Helsinki’s iconic bar opens again – Such huge glasses can hardly be found anywhere else

Kämpi’s bar has changed its place during the renovation. Eeva Paljakka

The renovation of Hotel Kämpi, located on Pohjoisesplanadi in Helsinki, has progressed to the stage where the restaurant and bar will open their doors tomorrow, Friday.

It’s the hotel manager of Thomas Liewendahl according to one of the most important milestones in the hotel renovation, which is scheduled to be completed in its entirety in 2026.

Liewendahl states that the opening of the restaurant and the iconic Kämp Bar has been eagerly awaited.

If a customer enters the bar before the renovation out of old habit, he will now end up in the reception hall. Instead, the bar is behind the back, as is the restaurant À la Kämp around the bar.

The renovated restaurant has also received a new name that stems from history. Once upon a time, the townspeople called the street-level restaurant Alakämpi and the hall of mirrors on the upper floor Yläkämpi.

History has also been strongly present when planning the restaurant’s menu. The executive chef in charge of the kämp’s kitchen Markus Forsèn says that he has studied Kämpi’s old menus carefully. Interesting similarities were found in the 90 menus from 1890 to the present day. One such is smoked whitefish. Only the most recent decades make an exception. At that time, the salmon and rainbow salmon trend was in power.

– We made it our own version of the dish. It has smoked sugar-salted whitefish, mashed cauliflower and pickled mustard seeds and red onion. The creation is brought to the table under a small glass dome and when the dome is lifted, smoke is released from underneath, Forsén told the press conference.

Forsén’s first task was to renovate the house’s burger joint. Forsén developed about 13 different burgers, from which a larger jury chose the winner. The house burger has, among other things, smoked mayonnaise, jalapeno mince, crispy bacon, domestic ground beef patty and a brioche bun.

The whitefish dish and the lemon dessert are served from plates whose production was stopped already in 1911. They have not been used in the restaurant since then.

Lemon has traditions in Kämp’s history. At the turn of the 20th century, the so-called lemon table was a legendary table for artists and writers, where art and social issues were discussed. It was once reserved for Kämpi’s regular customers, which included prominent Finnish artists and writers. To commemorate their legacy, the name is now engraved on the table.

The bar’s signature cocktail, the lemony tart Lemon & Punsch, is a tribute to the original Lemon Table.

The name of the lemon table comes from the fact that the sweetness of the punch, which was popular at the time, was reduced by squeezing a lemon directly into the bottle. The person in charge of the Kämpä bar Joona Kurkela reminds with a twinkle in the eye that you also got vitamin C from the lemon juice.

In the spirit of the recent lemon table, Kurkela has developed its own version of the punch drink, the Lemon & Punsch cocktail. The bottled cocktail is shaken in front of the customer and poured by a glass artist Blue Major designed mouth-blown cocktail glasses, which are works of art in themselves.

The glasses are so heavy that Kurkela recommends holding them with both hands. The style is quite appropriate, because the glasses are inspired by the Kämp trophy. After all, the trophy is always lifted with two hands.

À La Kämp is only open for dinner, but from August 2026 the opening hours will expand to cover all-day serving with à la carte breakfast and lunch.