When I want to eat traditional but tasty food I either visit my mother or restaurant Sea Horse. Yesterday it was time for Sea Horse (or Sikala as many say) – we had a dinner in this nostalgic restaurant with my husband’s lovely family.

Sea Horse has been situated in Southern Helsinki, Kapteeninkatu 11, since 1934. Restaurant isn’t modern in any way – I would rather say it is proudly a bit outdated. The place has a special atmosphere – many artists, politicians and people living nearby love to dine there year in, year out. Often you can see Finnish Musician Andy McCoy (used to play in legendary Hanoi Rocks) having dinner in Sea Horse and in summer even more often you can see him on a terrace (often with his wife Angela). Customers are on average a bit older than in many other restaurants in Helsinki – however one can also see young couples and circles of students there. This is definitely a place, where everybody must visit at least once! I think Sea Horse is a great place for family dinners since the food is something loved by grandfathers as well as the little ones. And I have to say – here you can dress in any way you want – suit is as suitable as some odd costume direct from flea market or brand new from H&M.

And the food, it is very simple – no fusion, new trends or exotic tastes. Instead the menu includes many Finnish classics. I can remember I ate similar dishes when visiting my grandparents 30+ years ago. Different kinds of meats from meat balls to liver, Baltic herring and also some dishes without meat or fish. Mashed potatoes, beetroot and pickled cucumber are the “green ones” – don’t fancy something imported far away. I can believe parts of the menu I ate yesterday have been very similar fifty years ago. Very simple, very classic, very tasty!

Afterwards we went to drinks to BrewDog – it has a great selection of different beers and a bit surprisingly we found chairs to sit even Saturday night. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures in BrewDog that is another story for some other day.

Anna