. We can recommend the beautiful and well-balanced nigiris as well as the shake crudo: a salmon sashimi paired with a truffle-ponzu broth, crispy vermicelli, and spring onion. Sake Bar & Izakaya is a small and trendy bar with the city’s best sake selection, a relaxed atmosphere, and creative dishes from all around Japan. Depending on the day, you may be served chicken nanban from Miyazaki, kakuni pork from Kyushu, grilled hamachi fish heads, a tiramisu laced with miso, or udon noodles with gorgonzola and wild mushrooms. 

Lovers of Japanese homestyle cooking and street food delicacies can head to Saburo Shokudou for delicious teishoku sets, to Mashiro for their donburi bowls, to the plentiful offerings at Fuji Biyori, the tiny deli style Owan, or Tokyo Street at the Hietalahti Market Hall. Murasaki and Muji both serve a lunch set with a main dish and several sides. 

Fat Ramen has been cooking up Helsinki’s best ramen noodle soups since 2015. The hakata and tsukemen noodles are handmade and respect Japanese tradition. Fat Ramen’s tonkotsu pork ramen is an umami-tinted explosion of flavour, yet the vegan cauliflower and tofu ramen dishes are also much loved by the crowds. 

Friends of sushi can head to many of the mentioned venues, as well as to the take away joint Sushi Wagocoro – a little hole-in-the-wall with sushi that has been deemed the best in town. 

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Ramen, udon, yakitori, tataki, tonkotsu, karaage, teriyaki, gyoza, wagyu, and, of course, sushi and sashimi. Helsinki’s Japanese restaurants include a diverse selection of relaxed izakaya style bar dishes as well as omakase dinners with the appropriate drinks to match for a longer evening.