Cafeography
Vegaaninen · Helsinki

Cafés with vegan options in Helsinki

Vegan Karelian pies on Mannerheimintie, an all-vegan art café in Kruununhaka and vegan options across Kamppi.

Photo: Cup of Couple, Pexels License

When the City of Helsinki stopped serving meat at the events it organizes, announced in November 2021, the biggest practical change was in the coffee: milk was replaced by an oat-based creamer. A city team leader explained that event hospitality is mostly coffee and snacks, and that milk in coffee has a greater climate impact than the meat.1

Kamppi has by far the most cafés with vegan options, followed by Kluuvi, then Kruununhaka and Kallio. The city's own 2024 guide lists fully vegan cafés and lunch places across the center, from art cafés to sandwich counters.2

Local tip: At Café Regatta the vegan cinnamon roll costs €4.20, 50 cents more than the regular bun, and a vegan sausage for the yard fire is €2.95.4

Where these cafés are: Kamppi (15), Kluuvi & Kaartinkaupunki (9), Kruununhaka & Katajanokka (5), Kallio (4), Punavuori, Ullanlinna & Eira (3), Töölö (3), Sörnäinen & Kalasatama (2), Ruoholahti & Jätkäsaari (2), Vallila & Pasila (2).

At a glance

45Cafés listed
39With opening hours
07:30Earliest opening
02:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Cafe Ekberg, from 07:30 (Mon–Fri 07:30–19:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–17:00).
  • Closes latest: Café Bar No 9, until 02:00 (Mon–Fri 11:00–02:00 · Sat–Sun 12:00–02:00).
  • Most common features: indoor seating (64%), outdoor seating (53%), card payment (53%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Helsinki.

Fully vegan cafés

Encanto is an art café serving vegan breakfasts, salads and toasts.2 It is at Maneesikatu 3 in Kruununhaka and opens 09:30–16:00 on weekdays, with shorter hours at weekends.

Rakastan Café, in the heart of the city, bakes vegan Karelian pies with potato or barley filling and the traditional toppings, serves a soup lunch and pastries, and adds Finnish tapas with wine on weekend evenings.2 Kahvila Rakastan is at Mannerheimintie 13 B, open from Tuesday to Sunday. Roots Helsinki combines vegan food with yoga, and Plants by us, inside the Forum shopping center, makes vegan sandwiches.2

The Karelian pie without butter

The karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pie) is a thin rye crust around a filling, today most often boiled rice; early fillings were barley and talkkuna (roasted grain flour), and potato arrived in the 1800s.3 Served hot, it is usually spread with munavoi, butter mixed with chopped boiled egg, which is what a vegan version leaves out.3

Since 2003 the name has held EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status, so only pies made to the traditional recipe can be sold as karjalanpiirakka; others go by their filling, such as riisipiirakka (rice pie) or perunapiirakka (potato pie).3

Vegan buns and sweets

Café Regatta's price list marks its vegan items: a vegan cinnamon roll for €4.20 next to the regular bun at €3.70, a handmade vegan cookie for €4.95 and a vegan sausage for the yard fire at €2.95, as of 2026.4

Espresso Edge on Liisankatu makes everything from scratch, uses many local and organic ingredients and has plenty of vegetarian and vegan dishes.5 Chjoko, at Liisankatu 9, is on the same street, and the three Kakkugalleria cake cafés, on Fredrikinkatu, Siltasaarenkatu and Aleksanterinkatu, all offer vegan choices.

Where to look in Kamppi and Kluuvi

On Eerikinkatu, Café Tampopo and Théhuone have vegan options, as do Pupu and Bär Bar Freda on Fredrikinkatu and Cafetino on Uudenmaankatu. Ekberg on Bulevardi has them too.

In Kluuvi, Kahvila Oodi in the central library and the Musiikkitalo café both have vegan options, along with Strindberg on Pohjoisesplanadi and Scandinavia Cafe on Eteläranta, which opens 08:00–16:00 on weekdays. North of the center, Zestii on Kaarlenkatu in Kallio and Cafetoria's roastery café on Runeberginkatu in Töölö are on the list. Flemari20 on Fleminginkatu, open from Friday to Sunday, and the Blue Villa café on Linnunlaulu also have vegan options.

Sources

  1. Thursday's papers: Marin retains popularity, more on meatless Helsinki, slippery roads (November 4, 2021), Yle News, accessed October 2026
  2. Best vegan joints in Helsinki (November 16, 2024), MyHelsinki, City of Helsinki, accessed October 2026
  3. Karelian pasty, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Hinnasto / Price list (2026), Cafe Regatta, accessed October 2026
  5. Breakfast, lunch and dinner in Kruununhaka, Espresso Edge, accessed October 2026
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By area: Kluuvi & Kaartinkaupunki Kruununhaka & Katajanokka Kamppi Punavuori, Ullanlinna & Eira Töölö Kallio

FAQ

Vegan options in Helsinki: questions

Where can you eat vegan Karelian pies in Helsinki?

Rakastan Café bakes vegan Karelian pies with potato or barley filling and the traditional toppings, alongside a soup lunch and pastries. Kahvila Rakastan is at Mannerheimintie 13 B and opens from Tuesday to Sunday. The usual egg butter, munavoi, is what a vegan version leaves out.

Which cafés in Helsinki are fully vegan?

The City of Helsinki's 2024 vegan guide names Encanto, an art café on Maneesikatu in Kruununhaka serving vegan breakfasts, salads and toasts; Rakastan Café on Mannerheimintie, known for vegan Karelian pies; Roots Helsinki, which pairs vegan food with yoga; and Plants by us in the Forum shopping center.

Where can you get a vegan cinnamon roll in Helsinki?

Café Regatta on Merikannontie in Töölö sells a vegan cinnamon roll for €4.20 as of 2026, next to its regular bun at €3.70. It also sells a handmade vegan cookie for €4.95 and a vegan sausage for €2.95 to grill on its yard fire.

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