Kotipizza in Helsinki

When I went to visit Helsinki, Kotipizza was on my list as a recommendation by a Finnish friend. They are THE pizza chain in Finland with over 280 restaurants and after our rather expensive meal at Aino the night before, we felt a cheaper option was appreciated!

We popped into the branch closest to where we were staying, the one in Kruununhaka.

Interior

Kotipizza counter

The restaurant allows you to eat in or take away; we decided on the latter as we wanted the comfort of just chilling in our pyjamas back at the hotel. The Finnish menu are on the screens but an English menu is available on the counter.

We had already looked at the menu online, so knew what we were going to order. We then took the box back to the hotel along with a couple of drinks we picked up from the local supermarket.

Kotipizza box

Berlusconi pizza

Berlusconi: Rye fibre crust, smoked reindeer, chanterelle mushrooms and red onions

You read that right, we ordered a pizza named after former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In 2005, Berlusconi made a negative remark about enduring Finnish cuisine and eating marinated reindeer. This pizza was created by the chain in 2008 and won the America’s Plate International pizza contest in New York in the same year!

On to the pizza itself (excuse the Moomin)! The rye fibre crust meant the pizza wasn’t very oily. I didn’t mind the crust, but my sister didn’t like it as much as normal pizza crust. The toppings were generous and complimented each other. The reindeer meat was sparse, but at €10.90 for a 30cm/12 inch pizza, it’s not bad!

Overall comments

I would say definitely try this pizza out, especially if you want a cheap way of trying out reindeer meat. If you have no desire to try reindeer, then definitely look at the other pizzas, it’s local cuisine worth trying.

Information

Website: https://www.kotipizza.fi/fi
There are several Kotipizza branches, but this is the one we went to.
Address: Mariankatu 10, 00170 Helsinki, Finland