Restaurant in Helsinki, Finland
Tasting menus at Töölö prices that compete upmarket.
Young Hearts holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and a 4.6 Google rating, making it Helsinki's most accessible entry into recognised modern cuisine at €€€ — one tier below Palace, Olo, and Grön. Booking is easy with one to two weeks' notice. The menu tracks Finnish seasons, so the timing of your visit shapes what you eat.
If you are weighing Young Hearts against Helsinki's bigger-name tasting menu rooms, the key distinction is price tier. [Palace](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/palace), [Olo](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/olo), and [Grön](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/gron) all sit at €€€€, while Young Hearts holds at €€€, making it the more accessible entry point into Helsinki's Michelin-recognised modern cuisine scene. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) confirm this is not a compromise choice — it is a deliberate one for diners who want recognised quality without the top-tier price commitment.
Young Hearts is on Runeberginkatu 55 in the Töölö district, a residential neighbourhood that runs quieter than the Design District or the central waterfront. That address matters for a special occasion: you are not fighting tourist foot traffic, and the area has a neighbourhood-restaurant feel that suits a dinner where the conversation should be the loudest thing at the table.
The Michelin Plate designation, awarded in both 2024 and 2025, signals consistent cooking that the guide's inspectors consider worth seeking out. A Plate is not a Star, but it does mean the food clears a credibility threshold that most Helsinki restaurants do not reach. Google reviewers agree , 4.6 from 144 ratings is a strong signal at this price point, where disappointed diners tend to leave detailed complaints.
Because Young Hearts operates in the modern cuisine category without publicly listed signature dishes or a fixed menu format in our data, the practical framing here matters more than usual. Finnish modern cuisine at the €€€ level typically tracks the seasons closely: what is available at the market drives what appears on the plate, so the menu you eat in late autumn is meaningfully different from the one served in early summer. This is not a venue where you lock in a dish you read about six months ago and expect it to be waiting. The seasonal rotation is the point. If you want a static, reliable menu you can study in advance, [Gaijin](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/gaijin) at €€€ offers a more consistent Asian-influenced frame. If the idea of eating what is genuinely in season in Finland right now appeals, Young Hearts is worth the booking.
For a special occasion specifically, the €€€ price range positions this as a dinner that feels considered without requiring the full financial commitment of a €€€€ room. Compared to [Savoy](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/savoy), which carries significant historical weight and a more formal register, Young Hearts reads as the choice for a celebration that wants substance without ceremony. For an anniversary dinner or a birthday where the food should be the focus rather than the institution, that is a meaningful difference.
Timing your visit around Finnish seasons is the clearest practical advice for this restaurant. The Finnish larder shifts sharply between seasons: summer brings chanterelles, coastal fish, and berries; autumn introduces game and root vegetables; winter and early spring are when Nordic kitchens lean on preservation, fermentation, and aged ingredients. Each window produces a different quality of experience, not a better or worse one, but a different one. If you have a preference for lighter, produce-forward plates, a summer or early autumn visit aligns better. If you want richer, more substantial cooking, book from October onward. Neither season is a wrong answer, but knowing this before you book puts you in a stronger position.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you are not managing a six-week refresh cycle or competing with a queue. Book a week to two weeks out for a weekday dinner and you should have options. For a Friday or Saturday, extend that to two to three weeks to have comfortable choice of time. For a significant occasion where the date is fixed, book as soon as the date is confirmed , there is no upside in waiting, even if demand is manageable.
Helsinki has a broader modern cuisine scene worth knowing if Young Hearts does not fit your window. In the city, [Demo](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/demo-helsinki-restaurant), [Bona Fide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bona-fide-helsinki-restaurant), [Ego](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ego-helsinki-restaurant), [305](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/305-helsinki-restaurant), and [Aoi](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/aoi-helsinki-restaurant) cover different parts of the quality-to-price spectrum. Outside Helsinki, [VÅR in Porvoo](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/vr-porvoo-restaurant) and [Kaskis in Turku](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/kaskis-turku-restaurant) are worth the trip if your schedule allows. Further afield in Finland, [Gastropub Tuulensuu in Tampere](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/gastropub-tuulensuu-tampere-restaurant), [Pöllöwaari in Jyväskylä](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/pollowaari-jyvaskyla-restaurant), [Lucy in the sky in Espoo](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lucy-in-the-sky-espoo-restaurant), and [Musta lammas in Kuopio](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/musta-lammas-kuopio-restaurant) represent the regional scene. For Scandinavian context at the upper end, [Frantzén in Stockholm](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/frantzn-stockholm-restaurant) sets the ceiling for the region, and [Maison Lameloise in Chagny](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/maison-lameloise-chagny-restaurant) offers a useful European reference point for how a similarly Michelin-recognised modern kitchen operates at a different scale.
For full Helsinki planning, see our guides: our full Helsinki restaurants guide, our full Helsinki hotels guide, our full Helsinki bars guide, our full Helsinki wineries guide, and our full Helsinki experiences guide.
| Venue | Price | Awards | Booking | Leading for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young Hearts | €€€ | Michelin Plate ×2 | Easy (1–3 weeks) | Special occasion at accessible price |
| Palace | €€€€ | Michelin Star | Harder , book further out | Full splurge, Finnish classics refined |
| Olo | €€€€ | Michelin Star | Harder , book further out | Scandinavian tasting menu benchmark |
| Grön | €€€€ | Michelin Star | Harder , book further out | Plant-forward, creative Nordic |
| Gaijin | €€€ | , | Easy | Asian-influenced, consistent menu |
Yes, and it is a stronger value play for a special occasion than some of Helsinki's better-known rooms. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) give it enough credibility to feel occasion-worthy, and the €€€ price tier means you are not paying Palace-level prices for the same category of dinner. Töölö is quieter and more residential than the city centre, which suits a dinner where the focus is the table rather than the room's buzz.
Dress neatly but not formally. Michelin Plate recognition in Helsinki does not carry the strict dress codes you might encounter at comparable venues in Paris or London, and the Töölö address points toward a neighbourhood-restaurant feel rather than a hotel dining room. A dinner-appropriate look — no jeans with holes, no trainers — is the practical call here.
Tasting menu restaurants at this level routinely accommodate dietary restrictions when notified in advance, and that is the standard expectation for a Michelin Plate venue. Contact Young Hearts directly before booking to confirm specific requirements, since the kitchen builds menus in advance and advance notice is what makes accommodation possible.
At €€€, Young Hearts sits below the price ceiling of Helsinki's top tasting menu rooms like Palace, and two Michelin Plates in consecutive years suggest the kitchen is consistent. If you want a structured modern cuisine tasting experience in Helsinki without paying top-tier prices, it delivers. For a la carte flexibility, it is not the right format.
The address is Runeberginkatu 55 in Töölö, about ten minutes from the city centre — worth knowing if you are timing a pre-dinner drink nearby. The format is modern cuisine, almost certainly structured as a tasting menu or set menu format given the Michelin recognition and price tier. Book in advance: Michelin-listed restaurants in Helsinki fill their better sittings quickly, especially on weekends.
Palace is the step up in price and prestige — two Michelin Stars versus Young Hearts' Plate, so you are paying for a meaningful quality difference. Olo offers a comparable tasting menu experience in the city centre if location matters. Grön is worth considering for a more ingredient-driven, vegetable-forward approach at a similar tier. Savoy fits better if you want a Helsinki institution with history over modern cuisine ambition. Gaijin is a different format entirely — Asian-influenced small plates — and suits a more casual or group-friendly night.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
