"Finland's only two-Michelin-star kitchen, ten floors above the South Harbour - book Eero Vottonen's tasting for an anniversary worth the airfare."
Eight tables, the tenth floor, and a clean line of sight down Helsinki's South Harbour. Palace opened in 1952 for the Olympic Games and took Finland's first Michelin star in 1987; chef Eero Vottonen brought a star back in 2019 and a second in 2022, the only two-star kitchen in the country. The set tasting runs EUR 210. Expect Finnish foie gras, vendace roe and Norwegian king crab plated with French precision and a steady Japanese accent, at Etelaranta 10.
Eero Vottonen is one of the most decorated chefs Finland has produced - Chef of the Year in 2012, sixth at the Bocuse d'Or in 2017 - and he runs Palace as a modern Nordic kitchen built on classical French technique. He joined when the dining room was rebuilt in 2017, won back the Michelin star in 2019 after a thirty-year gap, and added the second in 2022.
The format is a single tasting at EUR 210 per person, with an optional wine pairing. Vottonen builds it around northern ingredients treated seriously: Finnish foie gras, vendace roe, hand-dived scallops and Norwegian king crab, with truffle and caviar where the season earns them. Sauces are French in spine; the plating has grown leaner and more Japanese over the years. It is precise, restrained cooking that trusts the produce rather than crowding it, which is the difference between one star and two.
Palace sits on the tenth floor of a 1952 modernist building, and the room is quiet, low-lit and built around the harbour view rather than against it. The dining room is small - a handful of tables, generously spaced - so the long tasting feels private rather than performed. Service is formal but warm, sommelier-led, and the dress code reads smart: a jacket is welcome, never demanded. Daylight in summer and harbour lights in winter do as much for the mood as anything on the walls.
Book this room for an anniversary or a milestone because it is engineered for occasion, not turnover: a single long tasting, a hushed harbour-view dining room, and the quiet weight of being the only two-star table in Finland. The EUR 210 menu makes a proper evening of it, and the lift to the tenth floor sets the tone before the first course. For more options, see our best fine-dining restaurants worldwide and Helsinki's most romantic tables for a proposal.
Not for a quick bite or a budget night - there is one set tasting at EUR 210, the pace is deliberately slow, and there is no a la carte fallback.
Yes - Palace is the only two-Michelin-star restaurant in Finland, and Eero Vottonen's modern Nordic cooking earns the rating. At EUR 210 for the tasting it sits in line with European two-star peers, and the tenth-floor harbour view gives it a sense of place few city kitchens can match. Treat it as the evening's main event and book well ahead.
Fairly hard - the dining room is small, with only a handful of tables across one nightly service, so weekend seatings and window tables go first. Reserve directly through the restaurant several weeks out, and flag any dietary needs when you book. The restaurant is at Etelaranta 10, on the tenth floor above the South Harbour.
Smart - there is no jacket requirement, but most guests dress for a special evening. A blazer or a nice dress reads as appropriate rather than over-dressed, and neat smart-casual is the floor. Given the price and the pace of the tasting, the room skews dressed-up, and the formal service matches it.
The tasting menu is EUR 210 per person before drinks. A wine pairing is offered on top, so a couple pairing the menu should plan for roughly EUR 600 to EUR 800 all in. There is no a la carte; the single set tasting is the only format, adjusted for dietary needs on request when you book ahead.
Yes - Palace is close to ideal for an anniversary. The room is quiet and intimate, the long tasting makes a real event of the night, and the harbour view does the romantic work for you. Book several weeks ahead, request a window table, and see our best restaurants for an anniversary for more.
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