As a part of our trip around the Baltics in our grand Northern Europe tour 2024-2025, we were in beautiful Tallinn for a few days. We had read online that there is a Medieval restaurant experience in the centre of Tallinn old town that was highly recommended, but we were warned it was in high demand and that we may not get a table.
Outside the restaurant
The Olde Hansa restaurant is in the heart of the old town, just downhill from the Town Hall, at the junction of Vene and Veru. Outside the restaurant, there is a food cart selling nuts – this cart is an indication of what lies within the restaurant, in that the street seller is in a serf costume, and the wooden cart is decorated to look medieval – with everything except the credit card terminal looking like it is from the 1300’s.
The massive Town Hall bell tower (from 1402) dominates the skyline, and nestled below is the entrance to the restaurant. Outside was a wooden mannequin, beckoning us inside. We decided to wing it, and turn up to the restaurant without a booking, but we arrived at 5 pm to try and avoid crowds. We were lucky, and as we were only two people, they found us a table on the ground floor.
Restaurant Interior
We were greeted by a costumed servant, who quickly worked out we spoke English, and used the term “my lord” and “my lady” for us. We were taken to a wooden table in a dark corner of a passageway room, and given the menus in English. Every inch of Old Hansa is decorated to look like it is from the 1300’s-1400’s. The walls are painted with grapevines and flowers, the floors are solid wooden beams, the walls are not square and straight, and even the lighting is hidden. In our little corner, an alcove had been decorated with old plates and cups, to make it look like it was a store cupboard.
Apparently, the restaurant has three floors, and it is a bit of a maze to walk around the sometimes narrow corridors. We read online reviews that some people arrive at their scheduled booking time, but still have to wait half an hour to get seated. However, we noticed that the staff are always running and rushing, trying to ensure that everyone is served.
Restaurant Menu
Their menu is very medieval inspired. You can select dishes like deer, ox, bear, elk, boar, haggis – and other dishes like salmon, pork, lamb, duck, and vegetarian dishes. There are also mysterious dishes like “hunstman’s luck” and “olderman’s soup of various game meats”. There is a wide variety on the menu, and it took a little while to read it all.
If you choose to have the “Royal Hunting Feast” or the “Grand Chef’s Feast”, the dishes come with a wide variety of side dishes, like pickles, olives, flavoured cheeses, pates and breads. When reading the menu and trying to choose, you need to read everything because the way it is described can obscure what it is – “Andalusian Sultan’s Salmon and Hansa smoked herring with spiced sprat and ocean-plucked crab with garlic dream”.
Drinks
We chose to have the “light beer” of beer flavoured with cinnamon, and honey beer. We did not feel adventurous enough to have the dark beer with various herbs and spices. They have a variety of house spiced wines, and they also have bottled wine if you want to stick to something simple.
The beer is served in earthenware tankards, and wine is served in goblets – all of it adding to the atmosphere and feeling of being ‘medieval’. Added to that, the toilets are also non-modern, and are an entertaining experience themselves.
Experience
Whilst the food is hearty and interesting to enjoy, what really makes the experience is not just the decoration, but also the staff. Whilst they were busy (running and almost colliding in to each other), and service was often slow, the experience when we actually were handled, was very good. Our waiter regaled us with flowery language to describe the meals, and then turned around to the next table and repeated it all in a different language.
There were musicians and other characters in costumes, and at one stage they played songs in various parts of the restaurant. We did not feel rushed, and actually stayed for almost two hours. Although it was one of the most expensive meals of our trip, it was a very enjoyable experience.
