There is an apartment building in the center of Helsinki and there is a restaurant that few people know about.
Restaurant Helsingin Suomalainen Klub has several cabinets. Restaurant Suomalainen Klubi
There is a restaurant in Helsinki that few people even know exists.
For many, it is unclear what the restaurant is all about or whether the entire building can be visited. It has been said in public that women have no business there.
– This place is considered a mystical secret society of old men, says the owner and chef of the restaurant Helsingin Suomalainen Klub Sami Hiltunen.
Sami Hiltunen is a recent restaurateur at the restaurant Helsinki Suomalaisen Klub. Eeva Paljakka
Although the association itself does not accept female members for the time being, the same rule does not apply to the restaurant.
In August of this year, Hiltunen started as an entrepreneur of the restaurant Helsingin Suomalaisen Klubi, and he has noticed to his delight that the restaurant has a lot of female customers.
But no one from the street wanders into Klub by chance, even though the restaurant is in the center of Helsinki. The location in the backyard of Anna’s house and on the fifth floor takes care of that. Despite this, Hiltunen recommends booking a table at least at Christmas time, as it can be crowded even at lunch.
The oldest customers have been guests of the Club since the 1960s. Most of the customers are groups that visit the Club regularly.
Suomalainen Klub’s Christmas buffet respects traditions. Eeva Paljakka
Since Hiltusen’s restaurant is in Helsinki’s Finnish Club, the red thread of the restaurant is of course Finnishness.
– Fostering Finnish food and restaurant culture is a matter of honor for us. Our menu always has the best pieces of each season, traditional delicacies and classic dishes established in Finnish restaurant culture, Hiltunen describes.
According to him, now is the best time for a chef, when fresh game and fish are available. The club’s menu includes, among other things, deer, elk and duck.
– The club has its own things that cannot be touched, Hiltunen states.
The selection must include traditional warm breads, salmon soup, vorschmack, pike in the Mannerheim style, pepper steak and shrimp bread. And above all and definitely lässäsause.
– The name is misleading, because when done well, there is no fat in the food at all.
According to Hiltunen, a successful läski sauce is made from pork meat, which has flavor. The meat slices are browned properly, but the cook must be careful not to over-roast.
The ceiling of the main hall is decorated with a fresco depicting the development of Finland from the Stone Age to the awakening of Finnishness. Finnish Club of Helsinki
Hiltunen has noticed that apart from the menu, Klubi is also a rare restaurant in one other respect. At the club, hard liquor goes well with lunch as well.
– Marski’s ryüppy is the most popular píkkunäkäräinen.
This is how a traditional Christmas lunch is served at Christmas time. It includes, among other things, several herring, salmon, pike flounder, boxes, ham, Karelian steak, salads.
Herrings are an important part of Suomalainen Klub’s Christmas buffet. Eeva Paljakka
You cannot enter the restaurant and the club in just any clothing.
Guests are expected to follow the Club’s “business casual” dress code. For men, it includes a collared shirt and a jacket. The club says that the club masters will borrow little jackets if needed. Classier dress is of course allowed.
And finally, let’s go back to the women’s question. The club says that the last time the members voted on the women’s issue, 70 percent were in favor of admitting women to the association’s activities. But the law on associations is strict, in order to pass, the motion needs 75 percent support. The time for that will come, the association believes.
Which Finnish Club?
Helsinki’s Suomalainen Klubi is a cultural club where members of different ages who are committed to the ideological foundation of Finnishness meet each other.
The club is a discussion community of general interest.
The average age of the club members is about 60 years.
The club was founded in 1876. The founding members were Fennomans, mostly masters and lawyers.
There were language disputes around the time the club was founded. On one side were the Svekomans and on the other the Fennomans, who wanted to Finnish the Swedish-speaking civilization.
Towards the end of the 19th century, pro-Finnish people from different parliaments needed a common meeting place, so the Finnish Club became a parliamentary club, where the lines of the pro-Finnish group were agreed upon across parliament boundaries.