Seriously difficult to rate one stop above others as anything in this market is going to be good…read more Solid bars good options at several stalls and cute shops to hunt for that special item. Bonus that this has restrooms and is inside - a great way to get out of the cold! Though there ARE opportunities to sit a spell, people watching here might be limited (if that's your thing) as the hallway around the market is more narrow and doesn't have much room to sit and only one or two stalls have seating areas. Service at each business is fast as it can be for a popular place and of course the value for your spend might be limited as well because there are tourists everywhere! When in doubt grab a sweet roll!

Vanha kauppahalli or Old Market Hall, is a smaller food hall that unlike some of the others we…read morevisited in Sweden and Denmark, is shotgun style with two lanes straight up and down. There was very little seating outside of the few shops that have it built in (which can only be used by their customers) and the shops are on the smaller side and a little more touristy than you'd expect. Another friendly reminder that Reindeer jerky can't be brought into the US, so if you do purchase it here, make sure to eat it before you get on the plane to head home. All in all it's a cute little food hall with an okay selection, but we liked the ones in Stockholm and Copenhagen better since they were larger and more of a deli style.

The first stop on our food tour, Paalane had the cheeses. Absolutely delicious and the woman behind…read morethe counter was super friendly and nice. We tried two Finnish cheeses here. Both were soft cheeses, with a Brie-like texture. A little mushy, a nice sharp flavor though. Quite tasty! If I were entertaining in Helsinki, or even if I was spending some more time here, this would be the spot to stop for cheese. But it's a little harder to transport it 12 or 14 hours back to the US so I was sad to leave Paalane empty handed today. [Review 10069 overall, 1654 of 2018.]