Did anyone actually think you’d get through this massive Porvoo saga without this post?
Back to my favourite cafe in Porvoo, Helmi (meaning ‘pearl’ in Finnish) cafe!
Have I ever bragged about the cake counter before? I know it’s not all vegan but… just look at those colours and textures!
The tea was served in these lovely cups (notice the star and crescent moon shapes in the tea strainer). And on the left you can see an actual, real, heavy-duty meringue.
Vegetarian spinach-olive-pie above.
Needless-to-even-say-how-rich slice of chocolate cake with a cuppa.
Even though the day of this visit was a bit on the cloudy and rainy side, the temperature was still high enough to enjoy the last moments of summer breeze in the garden of the cafe.
Before anyone asks: yes, I know what ‘fanny’ means in the British context. And that’s exactly why I wanted to name this post as such. (Although I think that in this context, ‘Fanny’ is referring to a popular old Finnish-Swedish feminine first name.)
And in the reality that’s the actual name of this lovely little cafe I visited last time in Porvoo.
The preparedness to serve high-quality teas was the first thing that got my eye!
There was quite a good selection of food and beverages (including various smoothies!). Unfortunately I can’t recall anything being 100% vegan on the menu so I just focused on taking pictures and sipping my standard choice: coffee with oat milk.
Cafe Fanny is quite spacious inside but also decorated with selected vintage items that give that needed occasional splash of colour. One of my favourite ones were these green chairs above!
The cafe is located next to the town hall plaza and is quite a popular place especially during the summer season when the terrace area is opened.
The interior of Cafe Fanny divides into a couple of old rooms where you can sit down for a moment with a cup of coffee – and maybe even a croissant (evidence below).
This time I want to give you a glimpse of the well-known hipster area of Helsinki called Kallio (meaning ‘rock’ as in the solid ground in the context of geology). Above you can see the tall landmark which is the church of Kallio behind Karhupuisto (the bear park, named after the bear statue I didn’t get a shot of unfortunately).
A view from ‘Piritori‘ (direct translation is ‘the park of speed’ – but don’t let it scare you) next to the Sörnäinen/Sörnäs metro entrance.
For a tourist, I’d definitely recommend taking the metro and exiting in ‘Sörnäinen/Sörnäs‘ and walking towards the Kallio area located between Hämeentie and Helsinginkatu (use your phones or ask anyone).
The pictures below are taken from Vaasankatu which is right next to Helsinginkatu near the ‘Sörnäinen/Sörnäs’ metro entrance.
Veggie junk food restaurant ‘Soi Soi‘ is actually one of the places where I used to hang out with my boyfriend-at-the-time years ago. The food can be delicious (if they get your order right), but this time I had another place close by that I wanted to try out.
I’ve been walking past Just Vege for the longest time without actually checking it out (though I’ve seen many satisfied faces inside) – but now I had even planned it out…
The interiors are pretty small (like basically in every restaurant in the Kallio area) but they do also take-out meals. Especially during the lunch times the place can be packed but it shouldn’t be impossible to get your order through with an app or a phone call.
There’s also a lot of vegan and gluten-free options (for example the falafel!) for those of us with allergies or digestive issues. If you know what I mean.
The red sauces though!
Finally moving on to the actual food part of this post: just out of curiosity I had to have the meze platter. The majority of the components, like the falafel, hummus, salsas and bread, I absolutely adored and the other ones were okay. I mean, in general, everything was absolutely delicious, but when it comes to eating out, I kinda expect the food to taste fancier than the stuff I can prepare at home. Nevertheless, the meze platter is a healthy and tasty option for eating out!
The fries and the dip were SO GOOD.
My friend had the veggie halloumi burger though he wasn’t able to finish it due to the actual meat-likeness of the soy patty! I tasted it myself too, just to confirm you guys that if you’re up for the meaty flavour and texture (without harming the animals or the environment), this one is definitely for you! Overall everything was really tasty, there’s no doubt about it. But if you’re one of us old-school vegetarians who actually still prefer vegetables over fake meats, I’d recommend trying something else inside your hamburger bun. And they do have a lot of options for that as well.
I hope you all have a wonderful day (or night, depending)! Be sure to stay tuned for my upcoming posts since I have a ton of new stories and picks of my favourite town, Porvoo…
Okay, this is the post dedicated for all of you beloved food enthusiasts out there!
I am starting with introducing you to the different kinds of bar/restaurant/taverna venues I found most typical in Kos, then moving on to introduce you to the actual drinks and meals I had.
The taverna pictured above had one of the most charming murals in Tigaki; complemented with the genuine vines framing the painting. The turquoise blue and white colour scheme was very popular everywhere in Kos.
Above one of the cafe bars in Kos town with colourful hipster-kind-of colours.
Helsinki vampire meeting point no 1.
You could easily retrieve to spend a nice siesta in some of the side alleys of Kos Town after doing some sight-seeing in the Ancient Agora or shopping in the narrow streets. This was one of the most attractive cool, shadowy spots for Scandinavian ghosts like me.
The coctails in Tigaki main street (and even in Kos town) were reasonably priced; varying from 4 euros up to 6 euros – at least less than half of the price in Helsinki. (That’s why people only drink cheap draught beer here because even one pint in the centre of Helsinki can cost whopping 7 euros!) Speaking about beer, a pint of local draught could cost from 2,5 to 3,5 euros even in Kos town. So if you’re into even occasional glasses of any alcoholic beverage, I’d say Kos is your place to go!
Just look at those vintage chair pillows!
Karma cocktail bar allowed a broke-ass student like me to try some of the classic drinks that I’d always imagined having since I saw the 1988 cult movie classic ‘Cocktail’ as a kid.
Who could resist a bartender smiling like that? Still charming in 2018!
Obviously I was only a minor in the start of the millennium when I first saw the film but the imaginary was stuck on my mind. Now that I’m an adult and can legally drink everywhere in the world I have left highly disappointed by the lack of cocktails in the drinking culture. Maybe I just haven’t found the right places (due to my not-so-tropical home country and tap-water-friendly budget) or then cocktails are simply out of fashion at the moment?
I have to say that in the heat of the mid-summer in Greece, I mostly stuck with cold beverages (such as home-made lemonade and iced tea) and smoothies. The one pictured above had fresh strawberries and coconut!
Many of the restaurants had these removable cloths covering the actual table cloth underneath it. I found the maps to be quite ingenious since they allow you to plan your future day trips across the island – or reminisce the already made ones while you are waiting for your order to arrive.
Another picture of Restaurant Tigaki though usually the place was (luckily for me!) filled with cats spending their afternoon away from the burning sun.
The drinks are cool and flavoured with fresh citrus fruit and herbs. Above is my first holiday drink – a strawberry mojito!
Aaaand the best vegan meal prize goes to this epic vegetable roll that I had on several occasions in the Ammos beach bar. The wrap felt like home-made, the veggies tasted sweet and fresh – and the price was only 4,5 euros for two large wraps that could easily keep the hunger away until the dinner time! Ammos also had a large menu of cocktails and smoothies; some of the latter being vegan-based (made in almond milk). How about a nice banana-peanut butter smoothie to cool you down before a swim in the sea?
I would definitely recommend this place since the food is heavenly good and the etheric playlist goes hand in hand with the white-themed chilled venue. Best prices, music and active staff in Kos!
Another cool restaurant with chilling places in the shadow and breath-taking mountain views located in Kefalos.
My friend’s halloumi dish with sesame seeds and balsamic vinegar on top.
In general, I’d say that Greece is an excellent holiday resort especially for vegetarians since the Greek kitchen does use a lot of fresh veggies that usually are served with something dairy-based, like feta cheese.
I had these chick pea patties that I flavoured with some locally-produced olive oil and vinegar. Another quite common veggie dish was ‘fried zucchini balls’ that were served with dairy-based tzatziki sauce. Also dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) were served with that sauce – just make sure that they don’t have minced meat in them as well.
Mysterious Yellow 