Estonia brought us a lot of good meals, but it really brought us some of the sweetest waitresses. They were so attentive- kneeling down next to our table to talk to us and writing us cute notes. We ended up feasting at a lot of our meals. I would go back for some of these meals in a heartbeat.
Rataskaevu 16
My friends and I put together our own feast here. It was our first meal in Estonia while we waited for the time to meet up with our Air B n B host. The meal started with homemade bread that is the chef’s original recipes and water flavored with buckthorn berries. We split an appetizer of pan-fried herring fillets. My family gets pickled herring for Christmas, so I was apprehensive of eating the herring. However, I like the taste of the pan-fried herrings and the cottage cheese sauce. My two friends and I split 3 different dishes that were all amazing. My favorite was the black salsify casserole with smoked cheese. It was like a glorified cheese pie with meat, onions, and crust. We also split the pork leg and I really wanted to try the elk. As you can see from the pictures, the plating was gorgeous. Our waitress recommended the bread pudding for dessert, so we split that as well. Below are the prices, which split 3 ways was so worthwhile for the meal that we had. The ambiance was quite enjoyable- it was cozy, the waitstaff was so sweet, and overall, we had a great time.
Fried herring fillets €6.30 (7.13)
Black salsify casserole with smoked cheese €9.50 ($10.75)
Braised elk roast €19.70 ($22.07)
Pork leg €11.70 ($13.24)
Bread pudding €4.60 ($5.21)
Website: http://rataskaevu16.ee/
Ulo
For lunch near DePoo Market, we stopped at a restaurant recommended by our friend. It has a lot of vegetarian and vegan friendly options. I had the pasta with pesto, which had tofu, spinach, tomatoes, and sunflower seeds. We also tried these Estonia juices. I had the blueberry/strawberry-raspberry flavor. It came in a huge glass and with an uncooked pasta noodle as the straw, which was great until it started cracking. The atmosphere of this place was also lovely with a kind waitress who gave us menu advice, was welcoming, and wrote us all sweet notes on our receipts.
Pasta with pesto €11.60 ($12.97)
Blueberry/strawberry-raspberry juice €3.20 ($3.58)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Kopli16/
Overall, we really enjoyed our meals in Estonia. People were kind, the food was delicious, and the town of Tallinn is beautiful and quaint. If you ever get the chance, check out Tallinn and get these experiences for yourself.