Sea Horse

Sea Horse (Silakka-Hevonen in some local usage) is a long-established classic Finnish restaurant at Kapteeninkatu 11 in the Eira and Punavuori area of Helsinki, in Uusimaa, southern Finland. It is widely regarded as one of the city's most enduring places for traditional home-style Finnish cooking, and it draws a mix of local regulars, office groups and visitors who want a dependable introduction to the national kitchen without the formality of a fine-dining room. The cooking is rooted in old Helsinki restaurant tradition rather than chef-driven reinvention, so the menu reads as a catalogue of dishes Finns grew up with.

The emblematic order is the onion steak (sipulipihvi), a pan-fried beef cut served with caramelised onions and sauce, followed closely by fried Baltic herring (paistettu silakka), which comes with mashed potato and lingonberry. Other signature dishes include vorschmack, a minced lamb-and-herring dish of Russian-Finnish origin, and Viennese schnitzel, which has a long history on Helsinki menus. Herring platters are a common starter and suit groups who want to sample several preparations. Portions are generous and the plates are meant to be hearty rather than delicate.

The dining room is retro in character, with a nostalgic, slightly formal-but-relaxed atmosphere. Noise levels rise in the evening when tables fill, but conversation remains easy. There is no strict dress code; smart casual is typical. The beverage list leans on beer, aquavit and straightforward wines that pair with salty fish and rich meat dishes, and a glass of cold snaps with herring is a customary choice.

Prices sit in the mid-range for Helsinki, around the $$ level, with mains typically in the high teens to mid-twenties in euros. Reservations are recommended, particularly from Thursday to Saturday and in the run-up to Christmas, when traditional Finnish menus are in high demand. Booking is possible online through seahorse.fi, by phone on +358 9 628 169, or by email. The kitchen closes about 1.5 hours before the stated closing time, and the restaurant is closed on 24 and 25 December 2026, so late arrivals should plan accordingly.