Have you tried all the campus restaurants in Otaniemi? No worries if you haven’t because I have and I will let you know my favorites. Usually the student lunch costs 2,70€ and it includes warm food/soup, different salad options, bread and water/milk/juice. There is always an option for meat and vegetarian. You can also order a la carte dishes for around 5€ like pizza, steaks and hamburgers. You can find Otaniemi’s student restaurants and menus from here. Next I will tell you more about the seven student restaurants and their dishes that I tried. 

A Bloc 

A Bloc is student restaurant runed by Fazer and it’s located in small shopping center A Bloc. The restaurant is very popular because of its location and great lunch options. I chose to eat on a day when they served one of my favorite dishes – chicken and rice. I give this dish 5/5. It’s tasty and the hints of Indian flavors takes me to another food culture. 

Täffä 

Teknologföreningen or Täffä is the Swedish speaking students’ society at Aalto University founded in 1872. They have a building that serves as a restaurant for students during daytime and as a night-club whenever needed. This is many students go to place because it’s close to Teekkari village, where students live. Täffä menu changes every week except on Wednesdays they always serve pasta bolognaise and on Fridays as a la carte, grilled salmon and french fries. You should definitely try Täffä’s pasta bolognaise because I will give it 5/5 for its unique flavor and big portion size! 

Kvarkki 

Kvarkki is not located closest to the main building but it’s nice that you can eat your lunch in a more pieceful place. I mentioned that Täffä serves spaghetti bolognaise every Wednesday but Kvarkki also has their special. Every Wednesday they offer pork steak with bacon sauce and wedged potatoes. I give this dish 5/5. For 2,70€ the pork steak is great option, and you can always trust to have a great lunch on Wednesday! 

Kipsari Väre 

Kipsari is a restaurant, bar and café owned by Aalto ARTS students, which serves delicious vegetarian and vegan food in Otaniemi, as well as locally baked delicacies. They have two locations – one in Väre, the main building of ARTS students, and other one in Studio, close to Teekkari village. I am not a big fan of vegetarian food but sometimes they have some very taste options that I really enjoy to eat. I will give extra points for Kipsari Väre because they always have multiple dish options that you can try. I had pistou pasta, baked vegetable and Härkis and I will give this dish 4/5. The flavors and ingredients were very tasty but it was still missing something. 

Studio Kipsari 

Kipsari Studio always welcomes you with a warm hug since they offer delicious soups but if you want something lighter, they also offer salad and bread lunch options. I had vegetable soup and I also had delicious salad and bread with it. I will give this dish 4/5. The soup was very delicious, and it had nice croutons, but for me there was too many other students eating in the restaurant and I didn’t feel so safe. Remember to always use the hand sanitizer and keep a safe distance from others! 

Dipoli 

When you are visiting Dipoli you will see a student restaurant, art exhibitions, and working spaces. Sometimes there are big parties and events for students and visitors. They have great a la carte options and their specialty is that they have sparkling water. In Dipoli, I ate one of my favorite Finnish dishes – ham and potato casserole with pickled beetroot. I will give this 4/5 because it wasn’t as good as my mother’s, but it was still very nice.  

Because of Covid-19 some places are not open and one of them is Subway. You can get the daily 15 cm subway for 2,70€. There are also some other places that are usually open in campus and they are Alvari, Computer Science Building, Valimo and TUAS. We also have many restaurants like Fafa’s, Poke Bowl and sushi buffet, but the price is not that student friendly. Hope you liked this post where I tried student restaurants and maybe you got inspirated to try out some new restaurants.  

An Cong
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