Restaurant in Helsinki, Finland
Serious wine list, French food, easy to book.
Le Coucou Vert earned consecutive Star Wine List awards in 2024 and 2026, plus a Michelin Plate in 2025 — a steady run of recognition for a French kitchen at the €€€ tier in Helsinki. Booking is easy compared to the city's starred Nordic venues, making this the practical choice when you want serious wine and French cooking without a waitlist.
If you have been to Le Coucou Vert once and filed it under "reliable French in the Bulevardi neighbourhood," it is time to reconsider the wine list. The Star Wine List award arrived in 2024 and again in 2026, with a Michelin Plate recognising the kitchen in 2025. That is a consistent three-year run of external validation that puts this address in a specific tier: good enough to attract serious scrutiny, consistent enough to pass it. For a returning visitor, the question is not whether to go back but how to use it differently.
Two consecutive Star Wine List recognitions tell you something concrete: the wine selection is curated with intention, not assembled to fill a list. At the €€€ price point, that matters. You are paying for a French kitchen in Helsinki — a city where Nordic and Scandinavian menus dominate the fine-dining tier , and the wine program adds genuine value that a comparable spend at a New Nordic tasting-menu venue would not automatically deliver. The Michelin Plate places the kitchen in competent, recognised territory without the full-star pressure that reshapes menus around chef ambition rather than diner pleasure. That is often a more relaxed and more enjoyable room to sit in.
The Google rating of 4.4 across 169 reviews is steady rather than stratospheric, which is a useful signal in itself. It suggests a venue that performs consistently for a broad range of guests rather than one that polarises. For a returning diner, consistency is what you want confirmed , and the award trajectory confirms it independently of review sentiment.
Bulevardi 32 puts Le Coucou Vert in one of Helsinki's more composed residential and dining streets, away from the harbour-front tourist concentration. The French format , structured service, a wine-forward offer, cuisine that does not chase Nordic trends , creates a particular ambient register: quieter in intention than a contemporary brasserie, more settled than a cocktail-led dining room. If you found it lively on your first visit, an earlier seating will give you a calmer experience. This is a room that works better for conversation than for group celebration energy, and better for two or three than for a large table looking for collective noise.
For a regular, the practical tip is to treat the wine list as the main event on a return visit. If you ordered conservatively the first time, a return is the occasion to ask for a recommendation from the list , the Star Wine List recognition suggests the team has the expertise to guide you toward something you would not have chosen alone.
French cooking at the €€€ tier is among the formats least suited to off-premise eating. Sauces reduce during transit, plating becomes irrelevant, and the ambient experience , which accounts for a meaningful share of what you are paying for , disappears entirely. There is no data in the available record confirming that Le Coucou Vert offers delivery or takeout, and given the cuisine type and price positioning, this is not a venue to approach with that expectation. If you are weighing a night in against a booking here, the comparison does not favour staying home. The wine program alone, which has earned recognition in a category where off-premise service is impossible to replicate, makes the in-room experience the only version worth having. Book the table.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which at a Michelin Plate venue with a recognised wine program in Helsinki is a genuine advantage. You are not competing with a months-long waitlist. A week's notice is likely sufficient for most sittings, though a Friday or Saturday evening may require slightly more lead time. The address is Bulevardi 32, 00120 Helsinki. No booking phone or website is recorded in the available data , check current booking channels directly before your visit.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty | Awards / Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Coucou Vert | French | €€€ | Easy | Michelin Plate (2025); Star Wine List (2024, 2026) |
| Palace | Finnish, Modern | €€€€ | Hard | Michelin Star |
| Olo | Scandinavian, Modern | €€€€ | Moderate | Michelin Star |
| Grön | New Nordic, Creative | €€€€ | Moderate | Michelin Star |
| Gaijin | Middle Eastern, Asian | €€€ | Easy | , |
Le Coucou Vert occupies a specific and useful slot: French cuisine at a price tier below Helsinki's Michelin-starred Nordic tasting menus, with a wine program that outperforms what you would expect at this price point. If you want a tasting menu built around Finnish and Nordic produce, Palace or Olo are the stronger choices at €€€€. If you want a French room with serious wine at a more accessible spend and no booking battle, Le Coucou Vert is the answer. For broader Helsinki context, see our full Helsinki restaurants guide.
If you are extending your trip beyond the capital, VÅR in Porvoo and Kaskis in Turku are worth the short journey for a different register entirely. For French comparisons at the international level, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier show what the format looks like at the leading of the category. Closer in spirit and price to Le Coucou Vert, Bistro Bardot is the natural Helsinki comparison for a French brasserie format. Finnjävel Salonki is the alternative if you want to stay in the €€€ tier but shift to contemporary Finnish.
For planning beyond restaurants, our Helsinki hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the full picture. If you are exploring further afield, Gastropub Tuulensuu in Tampere, Pöllöwaari in Jyväskylä, Lucy in the Sky in Espoo, and Musta Lammas in Kuopio each represent strong regional options worth knowing.
Smart casual is the safe call at a €€€ French restaurant with Michelin Plate recognition in Helsinki. You will not be turned away in jeans, but the room's awards profile and cuisine type suggest a step above casual. Think of it the way you would dress for a good French brasserie in Paris: neat, considered, not formal. No specific dress code is published in the available data, so err toward the neater end if you are unsure.
No bar seating configuration is confirmed in the available data. At a French restaurant of this type and price in Helsinki, a counter or bar dining option is possible but not guaranteed. Contact the venue directly to confirm whether bar seats are available , if they are, it is often the better choice for a solo visit or a spontaneous booking.
Group capacity details are not in the available record. At a €€€ French venue with a settled, conversation-friendly atmosphere, this room is better suited to tables of two to four than to large group dinners. If you are planning a group of six or more, call ahead to confirm availability and whether a private or semi-private arrangement exists. Expect to book further in advance than usual for larger tables even at a venue where individual reservations are easy to secure.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which means a week's notice is likely sufficient for most mid-week sittings. Weekend evenings , particularly Friday and Saturday , may need two weeks given the Michelin Plate status and consistent Star Wine List recognition, which draw an audience that plans ahead. There is no long waitlist here the way there is at Palace or Olo. If you are flexible on timing, a Tuesday or Wednesday booking gives you the most room to negotiate your preferred sitting.
A French restaurant with a serious wine program is one of the more comfortable solo dining formats at this price tier , the wine list gives you something to engage with, service at a Michelin Plate venue tends to be attentive without being overbearing, and the room's quieter energy suits a solitary meal better than a louder brasserie would. Ask about bar or counter seating when booking, as it often makes the solo experience easier. At €€€, the spend is manageable for a solo dinner compared to the €€€€ tasting-menu venues in Helsinki's upper tier.
The €€€ price point and Michelin Plate recognition put Le Coucou Vert in a bracket where guests typically dress up slightly — think neat, considered clothing rather than full formal. Helsinki diners tend to lean understated rather than dressed-to-impress, so a well-put-together casual outfit fits the room. Overly casual attire — trainers, gym wear — would feel out of place at this price tier.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in current venue data, so call ahead before assuming a walk-in bar option exists. Given the venue holds back-to-back Star Wine List awards (2024 and 2026), if bar seating is available, it would be a strong way to focus on the wine program without committing to a full table reservation.
Private dining or group capacity details are not documented for Le Coucou Vert, so check the venue's official channels at Bulevardi 32 before planning a group booking. At the €€€ tier, French restaurants in Helsinki typically suit groups of up to six comfortably at standard tables; larger parties should confirm room configuration in advance.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is a practical advantage over Helsinki's harder-to-book Nordic tasting menu venues. A week's notice is likely sufficient most of the time, but for Friday or Saturday dinner — especially with a specific table preference — booking two weeks out is sensible given the Michelin Plate profile and recognised wine list.
French restaurants at the €€€ level in Helsinki generally work well for solo diners, particularly if counter or bar seating is available — worth confirming directly with the venue. The wine-forward identity, backed by two Star Wine List awards, makes Le Coucou Vert a stronger solo choice than a venue where the draw is purely the food format; you can order a single glass and engage with the list at your own pace.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
