Tag: bars

Tavastian Tapas

After lamenting the lack of good pub snacks here, and bragging about all the great tapas elsewhere, some sort of karmic event brought me to Olutravintola Birger in Hämeenlinna last week. Thirsty after a long bike ride, I made straight for the bar, and didn’t notice the trays of tapas until I was ready to leave.

Tray of tapas?

Turned out it was Tapas Thursday. Three or four options, 2 euros apiece. I didn’t get the chance to taste, but I have to applaud the effort. Nice pub, too. You don’t need any “service concept” nonsense to have good beer and atmosphere.

Springtime in Suvilahti

Stadin Panimobaari opened its doors yesterday amid spring showers in Suvilahti, but the rain didn’t deter a sizeable crowd from coming to check it out. I arrived just before the advertised opening time of 16:30 to find the place already full–not difficult, as it’s one of the smaller bars in town, with seating for 42 people–and there was a steady influx of visitors after that, the bar queue stretching out the door for at least the next hour.

Continue reading Springtime in Suvilahti

One Pint, no nonsense

I don’t usually do links, but I liked this straightforward review of a straightforward beer bar. At least that’s what I’ve heard–I must confess I still haven’t visited the place. One Pint Pub is a stone’s throw from Ruoholahti Metro station, and should be well worth a visit when you start to feel worn out by the hype around the Punavuori upstarts ;)

 

Knock Knock

 

We already heard that a new “American-style” beer bar is set to open next month, at the site of The Stage on Iso Roba. A little more was revealed today about the newcomer, the third new beer-focused bar to open in Helsinki in as many months.

a7c820ebe52c786b_org Continue reading Knock Knock

Beware of the Dog?

Brewdog Helsinki opened its doors shortly before Christmas, but for various reasons I haven’t managed to visit until now.* Fashionably late, I am here now to answer the question that I asked myself a year ago: is this something new that will shake up the local bar scene, or just more of the same? Continue reading Beware of the Dog?

Keep the Change

The Helsinki bar ‘scene’ has seen some changes recently, with Viisi Penniä closing its doors for renovation over the summer, and most of S-Group’s Czech-themed bars undergoing a Nordic rebranding. But is this actual progress, or mere facelift? I wandered up Mannerheimintie last weekend to find out. Continue reading Keep the Change

A Note on Conviviality

Prologue

I have only been in The Gallows Bird once before; me and a drinking buddy decided to go west instead of east for our semi-regular beer/cycle trip. It was August, it was mid-afternoon, and the place was pretty quiet. We had a couple of halves of something decent, served by a perhaps slightly gruff barman (not that there’s anything wrong with that), before saddling up and, if I recall correctly, stopping by Viisi Penniä and Janoinen Lohi on our way home. Good exercise..

For a place on the edge of a dual carriageway, sandwiched between a fire station and a couple of burger joints, Gallows Bird seemed relatively impressive. Still, I came away without any particular desire to hurry back. Continue reading A Note on Conviviality