Have you already pampered yourself with the luxurious Afternoon Tea at bistro style restaurant Salutorget?
Tea’s popularity is growing rapidly in Helsinki and the fascination of good tea has introduced continuously new ways to enjoy the refreshing beverage.
The Scandinavian restaurant Salutorget has since March elicited a breeze of British lifestyle into the Helsinkian one by exposing the well known Afternoon Tea. The Afternoon Tea is served every day except Sunday between 2pm-6pm, at a perfect time to e.g. conclude a shopping spree or before a theatre visit. The Afternoon Tea that functions as an informal indulgence is ideal for e.g. couples or groups of friends.
For tea enthusiasts Salutorget offers a selection of nine different types of tea! My personal favorite turned out to be Indian Darheeling from the Himalayas’ mountainous region. Fresh as champagne and bitterly aromatic it got under my skin.
Source: Royal restaurants
At Salutorget the Afternoon Tea consists of a pot of brewed tea, traditional British finger sandwiches, and scones with marmalade and cream cheese and bakery goods. Everything served is prepared in Salutorget’s own kitchen. Finnish treats include e.g. cucumber-cream cheese sandwiches, homemade strawberry jams and cranberry financiers. The tea moment costs €19/person, accompanied with a glass of champagne €28/person.
A simpler form of the Afternoon Tea is Cream Tea that consists of, in addition to tea, luscious scones and homemade strawberry jam, orange and pumpkin marmalade and Devonshire cream. The cream tea costs €9,70/person.
Salutorget’s Afternoon Tea and Cream Tea are served in the tea salon on Mondays to Saturdays. An advance booking is not necessary since the restaurant expands the tea service into the rest of the restaurant if so needed. The restaurant knows to tell that especially Saturdays tend to be so popular though that if one wishes to sit in the tea salon, a reservation should be made.
A couple of blocks further down the Esplanade Park, Brasserie Kämp offers a similar Afternoon Tea (€27,50/person) upon request on a daily basis at 2pm-6pm. There one can enjoy smoke salmon sandwiches, chevre-tomato quiches, scones, vanilla brûlées, macarons and cookies. The booking has to be made two days prior to the Afternoon Tea.
Can you resist this luxurious overindulgence?
For that price let’s hope the tea is served freshly brewed from boiling water, and not pre-brewed and left to sit on a coffee hotplate, or from warm water poured from a thermos, like in most other Finnish cafes…