Ilves

Very enjoyable at a reasonable price. Tried the hamburger. The elk burger is famous, but it’s seasonal – they didn’t have it in the summer.

Fun place BUT… There was one waitress for probably ten tables, so it took me over two hours to eat dinner (solo). I wasn’t in a rush, but had I been, I would have been upset.
I asked for an appetizer recommendation, and had smoked whitefish on a potato pancake with a rolled pickle. Tasty. Some fish scales or something in there, unfortunately.
I had hoped for the elk burger I have heard about but it was not on the menu at the moment. Instead, had the pork: pork chop with huge mustard seeds, roasted carrots, pork sausage (not my favorite ever), warm cabbage salad/​cole slaw. Overall, delicious but very heavy. Some greens would go a long way to cut it a bit.
The 3 stars instead of 4 is just for the sloooooow service. Waitress was really cool but she was running around like mad.
Cool to have the photos on the walls. Tasteful but fun addition.

A friendly and laid back atmosphere. The staff is very friendly and food was delicious.
I ordered a horse steak and it melted in my mouth full of flavor.
My friend ordered their vegetarian dish and it was very tasty. Good ciders on tap as well.

Told the friendly waiter behind the bar that I had been recommended to try … and she finished the sentence for me: «the elk burger».
Service was friendly and effective. Nice selection of beers on tap, some local and 2 – 3 well-​selected international ones (Grimbergen Double, Brooklyn Lager) which shows some good attention to detail. Burger came after some 15 mins and was beautifully arranged, with some very thoughtful touches like the topping and only having one half bun. Taste was delicated and well-​balanced. I will come here again.

yes. I’m in Helsinki on work and have been trying new restaurants each night. this is my favorite after a week here.
the Elk burger is out of control good. it’s one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, and I don’t throw accolades like this around often. it’s excellent in every way a burger could be.
the food here is thoughtful, simply put. they top their burger with mandolin-​sliced pickled fennel. attention to detail.
go get the Elk burger, you won’t be disappointed.

I was in Helsinki for work a few weeks back, and wanted to try something local. Ilves is right next to one of the town’s most iconic music (mainly heavy metal) venues, and is decorated with portraits with some of the biggest (hairiest) Finnish musicians in cooking attire.
(I was over the moon — I spent my teenage years in love with Finnish heavy metal and recognised most of the faces).
It’s a relatively casual venue, and the meals are very good value for money — and also give you the opportunity to try some local specialities such as elk burger.
Definitely somewhere I would recommend if you are in Helsinki and want something local to dig your teeth in.

Wonderfully warm and welcoming interior is much appreciated by this lover of all things warm and welcoming. Again, from a San Francisco expat’s point of view, this is very much like the neighborhood restaurants we love in my hometown. Modern menu with traditional twists. This is my second favorite veggie burger in Helsinki. It’s by far the largest I’ve had. They graciously allow substitutions as well (not an easy to find quality in a Helsinki dining establishment). My salad and veg burger were outstanding — the burger is almost falafel-​y. MMMMmmm. My husband’s burger looked delicious and came with fries that were quite good too.
Service is very utilitarian but I’ve come to chalk that up to just being Finnish over time here and our server was quite helpful. They can be very stingy with their ketchup, which I find annoying under normal circumstances. Under pregnant cranky circumstances I find it downright criminal :)
I love Ilves, though– it’s a great place for drinks and an even better place for actual meals.

Hard to figure if this place is more of a restaurant or a bar. It has a menu like a restaurant, but there is a bar placed right up in the front, close to the windows. Plus, for whatever reason, they turn on the TV to watch sports, but don’t play any music… hmm.
So I guess ilves means something like «wildcat» or «lynx» in Finnish. Fittingly, they have a giant stuffed lynx up by the bar. Totally cool, very scary to think of encountering a live one of these out in some forest ;)
Cool crowd, cool staff, good food, usual drinks available at the bar… not a bad place to hang out and escape the crowds at other places.