Restaurants

By Guy Dimond

It's 1.30pm on a weekday, and Golden Square in Soho is plastered with media whores and office slaves lapping up the sun's rays. But peer into the shadows at the edge of the square, and you might spot the spiritual home of the Moomins.

London's Finnish and Scandinavian messageboards have been spreading the good news about Nordic Bakery, London's first Suomi-kahvila, or Finnish coffee shop. A stream of Finnish and Swedish customers have been crossing town for the Karelian pies, cinnamon rolls and rye crispbreads.

Going for a coffee break with friends is a big part of Finnish cultural life. Helsinki is full of cool, relaxed coffee bars where you can make a strong Finnish coffee last an hour. Some of these shops are quite beautifully designed; the Finns have a long tradition of design excellence, from architect Eero Saarinen to Marimekko fabrics. Owner Jali Wahlsten used to work in marketing for Finnish design, and has commissioned a recognisably Finnish aesthetic: a sort of industrial sauna chic, but with carefully coordinated colours and pleasing shapes. The black tables and chairs are Alvar Aalto, the wall hanging is a recreation of a 100-year-old design by a Finnish artist, even the crockery is by Iittala. Design junkies should love it.

Finland is the world's largest consumer of coffee per capita, and to paraphrase Public Enemy, the Finns like their coffee too black, too strong. (If you're expecting Starbucks intensity, you're in for a big surprise.) Finns typically consume more than five cups of dark, invigorating coffee a day - around 100mg of caffeine, enough to wake a hibernating bear. The coffee at Nordic Bakery is either Illy (for the espresso-based drinks such as cappuccino) or Monmouth Coffee (if filter; currently, Rwandan). You take a little canteen tray (design by Backman), load it with snacks if you fancy, and can sit at one of the tables for what seems like hours and admire the display table of packaged Swedish rye crispbreads and salmiakki (salty liquorice) sweets.

The snack counter sees many Finns arrive hungry, and leave happy. Karelian pies are flat, savoury pastries with wrinkly edges, sold here with the classic rice and milk topping; ask for the famous accompaniment, a smear of 'egg butter'. There's a small selection of open-topped sandwiches too, with classic Scandinavian and Finnish toppings such as smoked salmon, salty gravadlax with sweet mustard, sliced boiled egg topped with anchovies, or honey-roast ham. Ask for 'the lid' - the top half of the bread - otherwise you might not get it. In the Finnish way, these are served on the long, dark, flat ryebreads called vaasan ruispalat, or the round ones called reissumies. These breads are made in Finland and imported, frozen. The other wheat-free rye breads (the square ones) and sourdoughs (the round ones) sold in the shop are made in London, by Breads Etc of Clapham.

If you have a sweet tooth, there are plenty of nordic treats to satisfy it. Pastries include Finnish-style cinnamon buns, which curiously smell of apple as well as spice. Cakes include that Swedish classic Tosca cake, which is a buttery sponge cake with an almond and vanilla topping; or there's chocolate cake, carrot cake, and other universal favourites.

Purists might argue that Nordic Bakery isn't just Finnish - some of the dishes and other little touches are Scandinavian - but then that's just like contemporary Finland, which joined the EU in 1995 and has been rapidly integrating with the rest of Europe. There are now around 30,000 Finns living in London, and most of them seem to have been to the Nordic Bakery in the last month. Maybe it's time you discovered it too.

Time Out London Issue 1919: May 30-June 5 2007