Tallinn has probably one of the most vibrant and unique cafe scenes in Europe and in order to show you that in the next 48 hours I will be visiting 10 different coffee shops. All of these places are absolutely loved by locals so in this video we're gonna be exploring everything from retro cafes with delicious cakes to working bakeries to a place that has been recommended by a Visit Tallinn team that serves delicious vegan dishes. Mmm, a lot of yumminess coming to my tummy. Let's do it.
My yummy walk. Our very first spot is the oldest cafe in Tallinn. It's called Maja Smok.
It is appropriately located in the Old Town, just about two minutes away from the Town Hall Square. This cafe has been operational since 1864, which means that next year it's going to be 160 years old. Good morning.
Oh, what a place! They're very huge here on hand painting the Martsupan. They even have like a hand painting workshops here. Here you can buy this kit for you to go home and paint it there, which is really really cute. This cafe has a huge selection of delicious pastries.
Maya Smok is known for its marzipan, so if there is one place you should try it in Tallinn, this is this cafe. And marzipan was the dessert in the medieval times, so it's very appropriate as we are in the old town of Tallinn. Yummy. Oh, so fresh. Very nice and light.
I did not expect such light consistency here. Very yummy, very delicious. Mm, so good. So the cafe got its luxurious, elegant look in 19... 2013 and it has not been changed since and they have this adorable Ferris wheel with some tea cups and spoons and you think it won't make you smile But it does and I'm honestly enjoying my time here very much.
Come in here. You won't be disappointed Thank you bye, this was good next place is located in one of the most beautiful courtyards in Tallinn This is Chocolat de Pierre. It's this bohemian Paris inspired cafe and I think the calling card of this place is definitely the courtyard. No matter what time of the day you are here, what time of the year, it's always always gorgeous and what I particularly enjoy about this cafe is their motto which is We do not count calories.
We simply enjoy life. Let's eat some cake and enjoy some life I have a question for you. If I was to try one cake, which one should I go for? Which one is the sweetest? Both are very sweet.
Okay, I need a lot of energy So this cafe is mostly known for its cakes. And can I just point out that it's served on a silver platter? It honestly makes me feel like I'm back in Paris, 18th century, very vintage, very retro. Ah, love it!
This cafe honestly is one of my top places when it comes to meeting with my friends, no matter if they're locals or they're coming from abroad. And come summer, this place is banging. So the speed at what they serve you is really, really quick.
I honestly could not believe how quickly she served me this coffee. So many layers of cake here. Oh my god, so rich, moist.
Let's see what sort of jam do I have here inside. I think it's like an apricot and lemon one. So it cuts through the sweetness of the cake. Oh guys, this is so good.
If you're sad, come here and eat some cake and I promise you, your life is going to be 100% better. My favourite cup of coffee. Hey! Leaving Dole Town, heading to the Rossumann area which is next door and our next spot is both a cafe and a gallery.
This is Gallery Cafe. The biggest selling point of this place is definitely the atmosphere. As you're walking through this place you can see the artworks on both sides and then you have this giant massive mirrors on the ceiling that just expand this place even further. Can I order your cottage cheese pancakes please? Cool.
Can I have a coffee? Flat white? Do you guys do any cocktails at all? Let's do that one.
Nice. I finally got my dish. I've got syrniki, which are basically the cottage cheese pancakes.
If there is one thing you should know about Estonians is that we love curd, we love cottage cheese, and I think it is best presented here in the pancakes. Ooh, nice and fluffy. Let me show you how fluffy they are. I'm gonna put a little bit of that condensed milk foam on top.
It looks really luxurious. All right. Perfect. Cottage cheese pancakes are not too sweet.
And the sweetness from the condensed milk is absolutely amazing. Paired with a bit of that sour pineapple, it's just a really lovely combination. I'm smiling. It's a beautiful dish.
Honestly, every single time my foreign friends come over, I always surprise them with cottage cheese pancakes. And I think you should try this dish, and you should try it here at Gallery Cafe. I honestly cannot believe how gorgeous Tallinn looks in the snow and I can't think of a better time to show you our next spot Which is La Boulangerie, a proper French artisan bakery. It honestly smells of a freshly baked bread already here on the street. Be careful everybody be careful So my name is Vasily.
We are located at our bakery. This is our second bakery project. It's called La Boulangerie.
It's the classical French bakery that we were always missing living in Thailand. Paris is our favorite travel destination. We really love it. I knew immediately that La Boulangerie is going to be my jam.
They have these glass counters that are displaying these delicious pastries. What they're trying to do here in Thailand is to bring top quality classical French pastries such as Raisin Swirl, Beacon and white chocolate swirl and rose chocolate swirl and this Chasseur aux pommes which is a french apple compote in a flaky pastry and everything smells so fresh and lovely as they have the bakery just behind the counter. We're going to try Vasilis, the owner's favourite dessert. He said it has so many textures that I have to try it. I have the knife, let's cut in.
What a chocolate snap! Look at this! I think I've counted like five different layers.
So we've got here pear chocolate, caramel, some nuts on top of it and some cream in the middle. It's super light but it's also crunchy at the same time. So really good and it's quite unusual but I really want to draw your attention to this cafe's real showstopper, which is this coffee machine here.
50 years ago, all the espresso machines in Italy would be like that. This is the classical lever espresso machines. Coffee machine actually came from Naples. Our chef barista went to the factory and specially ordered one for us.
It is more difficult to operate, but it is also giving you a lot more control over the end result. Honestly, I have to say, it's proper delicious. Mmm.
I'm in a proper French pastry paradise right now. I think I really need to hit the gym hard after this episode. Our very final spot today is Paris Patisserie and Restaurant.
I'm a big believer in ending evenings in style, and this place is a great representation of that. So nice. I didn't have a cup of coffee, let's go to...
Honestly guys, I know how it feels to be a tourist in the new city where things might take a little bit longer and plans might change. And I think the biggest selling point of this point of Paris deli restaurant patisserie is the fact that it's different in different times of the day. Early in the morning it's this amazing bakery, later on in the day it becomes this branch spot with some very enticing menu options and in the evening should your plans change it becomes this gorgeous restaurant.
Honestly the interior in its own right is absolutely fantastic, green tiles, massive mirrors and this massive shelf of the wine bottles behind me is just... Amazing and I've got myself this blackcurrant eclair. It was probably one of the last ones that was left there and it's just a glimpse of what you can expect to have here early in the morning. The blackcurrant jam with the cream works really really well and I even managed to see the baker creating this very intricate decoration and it just looks absolutely fantastic.
I'm not gonna lie the interior designer has caught my eye and we had some dessert and I can't wait to be back and try some of the things of the menu. I've heard the duck is really good here but we need to continue with our capitalists. Cheers guys! Good morning everyone!
So our very first spot is Caria Sassai Cafe. It's currently just past nine o'clock in the morning and I know that these guys have been working hard for the past five hours making those pastries delicious and lovely. Let's see what this place is all about.
My name is Erik. We're at the Cardio as a Baker, Cardio as a Thai. And you are here at the Head Baker? Indeed I am. Well, try to be.
Kenneth came from a really high fine dining kitchen background. He was like, let's try to put the same passion into baking. ...bastries, but also very high quality raw produce. I think that's what really separates us from everyone else. You know, we're visiting different farms, trying to source everything locally.
That comes at a price, but it's the right thing to do. Talking a little bit of the numbers, how many bastries do you guys bake on a weekly basis? Weekly? Yeah.
Thousands? Thousands. Oh yeah, definitely. So I guess your coffee machine is pretty busy throughout the day. It doesn't stop.
It broke last week, you know. Really? Was any work done that day?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. We figured it out. First pastry of the day, second day, still hungry.
This place honestly completely blew my head away. So I've got two pastries in front of me here. I've got the salty rosemary twist.
Smells good, because it's been literally baked half an hour ago downstairs. 90% of what we do is made from croissant dough as well. So all the rolls, all the croissants, all the pastries, everything is based on croissant dough. Can you hear it?
Super buttery, super crunchy, very simple, rosemary and salt, very delicious. Eric's favourite. Yeah, this is good.
Second pastry, we've got apple and black pepper. Apples that they're using here are actually from one of the colleagues'parents'farm, which is super awesome. They're using high ingredients here, and sometimes they're using their family ingredients just to make it even better.
So much glaze. Oh man, crunchy pastry and apple jam inside is absolutely delicious and the black pepper just brings more apple flavour out, really yummy. What a banging spot, absolutely loved it.
Pro tip, get here before 10.30 because otherwise you're gonna find yourself in the queue and this place is super super popular. For our next cafe we're going to one of the trendiest neighbourhoods here in Tallinn, let's jump on a tram. We are in Telly's Kiwi neighborhood which is talent art neighborhood. It's about 10 to 15 minute walk from Dole Town So we're very very close and we are here for a cafe Fika which specializes on this Specialty proper coffee experience.
Let's get in. They're buzzing. They're busy. Let's pop in and see what they're all about Hi, could I please have your flat white?
And I have a question, if there is one pastry that I should definitely try, which one would you recommend? It's a proper third wave coffee shop and it's constantly buzzing. I've got myself two pastries, the signature pastry, cinnamon bun. And then we've got this one, which is the bun you get once a year.
It's called similar bun. It's a yeast bun with almond cream inside. and a jam. Let's try.
Really delicious. Mmm, almond whipped cream, yummy. So why Sika Shop should be on your radar?
It's because of this indoor strip. of shops. Every single shop here sells Estonian crafted artwork, clothing, ceramics, you even have a flower shop nearby so it's a great place when you're going to be touristing and checking out Estonian design.
Stop in here, get yourself some coffee. Everything here honestly is dialed in to get that proper coffee experience. And if you have a dog you can actually bring it to this cafe, the love pets here which is extra awesome.
Next stop, Narva Cafe. Look at this beautiful day! For our very next spot, we're going to be travelling back in time.
This is Narva Cafe, and for the past 70 years it has been serving delicious, honest food. I'm going to go and check it out now. Oh god, wrong. Yeah.
In. Homie! Narva Cafe is basically a retro cafe that is just off the city centre, so it's very, very close by.
And this place has been in operation for the past 70 years, and I feel like if this place has been opened for such a long time, they must be doing something right. And they have tried to preserve as much of their original decor as possible, and I think it's really, really cool because once you're here... it gives you a sense of how the things might have been. Since I have grew up with quite a few staples, let me just tell you what I do have here, so then when you visit Narva Cafe, you know what to look for. So we've got ham and cheese pastry.
Can't really go wrong with ham and cheese, and especially when it costs 140. Second one is this pastry here, which has a meat filling inside. It also costs 140. And something that I'm very excited to share with you, a sausage. Roll. I think every student's life has been fueled with sausage roll.
Everyone knows what it is all about. Mmm So good. They also serve a small menu of hot dishes that you order at the counter and I feel like when it's wintertime The soup is just a must Mmm, homey For our very last spot we are at Kringle Cafe which is serving banging vegan dishes and everyone I have met so far has recommended this spot which gets me going and I really cannot wait to taste their food. What an awesome spot.
I got myself potato pancakes with cashew cream and portobello mushrooms. Potato pancakes are an absolute staple of a dish here in Estonia. Everybody loves it.
Usually they serve with sour cream but here they have just swapped it for cashew sauce which makes it fully vegan. I mean the plating looks absolutely fantastic and so far this cafe has been buzzing from the minute we have stepped in. Let's dig in.
So let's do that perfect bite here. Potato pancake, cashew sauce, portobello mushroom on top. Mmm, can't really go wrong with this dish.
It's super umami, super delicious, cashew sauce is such a great addition. It has a little bit of garlic inside I think and of course, gherkins. Anywhere you're gonna go in Estonia you will be served food with gherkins because that's what we do. We've got chocolate hazelnut pastry here. It feels like I have Nutella inside.
So delicious. And this is smarty pin and raspberry one. Smarty pin and raspberry go so well together.
Yum. I'm making so much mess, I'm sorry. You might think that I will be tired after tasting expertly crafted coffee in every single place, but I'm not.
It's as good as the first one, honestly. Ah, what a day. Believe it or not, after visiting 10 cafes, I'm still not quite full. I still have a little bit of space left. And that's why I want to finish this video with a bang.
Eclair Factory Tallinn. Let's get in. We're supposed to buy only one eclair, but we ended up with a plate of five. And that should tell you what this place is all about. Benchmark test.
The classic one goes first. The chocolate snap is great, the cream is absolutely delicious but not too sweet. We're here at the very end of the day and the eclairs are still absolutely fresh and delicious.
Wow! Lemon one. Mmm!
It's actually rather sweet but it has a very very strong lemon flavor, salted caramel. I'm so excited for this. The cream here is so good, wow.
My favorite one, pistachio. So much flavor in this cream, so much like natural flavor of pistachios. This is definitely my favorite so far. Last but not least, I've got Apres Leclerc.
Look at those orange peels on top. Loads of orange flavor, very summery, really good. But if I had to choose one, it will be pistachio one. Some housekeeping.
All the cafes that we've been to in this video will be linked in the description box below, together with the cafes that I have been in other videos. I will link them as well with some time codes. So plenty of places for you guys to discover. I had an absolute blast. My name is name is Polly.
Welcome to the Visit Thailand Travel Series and I will see you very, very soon once I get chocolate off my face.