alko

A short walk from Market Square is Helsinki’s old dame of market halls – Vanhakauppahalli.

Built in 1888,Vanhakauppahalli (Old Market Hall) was recently closed for renovations and reopened in June 2014. The building is a cultural heritage site and protected by the National Board of Antiquities.

On a cold winter’s day, with the wind coming in off the Baltic Sea, it’s a relief to get inside those heavy front doors. Inside, a walkway circles the hall, shouldered on either side by cafes, bakeries and fishmongers.

There are also greengrocers selling seasonal produce from Finland and overseas. It’s a great place to go for specialty mushrooms and berries, as well as big suolakurkku (gherkins) you scoop out of an open bucket.

For lunch I usually head straight for Soppakeittiö (Soup Kitchen) where the menu always consists of one meat soup, one vegetarian and their delicious seafood boullabaisse, served with lemon-infused sour cream.

On my most recent visit however I stopped at Story, where the food counter is sure to whet your appetite. I had a cappuccino (equivalent of a NZ flat white) and lohileipa (smoked salmon on bread).

After lunch I walked the circuit, marvelling at the number of things you can do with salmon. In my mind I always hear the southern drawl of Bubba from the movie Forrest Gump (salmon bbq, salmon cocktail, salmon pie…..).

There are other forms of protein on offer for the more adventurous too, like Russian King Crab and Spanish jamon.

As well as traditional Finnish offerings there is also a vegetarian cafe and a stall selling Vietnamese filled-rolls, spring rolls and salads.

And there’s an Alko, the only store in Finland selling wine and spirits. This one is touted as being ‘the world’s smallest Alko’ (which is a little bit like American teams winning the ‘World Series’ in a competition only open to American teams).

There are other Market Halls in Helsinki but this is one of my favourites. If you get a table by the window you can watch the ferry to Suomenlinna making it’s way past the huge cruise ships churning up the frozen sea.

Go with a friend or go on your own – just make sure you go. I’ll be the one making my way from coffee, to soup to dessert and back as I make my way around Old Market Hall.

Vanhakauppahalli – Eteläranta, Helsinki

Ravintola Story

Note: I was approached by Meetings Booker to write about my favourite meeting place in Helsinki. This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts are my own (as was that open salmon sandwich, which I cannot stop thinking about). www.meetingsbooker.com

Despite being at different ends of the globe, New Zealand and Finland have a few things in common – one of them being a strong drinking culture. There are subtle differences in the approach and underlying reasons for this love of drinking, but one that stands out is how people in Finland obtain their alcohol.

Like Finnish supermarkets, those in New Zealand sell beer – but they also sell wine. In fact, they often have tastings where you can sip on a (plastic) glass of wine while you shop. In Finland however, the supermarkets can’t sell anything that contains more than 4.7% alcohol.

So while Finnish supermarkets have vast selections of beer and cider, you won’t find anything stronger. Cans are also sold individually if you desire, which is a bit different to how it is generally sold in New Zealand.

Anything with a higher alcohol content is sold at Alko stores, which are owned wholly by the Finnish government. There are 350 stores around Finland and while their website says 90% of Finns live within 10km of a store, they can be surprisingly hard to find.

Being a monopoly, prices are standard across all Alko stores – and so is the selection, although some stores will stock a bigger range than others. If there’s a quantity or item you want for a special occasion you can order it in (although most Finns will go to Estonia or Russia for cheap booze and bring it back by the car load for a wedding).

In Alko stores, wines are sorted by country, in alphabetical order. There’s often a good range of organic wines and lots of spirits, including Finnish vodkas. Finns aren’t traditionally big wine drinkers, but the biggest selling items in the last quarter were white wines and red wines, followed by vodka and spirits.

The Alko website claims that 80% of Finns are happy with the current arrangements, however the Opposition Party in Finland has called for taxes on alcohol to be dropped, saying Finns live in a prohibition era. They claim the government’s involvement in alcohol sales leaves the main population punished for the drinking problems of a few, without the underlying reasons people drink being addressed.

In the meantime, I’m missing the great range of Australian and New Zealand wines back home, but am learning a bit about European ones – at more affordable prices. And while you can’t just pick up a bottle of red with your groceries, perhaps the time it has taken for me to find the nearest Alko will save me from becoming one.

Hey Helsinki

A New Zealand girl in Finland

Meet me at Old Market Hall

Where’s the wine? Ask the Alko

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