Estonian Christmas food and where to find it in Tallinn
Estonian Christmas food is hearty and rich. For many, it’s a meal they look forward to all year and a good traditional Christmas feast in Estonia never disappoints. During the holiday season, many restaurants and hotels offer seasonal menus and even host Christmas dinners. We’ve listed a selection below.
What is traditional Estonian Christmas food?
Traditionally, the centre of the feast is a delicious pork roast. In Estonia, the favoured cuts are pork collar and pork loin, which are roasted in the oven and seasoned with salt, pepper, and mustard.
Another absolute must on an Estonian Christmas table is verivorst – a traditional sausage made with pork blood and barley groats. The sausages are cooked in the oven until the skin becomes crispy and is then served with lingonberry jam on the side.
Most Estonians cannot imagine Christmas without hapukapsas – our version of sauerkraut or fermented cabbage that is cooked through and served warm. Usually, sauerkraut in Estonia is not too sour and by adding caraway seeds, the taste is slightly sweet and spicy.
Sült, a traditional jellied pork meat is also often found on the more traditional Christmas tables in Estonia. Usually, pickled pumpkin is served as a side and as for condiments, mustard and horseradish are a must. Of course, every decent feast must include potatoes. They’re served either boiled or baked and make the perfect side to all previously mentioned treats.
As for dessert, No Christmas is complete without gingerbread and many people make a traditional kringel for the festive table.
Restaurants in Tallinn offering Christmas menus
If you’re in Tallinn for the holiday season and want to try some festive food, many restaurants and hotels offer holiday-themed menus and even host Christmas dinners. Below you will find a selection of restaurants offering special Christmas menus.
Kolu Tavern in the Estonian Open Air Museum welcomes the Christmas month with an exciting special menu featuring dishes prepared according to recipes from Alice Tanksema's recipe book from 1915. Goose soup, stuffed cabbage and raisin wine are among the selection. The special menu is available from 30 November to 14 December and is suitable for lunch for one or a tasting for two. A museum ticket is required to visit Kolu Tavern, but the pre-holiday open-air museum is well worth a visit, especially during the Christmas village season.
Presenting a true fine dining experience, NOA has created an exquisite menu for the festive season, featuring beetroot tartare, monkfish fillet and venison. The sumptuous multi-course menu must be booked in advance and is only served to a group of 10 or more guests at a time.
A special Christmas treat is also on offer at the stylish fine dining restaurant Tuljak with an excellent view of Tallinn Bay. Instead of blood sausage and sauerkraut, their multi-course menu features oysters, prawns, beef cheek and more. As in the Noa restaurant, the menu is only available for groups of 10 or more and for the entire table at once.
A favourite among locals and tourists alike, Paju Villa offers a four-course Christmas menu featuring scallops, veal cheek and tarte Tatin. Menus can be ordered for a group of 10 or more, as in Noa and Tuljak.
Tallinn’s best known medieval restaurant Olde Hansa has two Christmas menus instead of one. The joyful Christmas feast includes blood sausage and pork, while the royal Christmas feast consists of venison fillet and duck.
Restaurant Ame also has a Christmas menu for the festive season. The six-course menu includes pork, duck and gingerbread mosaic.
Festive buffet dinners in Tallinn hotels
Mercure Tallinn Hotel – Restaurant Le Lac
Throughout December, Restaurant Le Lac is serving a three-course Christmas menu, which includes salmon cake, pork fillet and the exciting Vana Tallinn semolina mousse with gingerbread. The Christmas menu will be available throughout January and does not need to be booked in advance unless you're coming with a larger group.
Metropol and Metropol Spa hotels – Restaurants Capitol and Noonbox
On both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Metropol Hotels and Metropol Spa offer festive Christmas dinners in their restaurants. Dinner will be served at the Metropol Spa at the Capitol Hotel Restaurant and the Metropol Hotel restaurant Noonbox on both evenings from 6pm to 8pm.
Guests are welcomed by a sumptuous Christmas menu, festive decorations and popular Christmas carols to set the mood. Hotel guests can also enjoy a nice Santa package with gingerbread, a Christmas tree and red wine.
Tallink Spa and Conference Hotel – Restaurant Nero
Restaurant Nero will serve a buffet dinner on 24 December from 6pm to 10pm. A cheerful festive mood is created by Ivar Kannelmäe on guitar. The rich menu includes pikeperch fillet, pork collar steak and beer-braised cabbage.
Restaurant Nero will also host on 31 December a New Year's Eve party from 7.30pm until midnight.
Tallink City Hotel – Restaurant City Grill House
On 24 December, the City Grill House restaurant also offers a buffet dinner from 6pm to 10pm. The dinner menu includes Christmas classics such as pork and blood sausage, as well as halibut fillet and an exciting gingerbread cake for dessert. Guitarist VIVEKA brings festive spirit.
Radisson Collection Hotel – restaurants MEKK and ISSEI
Restaurant Mekk is hosting a festive Christmas dinner with piano music on Christmas Eve, 24 December from 6pm to 9pm. On the following evening, 25 December, the restaurant will also be open for Christmas dinner from 6pm to 9pm.
On 31 December, Restaurant MEKK will host a festive New Year's dinner with piano music from 6pm to 10pm.
Radisson Collection's other excellent restaurant ISSEI invites you to enjoy a special Christmas Eve omakase menu created by their head chef, Rene Uusmees.
To celebrate New Year's Eve, ISSEI's head chef has created a six-course menu featuring the restaurant's 11 best dishes. Saxophonist Martin Kuusk sets the mood with his musical pieces.
In addition, there will be a New Year's Eve party at ISSEI Bar, where DJ Marga will create a sparkling musical atmosphere. The ticket price includes a welcome cocktail, three Nikkei snacks and, of course, a glass of champagne at midnight.
Palace Hotel Tallinn (Radisson Individuals) – Cafe Palace
Palace Hotel's cafe-restaurant Cafe Palace holds a festive Christmas buffet on 24 December from 6pm to 10pm. The selection includes Christmas duck seasoned in two different ways, eggplant casserole, various appetisers and exciting desserts. For more information and booking, please contact info.palacetallinn@radissonindividuals.com.
Novotel Tallinn – Restaurant GREEM
On 4 December, a new 4-star hotel, Novotel Tallinn, will open near the port. The hotel restaurant GREEM will host a Christmas dinner on 24 December, where the buffet table will include trout and duck and the dessert menu will feature gingerbread tiramisu. The dinner will start at 7pm.
Hyatt Place Tallinn
In the newly opened Hyatt Place Hotel you can also enjoy a sumptuous Christmas buffet dinner on Christmas Eve. The selection includes salmon and duck, as well as Estonian Christmas classics, such as pork, blood sausage and sauerkraut. The Christmas buffet is open from 5pm to 7pm.
Park Inn by Radisson Meriton – Restaurant Grill 250
Park Inn by Radisson Meriton welcomes guests on Christmas Eve in its Grill 250 Restaurant, where a delicious Christmas buffet dinner will be served accompanied by live music performed by Tommaso Primavera. The Christmas dinner will take place from 6pm until midnight.
Viimsi Spa Hotel – Restaurant HÄLO
HÄLO Restaurant at the Viimsi Spa Hotel will be serving a buffet dinner on Christmas Eve from 5pm to 9pm. Anne Loho and pianist Ragnar Häide will also create a festive atmosphere with live music.
Special holiday menus on Tallinn-Helsinki ferries
During the holiday season from late November to late December, all three ferry lines connecting Tallinn and Helsinki will offer special menus in their buffet restaurants.
At Eckerö Line's buffet restaurant, the festive season starts in mid-November, with a selection including gingerbread-flavoured carrots, a variety of delicious fish dishes and, of course, Finnish Christmas ham. Gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan dishes are also available. The party menu will be available from 12 November until Christmas Eve.
The Buffet restaurants on Viking Line ships offer Christmas menus from 21 November until 26 December. On the menu you'll find festive classics such as roast pork and jellied meat, as well as more exciting dishes such as reindeer and cowberry pie and the Nordic favourite, Jansson's temptation. A total of 105 different dishes will be served and 70% of the selection will come from local producers. Special diets are also catered for, with plenty of plant-based dishes and a 100% gluten-free bread selection.
Tallink ships will be in the Christmas spirit from mid-November and Christmas treats will be available from 12 November. Alongside the traditional and always anticipated Christmas dishes, Tallink's chefs have prepared exciting new dishes, including pork belly with orange and honey glaze and oven-baked turkey fillet with creamy Calvados sauce and ginger-apple chutney. When travelling from Tallinn, you can enjoy the Christmas buffet on board the cruise ships Baltic Queen and Victoria I and the shuttle ferries MyStar and Megastar from 12 November until the end of the year.
