Signature dishes of Estonia in Tallinn
Estonian food is rye bread, smoked fish, pork, dairy and forest produce. Here are 8 dishes worth ordering and the specific restaurants doing them well.
Plate of black bread, smoked fish and pickled cucumber
Everyday classics
Leivasupp — sweet dark-bread soup with cream, served warm or cold, oddly delicious. Verivorst — blood sausage with barley, traditionally Christmas but on menus year-round. Sült — pork brawn in jelly, an acquired texture. Hapukapsas — sauerkraut braised with pork. Kama — a roasted grain flour eaten with kefir and berries, weirdly moreish. Try all of them at Rataskaevu 16 (book ahead, $18-24 mains) or Leib Resto ($22-28) which is more refined and has a garden.
The seafood
Smoked Baltic herring (suitsuräim) is the everyday luxury — buy at Balti Jaam Market for $6 a plate. Kilu on rye bread — tiny sprats on black bread with butter and hard-boiled egg — is the national canapé. Fresh Baltic sprats grilled at Altja Kõrts in Lahemaa. In Tallinn proper, MEKK on Toompea and NOA on the coast (Ranna tee) both do serious seasonal seafood, tasting menus $85-145.
Sweets and drinks
Kohuke — glazed curd bars in every supermarket, $0.80 each, best snack in the country. Marzipan from Kalev, made in Tallinn since 1806. Vana Tallinn liqueur — rum-based, sweet, drunk in coffee or hot chocolate. Kama-flavoured ice cream at La Muu on Pärnu maantee. Local craft beer at Põhjala Tap Room ($6-8 a pint) in Noblessner — the porters and IPAs are excellent.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they set off on this one.
Yes, especially in the new-Nordic register — smoked fish, wild herbs, rye and dairy done well. The old peasant food is an acquired taste.
Rataskaevu 16 for a friendly introduction, Leib Resto for a refined version, Von Krahli Aed for seasonal vegetables done seriously.
Leivasupp (bread soup) and kama. Both are uniquely Estonian and cost under $6 in most cafés.
Yes — Vegan Restoran V on Rataskaevu 12 is properly good, and most modern restaurants have serious veg options. Traditional food is heavy on pork though.
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