Weekender: Tallinn
Eat your way around Estonia’s medieval capital, stopping for cardamom buns, quince cocktails and duck with ‘tipsy’ cowberries
Eat your way around Estonia’s capital, stopping for cardamom buns, quince cocktails and duck with ‘tipsy’ cowberries
1 Hip sips Tropical chic meets Nordic cool at Parrot MiniBar. Try cocktails inspired by the owners’ love of travel (‘Bon Vivant’ is made with vodka, quince and lemongrass cordial), alongside locally inspired snacks including macarons with cowberries (foraged, and deliciously tart). @parrotminibar 2 Breakfast buns Inside the recently redeveloped Rotermann Quarter, with its clutch of independent stores and cafés, Røst bakery specialises in two things and does them both extremely well: Scandinavian-style cinnamon and cardamom buns made on site, and great coffee sourced directly from roasters. rost.ee 3 New Nordic The ‘New Estonian’ cuisine at Juur is worth the 15-minute drive from Tallinn. Try the duck with ‘tipsy’ cowberries, lamb from Hiiumaa island with hemp-flour bread and carrot mustard, or wild mushroom ice cream – all served on speckled crockery. restoranjuur.ee 4
Baltic fast food Looking like a gingerbread house but operating like a workers’ canteen, Lido Solaris is a Baltic fast-food chain offering good-value dishes, mostly made from scratch. Regulars love the gigantic pan of spuds slowly sautéed until they caramelise. lido.ee 5
Five-a-day Ülo champions plant-based dishes (without entirely shunning meat or fish) and fuses global flavours with local ingredients. Try the mushroom ramen with aubergines and lime leaf, or chamomile meringue with quince mousse. @Kopli16
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To market The Balti Jaam market, run down during Soviet times but recently renovated, retains plenty of charm. Grannies sell their own produce (the best sauerkraut!) next to artisanal bakeries (pick up a rye sourdough from Muhu kiosk), confectionary stands (thin, rolled waffles from Waffle Fairies) and street-food stalls (look out for Taiwanese bao with Estonian kimchi at Baojamm). @jaamaturg
7 Comfort food The retro décor at Nikolay Café includes mismatched furniture and kitsch lamps, but there’s nothing outdated about the menu. It focusses on pirogi, amply filled Russian pies made with brioche-like dough. Choose by the slice from savoury (try the kurnik, with chicken, rice and mushrooms) or sweet (the one with tvorog – curd cheese – is a must). nikolay.ee 8
Smokin’ BBQ joint One Sixty, set in a bikers’ store in the trendy Telliskivi area, is as cool as it gets. Order the 10-hour, hickory-smoked ribs and a pint of Tanker, the local craft beer. onesixty.ee
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Experience dining Ööbiku, a 45-minute drive from the city centre, started life as a pop-up in a renovated farmhouse. Now it’s open five days a week, serving five-course menus cooked by Kristina and Ants (a judge on Estonia’s Bake Off). Try local lamb with burnt celeriac purée, and traditional karask bread with handwhipped soured cream butter. oobiku.ee 10
Modern Estonian A tiny, bustling basement restaurant, Salt draws its influences from both Estonia and Asia (try the deer tartar with fir aïoli, or the caramelised guinea fowl with pickled peaches, pumpkin-ginger cream and lime-orange sauce). Owner Tiina tends the tables herself, and is happy to recommend local ciders. saltrestoran.ee