Cafe No 9 - Helsinki

It said a lot about this place when you finish having a bite to eat and you are still a bit hungry when you leave. I would understand the portions if it was the lunchtime price but when it is nearly €3 extra per dish for arriving at 7pm and handing up what was like a starter for Carbonara? Then I definitely urge them to have a look at making sure that the bowl isn't half full. The glasses were dirty. Tables given a quick wipe and to be honest my wife I got the Carbonara dish and the tiny bit of ham and bacon in it was really laughable. Our Daughter got the Pomodoro and that cooled down so fast that I am convinced it was out of the microwave and I noticed how quick food had reached the tables after customers had ordered too. In fairness there seem to be locals about here but maybe that's why it has been rated positively because they are drunk before they eat the food here and wouldn't notice?

This place was recommended to us by a bouncer at a bar a block away. Even though the place was noisy, they were out of seemingly half the menu items, and we had to sit next to a bucket catching water drips from an overhead A/C unit, we absolutely loved it no joke. Great food, very good prices and a locals vibe.

Food came really quickly so it was already suspisious. Seems like food was microwaved. My pasta (diablo) was uneatable so was my wifes pasta with mushrooms, mushrooms were smushy, and didn’t taste great. Cherry on the pie was place worker who came out and spitted on the street few times. Take your time and save money, don’t come here.

I visited Cafe Bar No.9 twice during my time in Helsinki. The first time I wasn't sure how the place worked as previous restaurants had wanted a reservation. I asked the lady at the bar who was super friendly and helpful who told me I could sit anywhere that was not currently occupied and then order at the bar where there were a stack of menus. I chose to have an apple juice and the salmon soup, which I as asked if I wanted with or without cream, I opted for cream and was told this was a good choice. One thing to note is that they are not used to people paying in cash and had already put the total on the card machine before I asked. Once I explained I wished to pay in cash it was perfectly ok, but I was told Helsinki is slowly becoming a cashless city. Once I had ordered I was handed my drink and sat down. It didn't take long for my soup to come over, it was a huge serving with a slice of bread on the side. The taste was delicious and it had lovely big chunks of salmon and potato in it. In fact the soup here was better than one I had at another establishment that is meant to be the place to go for soup in Helsinki. It was warm and hearty and certainly filled me up. On my second visit I chose to have one of their wok meals. I had the satay with chicken and the serving of noodles was absolutely huge. It had a thick creamy peanut sauce and lots of crunchy vegetables. You are given chopsticks and also a fork to eat with and the fork was certainly useful. One thing I found was the noodles needed a little stirring to cover them in the sauce but the whole meal was very satisfying and a really decent price. They also serve burgers and pasta so plenty of different choices and you can make the wok meals vegan by opting to have tofu instead of chicken or steak if you would prefer. I also think you could order to take out if you wanted to. I really enjoyed both my visits and the other people seemed to be a mix of locals and tourists and it had a nice lively atmosphere.

Spent the night in Helsinki and wanted some easy and casual food before heading to the bars. Atmosphere was quite plain but happy customers made it nice. Service was very friendly and fast. Food came in 10 mins even the restaurant was almost full. Food was great! Noodles with chicken, chili and cocoa was delicious and chorizo pasta was great. Very tasty food for very reasonable price. 2 person meal with 2 glasses of wine under 50 € was a nice thing in the centre of Helsinki.