Food and drink in Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi sits where the Ounasjoki and the Kemijoki meet, and Visit Rovaniemi traces the local kitchen back to that setting: forests, rivers, lakes and fells that supply berries, mushrooms, fish and game. In winter the fresh harvest is over, so what reaches your plate is reindeer, fish from under the ice, and summer berries kept as jam or baked into desserts. The town also has plenty of international cooking, but the dishes below are the ones worth trying while you are this far north.

Reindeer on the menu

The dish you will see everywhere is sautéed reindeer, poronkäristys in Finnish. The meat is sliced thin, cooked down in a pan and served with creamy mashed potatoes and tart lingonberries or lingonberry jam. Reindeer has been part of life in Lapland for centuries, and herding is still a traditional livelihood around Rovaniemi. Nothing goes to waste: you will also find reindeer as fillet, cold cuts, dried meat, mince and sausages.

Three reindeer products from Finnish Lapland carry the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin. Reindeer meat from Lapland (Lapin Poron liha) was registered in 2009, dried reindeer meat (Lapin Poron kuivaliha) in 2010 and cold-smoked reindeer meat (Lapin Poron kylmäsavuliha) in 2011. The label means the animals were born and raised in the Finnish reindeer husbandry area and the meat was processed and packed there too.

Game has its place as well. Game birds and waterfowl, elk and even bear belong to the food traditions of the region, though hunting is regulated.

Fish from the two rivers

Fishing has shaped life at the meeting of the two rivers for generations. Salmon, trout, pikeperch and Arctic char are the fish you will find on northern plates. Salmon soup is one of Lapland’s best-known fish dishes and is served in restaurants throughout Rovaniemi. In winter, Visit Finland points to fresh fish caught through the ice as a seasonal treat; if you want to catch your own, see the page on ice fishing.

Squeaky cheese and cloudberries

For dessert, look for leipäjuusto. It is a soft, lightly browned traditional cheese that is often served warm with fresh cloudberries or cloudberry jam. In English it goes by “squeaky cheese”, because of the sound it can make when you bite into it.

Cloudberries are rare golden berries that grow mostly in the north, and Visit Rovaniemi calls them the crown jewel of Lapland’s berries. They are picked from late July to September, together with bilberries, lingonberries and cranberries. In winter you meet them preserved: as jam, in pastries and desserts, in sauces next to meat, and in drinks. Visit Finland lists cloudberry jam among its favourite things to take home from Finland.

Bread, potatoes and pastries

Lappish meals lean on potatoes, and Lapland even has its own traditional variety, a small oval almond potato with a distinct flavour. Carrots, turnips and other root vegetables appear in many dishes. Rieska is a soft flatbread that locals often eat simply with butter. With coffee you may be offered kampanisu, a sweet pastry whose name means “comb scone” after its comb-like shape.

Coffee by the fire and on the ski trail

Finns drink more coffee than any other nation, according to Visit Finland, on average four cups a day. Order a coffee in a café and you get filter coffee, usually a lighter roast. Pullakahvit means coffee with a sweet bun or a cinnamon roll (korvapuusti). Two customs are typical of the north. Nokipannukahvi is coffee boiled in a pot over an open fire, best drunk from a wooden cup called a kuksa. In outdoor areas you may find a latukahvila, a café by the ski tracks.

For water, use the tap. Visit Rovaniemi says Finnish tap water is safe to drink and among the best in the world, so there is no need to buy bottled water during your stay.

Where to eat between sights

In winter two museum cafés make an easy lunch stop in town. From 1 December 2026 to 10 January 2027 the Arktikum café serves a Lapland buffet lunch daily from 11:00 to 17:00, except on 24 December, and you do not need a museum ticket to use the café. The Kitchen & Café at Korundi is open for lunch Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 15:00. A new operator takes over both cafés in autumn 2026, so check the official site before you go. Out at the Arctic Circle, the official list for Santa Claus Village includes restaurants such as Santa’s Salmon Place and the Lapland Restaurant Kotahovi.

Over Christmas, Visit Rovaniemi warns that restaurant hours may change and advises booking well in advance if you want lunch or dinner at a particular place. Our Christmas page has more on what is open on the holidays.

Paying and tipping

Service is always included in the bill in Finland, and Visit Finland says tipping is optional and never expected, in Helsinki as much as in a small café in Lapland. At most, people round up or leave a couple of euros when the service was very good.

Buying alcohol

Finland keeps a state-owned chain, Alko, with the sole right to sell stronger drinks in shops. Since 10 June 2024 supermarkets may sell fermented drinks such as beer, cider and wine up to 8 per cent alcohol, and other alcoholic drinks up to 5.5 per cent. Everything stronger, which means most wine and all spirits, is sold only at Alko.