Tallinn II: Telliskivi and Kalamaja

On our only sunny day of the trip, we visited the area west of the Old Town.  Telliskivi is a section of the city that once housed Soviet factories.  This area has been taken over by restaurants, shops, design centers; it is now called The Creative Area.  The night before we had reservations for a restaurant in Telliskivi called Hoone F.  We had the address, which we found, but couldn't see the restaurant anywhere near it.  Finally, I went into another restaurant seemingly at our restaurant's address and asked if someone could direct me to Hoone F.  The very nice manager said he would show us.  This was really kind of him, because I do not think we would otherwise have located it.  Taking us around this large rambling building where his restaurant was, right in the back (in the dark) was Hoone F.  Hoone F, he explained to us, was the first restaurant to set up in Telliskivi.  It has a kind of Soviet décor (sort of like Menza if you've read our Budapest eating history) and tasty Estonian food.

Here is a picture of the restaurant taken from our table.  As you can see, it's from above.  Our table was actually on a kind of balcony which you got to by clambering up two large steps.  (I sat down and slid to clamber down.)  It was an adventure.  But the food was really good.

We started with something called mushroom varenky in sour cream and herbs.  Kind of like ravioli or pierogi.

 

Then I had pork chop with cauliflower and melted cheese sauce (as unappetizing as it usually is) but also potato pancakes--the pancakes being the main reason I ordered it), and Tony had pasta. We shared something called gin and tonic cheesecake, which it really wasn't..Okay: enough about the food.

The next day we went to Telliskivi and saw it in the light.  (We were even more convinced that would have never found F Hoone on our own.)  We traversed the wonderful market and some of the design spaces.  Everything sparkled in the sunshine--a phenomenon we would not repeat in our Baltic trip.

Then we walked through Kalamaja, which was a kind of suburb where workers lived in the 1920s and 1930s in this newly industrialized part of Tallinn.  The houses are wooden and symmetrical and were painted in bright colors.  In recent years, this has all been trendy and the houses have been rejuvenated.

Interestingly, we saw the same kind of houses in the outskirts of town, as we took the bus to Riga.

We ended at the Baltic sea, which we were lucky enough to see in sunshine!

It was Restaurant Week in Tallinn when we were there lots of expensive restaurants serving prix fixe.  We ate at a Spanish restaurant called Alter Ego, and, though we hadn't been looking to eat Spanish food on this trip, really enjoyed it.  Ahi tuna, venison and samosas, and our first version of the ubiquitous Baltic/Russian dessert, a Pavlova.

Here's Tony looking happy at Hoone F and me at Alter Ego. 

Next up, we are off to Riga.

#TallinnEstonia

#Telliskvi
#Kalamaja