The Old Market Hall in Helsinki

44 Replies

From The Market Square by the sea in Helsinki my little good bye tour of Helsinki continued to another wonderful market, the Old Market Hall. This beautiful building, open to public in 1889, is one of three covered market halls in Helsinki and another must place to see when visiting the Finnish capital.

The Old Market Hall opened its doors in 1889. This is when Finland was an autonomous state of Russia named the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The Old Market Hall opened its doors in 1889. This is when Finland was an autonomous state of Russia, the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The Old Market Hall has some of the best choices of food in Helsinki, from oysters to snails.

The choice of food is outstanding and includes fresh oysters, snails, crayfish and best cuts of meat, among many others.

I had already had strawberries and coffee outside by the sea, and it was now time for salmon and more coffee. A typical Finnish breakfast (just kidding!).

My mission was to overdose on Finnish delicacies before catching my flight a few hours later and I had decided there was no better way to do this than buy slices of marinated salmon and eat them with fingers!

Salmon with different flavors at Fish Shop Marja Nätti. My paradise!!

Salmon with different flavors and ways of preparation at Fish Shop Marja Nätti. My paradise!!

When in Finland, make sure that you taste other fish like white fish, too. The variety of fresh water fish keeps impressing me, so don't stick to only salmon.

When in Finland, make sure that you taste other fish like white fish, too. The variety of freshwater fish keeps impressing me, so please do not stick to only salmon!

I purchased a few slices of marinated salmon from Fish Shop Marja Nätti that I got to know during my food tour in May (Helsinki by Food), and entered a fish heaven. I have no problem eating salmon for breakfast, as long as it tastes good, and the rosé pepper flavored salmon was just from heaven. Not only it tasted divine, but I was also boosting my Omega 3 levels… Perfect! Ready to leave Finland soon!

The Old Market Hall: http://vanhakauppahalli.fi/en/

44 thoughts on “The Old Market Hall in Helsinki”

  1. Pingback: The Market Square by the sea in Helsinki | pearlspotting

      2. Miia Post author

        Mackerel stuffed with tomatoes, courgettes, onions, garlic and herbs, yummy!
        Plaice is excellent, too! Smoked.
        I like Saint Pierre –I guess John Dory in English?

        Hmm, will make a tour in the food market this afternoon 😉

        Like

    1. Miia Post author

      Finland is very organized 🙂 If the traffic light is red, no one crosses the street, even if there were no cars!

      Me too, love markets! In Asia you have some really cool markets.

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Miia Post author

        So you are less “southern” and more “German”? I think I am more French and less Finnish when it comes to organization! At least when it comes to traffic light waiting!!!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Packing my Suitcase

        hahahaah you are so funny! In terms of organization yes, Im more German, but I guess in most aspects I am more “southern”, like traffic light waiting hahahah, just kidding, in Germany I follow the rules, but in Brazil… rules seems not to be followed 😀

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      2. Miia Post author

        How cool, thanks for sharing!!

        PS I browsed through your blog but did not find a lot of Estonian dishes… apart from the dill cucumbers 🙂 Well, I don’t really cook Finnish either, but I am just curious if you sometimes prepare something from your childhood.

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      3. maiu

        I thought I had a lot more of Estonian dishes…but now when I went through it….well, there is the sauerkraut soup, meat jello, beet and potato salad, little meat patties… Thanks for pointing this out btw!

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      4. Miia Post author

        Ok, I didn’t see those, will need to dig deeper!

        What kinds of soups do you have? I have been thinking about making borsch for a while now! I also like that Lithuanian (?) beetroot, egg and dill soup (cold!). Do you know it?

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      5. maiu

        Oh wow, I just made borsch the other day, just haven´t had the chance to write it up yet! It turned out really great! And tonight I made the cabbage soup (cabbage-carrot-potato).

        I don´t know the beetroot or egg and dill soup. If you have links to the recipes, let me know, I would love to try.

        I have made a cold kefir soup 🙂 You have probably had kefir, right? Good for hot summer days.

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      6. Miia Post author

        Ok I may wait for your recipe then! Although it is pretty simple, right? I haven’t done it for a long, long time.

        I also love creamy Russian mushroom soups.

        Btw, do you know Georgian food well? Writing about Ukraine has reminded me of some excellent Georgian restaurants there are in Kiev. Interesting cuisine.

        I don’t have a recipe for that beetroot and egg soup but I will try to google tonight. And now that you mention kefir, it may very well be that kefir is used in that soup! In France one can find kefir at the Arab shops!

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Miia Post author

        Cool, thanks for this recipe. I have not seen it before. Yes, it looks similar to the Lithuanian soup!
        I am remaking Mexican tonight but next week I will make one of these soups 🙂

        I think in Finland kefir is mainly drunk as such, less used in cooking (this is how I remember it but I may be wrong). We have similar soups (sort of) but they are often milk-based and I think it is not so good. Milk gives a sweet taste, which is less sophisticated than kefir, or even Greek yogurt!

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      10. maiu

        I like to drink kefir but my husband just can´t do it, I think you have to grow up with it to like it 🙂

        Well I have made pancakes, muffins, cakes, marinade meats…and apparently you can also make smoothies and ice-cream…just saw it in Pinterest 🙂 I learned something new today 🙂

        How did your Mexican turn out?

        Liked by 1 person

  5. brainmusick

    It’s a really neat market! It was so funny, I had a friend from the U.S. visiting me in June and we went there… I had never been, and then I read that it had been renovated and only opened again about a week or two before my friend came. It looks so nice now though! And the rose pepper salmon is my absolute favorite! 🙂

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    Reply ↓
    1. Miia Post author

      What a coincidence! As you probably know, there are three covered market halls in Helsinki, and the Helsinki City is renovating all of them. Now that the Old Market Hall is done, they will start renovating the Hakaniemi Hall (across the bridge toward Kallio).

      I looooooove that rose pepper salmon! Glad you agree 🙂 I don’t know how you find the prices compared to the US prices, but coming from Paris, they are very affordable.

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      Reply ↓
      1. brainmusick

        Ah! Well, I love Hakaniemi as it is now, as I’ve been living in Kallio, but that will be interesting to see.

        I find the cured fish very affordable in Finland in general–it’s hard to find that kind of thing in my hometown. There is none at all fresh, and I was looking for packaged smoked salmon the other day and settled on (mediocre) trout because all the salmon had been dyed pink. 😦 Food-conscious people have to be very, very careful in the U.S.

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      2. Miia Post author

        Salmon in France has the same problem. Color is funny and taste chemical. I find it disgusting here. Even organic shops cannot offer anything better. I sometimes buy salmon at IKEA… (embarrassing yes)

        I would think that in east and west coast (well, vague areas, I know) have good salmon in the US? Seattle? Where did you grow up in the US by the way?

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      3. brainmusick

        Sometimes IKEA has the best option! I grew up in Ohio, so kinda landlocked. It’s bordered by a river in the south and a lake in the north, but both are rather dirty and polluted, so the fish has to be brought in, usually from the Atlantic. The coasts do have good seafood though.

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      3. foodaddicted1

        I liked herrings in some kind of mustard sauce, yummy, it was so delicious so I brought one jar home 😀 I brought also 3 big packages of varrasleipä and I had it for a dinner tonight 😀

        Like

    1. Miia Post author

      Thanks! It is a pretty lovely building and the recent renovation was well realized.

      I forgot if I mention it in the article, but there are three of those old market halls in Helsinki. All of them have outdoor markets next to them in summer.

      Who doesn’t love food markets 🙂 !!

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      Reply ↓

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