Vegan
Bakery
European
Finnish

A plant-based cafe that offers traditional Karelian pies with different fillings including carrot lox, vegan smoked ”reindeer”, caviart, and mushrooms. Also serves vegan lunch every weekday with various soups, as well as daily bakery such as cakes, sweet buns and more. In the evenings serves Finnish "sapas" (tapas), wine and mocktails. Open Tue-Sun 11:00-17:00.


Venue map for Kahvila Rakastan
© OpenStreetMap contributors

138 Reviews

First Review by SeitanSeitanSeitan

DionneF

Points +703

Vegan
30 Sep 2025

Love this place

Traditional Finnish Food but vegan 🥰 They do lunch buffets and brunch buffet (once a month - highly recommended)

Pros: Stews, Soups & Roast Veggies, Cakes & Pasties , Set in beautiful garden courtyard

Cons: Gets busy, Tight space inside so it’s best to sit outside

Sandhomie

Points +548

Vegan
29 Sep 2025

Delicious food, great coffee and scenic area outside

Great place to sit both outside and inside. Food is like home cooked and the Finnish cabbage pie was nice and the filled rolls really soft and delicious. The custard blueberry bun was amazing! Such a great place, lucky Finns to have this!

Pros: Places to sit, Food, Coffee

blmnrdr

Points +71

Vegan
21 Sep 2025

Cozy and tasty

I was expecting a soup of the day, maybe with a bit of bread. Turned out to be a soup of the day with a whole buffet of sides😄

GiorgioCP

Points +500

Vegan
14 Sep 2025

Wow!

Small restaurant that offers buffet and pastries. The cauliflower soup was delicious

Pros: Food, Service, Location

Haridian

Points +316

Vegan
09 Sep 2025

Awesome!!

A great place with super nice staff, the food was just perfect.

JanineSchneider

Points +67

Vegan
27 Aug 2025

Go for sweets and lunch

Cute Café with lunch options and delicious Sweets. Pick your favorite and relax in the garden.

audrey179

Points +258

Vegan
16 Aug 2025

Cute patio and great food

I really liked the patio and the food was very nice. Busy little place. I will go again!

Smallmango

Points +123

Vegan
15 Aug 2025

Cozy lunch spot

Very cute lunch café with Finnish home style food. Lunch includes a daily soup, baked potatoes with filling (vegan skagen and mushroom), salad with peas and fresh bread for 13,50€.
Everything tasted nice and home made and I'd say the price is fair considering this is a vegan lunch buffet in a scenic location in central Helsinki! I'll definitely be coming back to try some of the pastries.

Pros: Cozy vibes, Home style vegan food

Juliestravels

Points +1251

Vegan
14 Aug 2025

Lovely place

Really nice little place! I had the buffet lunch as well as a dessert and tea.

RSweet

Points +308

Vegan
09 Aug 2025

A cute find

I found this place on HappyCow and reserved a table for lunch. We decided instead to go for a quick bite of the vanilla and strawberry bun, with a coffee. Be mindful that there are not many options on offer and they do not have a menu. Staff were incredibly friendly and it was tasty.

Pros: Fully vegan, Romantic setting

Cons: Not many options

KlaraKeglovits

Points +48

Vegan
02 Aug 2025

Spontaneous takeaway

Buffet menu (very rich soup tofu cream with onions, potatoes and also very rich salade with peas and beens sourdough bread) was excellent!! Only thing we regret is that we did not have the time to enjoy it on the nice terrace, because we were rushing to the airport so we ate it on the train... The place normally does not offer takeaway, but the lady was flexible enough to let us serve ourselves from the buffet to our own foodcontainers. Everything was delicious, next time we might visit Helsinki this would be the first place to go. They also have a variety of cakes, pies and pastries, defenetely need to try them!

Updated from previous review on 2025-08-02

Pros: Outdoor seeting nice park, Flexibel personnel, The richness and taste of everything

Cons: Relativ small setting donno where to sit in rain?

ameeba

Points +41

Vegan
24 Jul 2025

Comfort food

Food was nice and service friendly.

xylz

Points +45

Vegan
23 Jul 2025

AMAZING!!

Loved the food, the staff was super kind, and WOW the sandwich 😋

go here!!!!!

Jade2001

Points +321

Vegan
23 Jul 2025

Very relaxing place to eat

We went for lunch and it was so relaxing to sit in the backyard! The buffet lunch was very tasty, and we had a pastry to go, which was also very nice.

Pros: Relaxing, cute place, Nice staff, Tasty food

blueberry05

Points +145

Vegan
22 Jul 2025

Amazing :)

We got carrot cake and a cottage pie, along with two lemonades. Both bakes were very delicious and the carrot cake had amazing cream cheese frosting.

The cafe has cute tables in the garden and staff is very sweet. We got to pick our own glasses and generally felt very welcomed.

Can only recommend coming here!

kurkista

Points +372

Vegan
13 Jul 2025

A Peaceful Courtyard Escape with Nordic-Inspired Lunch

Kahvila Rakastan offers a tranquil pause amid Helsinki’s cultural landmarks - nestled discreetly between the National Museum, Finlandia Hall, and the Music House. The venue is charmingly secluded despite its central location, with a serene courtyard that offers both sunlit and shaded (backside) seating options. I enjoyed dining outdoors, appreciating the calm yet cosmopolitan atmosphere.

The lunch menu included a fresh green pea soup - pleasant and flavourful, though I personally found it a bit challenging on the stomach. The accompanying salad was visually delightful and well-balanced, featuring tender long green beans, sweet peas, a zesty dressing, and a surprising touch: a mousse reminiscent of vegan caviar and "crème fraîche". This offered a playful contrast of textures and a nod to Scandinavian minimalism.

Service was warm and attentive, the setting encourages a gentle pace - ideal for a light lunches or a quiet coffee breaks. Coffee is available at an extra cost and complemented the meal nicely.

Prices are somewhat higher than average, reflecting the handcrafted quality and vegan-forward approach. While not inexpensive, the experience feels curated and thoughtfully executed.

Pros: Charming outdoor areas with both sun and shade, Creative plant-based elements on the lunch menu, Friendly, welcoming service

Cons: Soup, while tasty, didn’t agree with me personally, Above-average pricing, though aligned with artisan

sainigma

Points +28

Vegan
13 Jul 2025

Turbo cozy place ♡

Absolutely lovely and super cozy place! One of the few 100% vegan places in the centrum. Has both lunch options and treats (pastries, cakes, buns) to go w/ coffee.

Sometimes it's pretty crowded, but during sunny days there's also room in the terrace.

Strong recommedation for the cinnamon rolls!

Updated from previous review on 2025-07-13

Pros: Athmosphere, LGBT+ friendly, Filter coffee refills :D

Cons: Sometimes crowded, Closes early

AlbinLöwander

Points +92

Vegan
11 Jul 2025

Kahvila Rakastan

Nice Cafe beautiful outside
Good bakery Nice coffee. But birds want your food

Cons: Bird robbery

Emma&Sonja

Points +1751

Vegan
09 Jul 2025

Best buns in town

Their cinnamon buns ard heavenly and the barley and potato pies with salty fillings are so good. Such an idyllic setting and cozy atmosphere!

Claire01

Points +3574

Vegan
06 Jul 2025

So a cute little cafe

A lovely place with a large garden.
The food was so tasty, (Potatoes Carrot Cake), as the filter coffee (I asked coffein free).
The staff was really lovely.
I took the cinnamon bun to go, and ate it in the evening, it was a little too sweet for me, but for the rest it tasted really good.
Would definitely recommend this coffee shop!

I went there 2 more times, and i really loved the cozy atmosphere again. The food was excellent as always. I took the buffet, a delicious soup with carrots, potatoes, smoked tofu and they had also cooked potatoes as a side dish, as well as a tasty salad with dips and bread.
To go, i took a cinnamonbun, and it was sooo tasty, i think it was more my taste this time, not too sweet, just perfect!

Updated from previous review on 2025-07-06

Pros: Calm atmosphere, Lovely Staff, Tasty carrot cake

PekanVegan

Points +166

Vegan
29 Jun 2025

Salty Snack, tea and buns

Carelian pie with vegan caviar and another with vegan egg-butter, bot amazing. We got fresh buns almost straight from the oven.

Place 5/5
Food 5/5
Tea 4/5 too hot water

Pros: Place, Sweet pastries, Salty pies

sprokity

Points +136

Vegan
28 Jun 2025

Lunchtime in Helsinki

Cozy cafe serving a buffet for lunch. Delicious food and dessert. Friendly staff.

Pros: Unique atmosphere , Delicious food , Friendly staff

Tipitipu

Points +1282

Vegan
16 Jun 2025

Cute cafe with delicious traditional Finnish pastries

I have visited cafe Rakastan several times and it is always such a great experience! Their cinnamon buns are tastiest I ever had and they have other great options too such as bun with butter (voisilmäpulla). They also offer lunch and weekend brunch buffet.
The cafe is not super spacious so sometimes it is a difficult to find a table. In summer they have a terrace too.
I highly recommend to visit here if you are a vegan craving traditional Finnish pastries.
Customer service has always been really friendly and the vibe is cute and cool!! Like mummola!

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-16

Pros: Tasty, All vegan, Friendly customer service

annikahirvonen

Points +44

Vegan
31 May 2025

The most wonderful lunch-café! 😍

We had the lunch buffet with soup, home made bread with very tasty spreadables and baked potatoes. Also the best cinnamon bun in forever! Good coffee and very nice atmosphere.

Pros: Wonderful food, Cozy location, All vegan everything!

Cons: Outdoors brave sparrows might taste your food 🙃

bjornahlin

Points +57

Vegan
31 May 2025

Wonderful experience

Great food, great coffee, tremendous location in a park where - if you're lucky - the sun hits you just right. Dishes aren't marked as vegan but everything is.

Pros: Great food, Good location, Nice staff

hannapeterson

Points +1006

Vegan
25 May 2025

So tasty

I got the Karelian pie with vegan caviar - this was so good. I loved the onions, dill, cheesy topping. For a sweet, I got a strawberry cheese pastry (not sure of the propert name). Everything was amazing and the lady working answered all my questions so kindly. There is outdoor seating in the front and back, and it made for a wonderful Finnish lunch on a warm sunny day.

mmoynihan6

Points +1559

Vegan
25 May 2025

Gem of a place

This is a gem of a place, the buffet Brunch was so good. Great flavours and variety of food. The place has character and the staff are warm and friendly.




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