2 Best Restaurants in Helsinki, Finland

Hidden away in the Eira district on Helsinki's most elegant art nouveau residential street, tiny Ora is the antithesis of pretentious gourmet dining, although its creativity and sense of fun has earned it a Michelin star. All ingredients—apart from salt—are produced or foraged locally, and the menu is exquisitely crafted, with foraged herbs and fresh seasonal vegetables complementing fish and meat creations. Intimacy is not sacrificed in what feels like an expanded home dining room, with tables turned toward the open kitchen. When the owner-chef Sasu Laukkonen is cooking, be ready for an especially cheerful, proud, and enthusiastic greeting. Possibly the best of a confident new wave of Michelin-awarded eateries in the capital, Ora is hard to beat for a cozy, special-occasion splurge in Helsinki.

Given that its airy dining room was designed by Alvar Aalto and overlooks the Esplanade, it's no surprise that the Savoy is a popular spot for business lunches or occasion dining. This was Finnish statesman Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim's favorite restaurant (in the late 1800s); he is rumored to have introduced the vorschmack (minced lamb and anchovies) recipe here. Savoy's menu usually includes reindeer fillet and a changing menu of inventive fresh fish dishes, such as juniper-smoked lavaret with chanterelles and grilled Mangalitza pork.