Nili Restaurant

This was the best experiential dinner in lapland! The restaurant is more than a building with food, it is a true Lapish experience with animal hides and viking style decor. The server brought the menus with solid wood covers, and even the bread arrived in a birch raft. The meal was delicious with flaky fish, incredibly tender Reindeer and excellent seasoning throughout. We ordered the perch, the Reindeer with mashed potatoes and a sampler salad. I highly recommend visiting here when you're in Rovaniemi.

We visited Nili restaurant yesterday and it was incredible from start to finish. The atmosphere is so authentic and warm — you truly feel immersed in the culture the moment you walk in. We went for the surprise menu and it was honestly the best decision we could’ve made. Every course was beautifully presented and bursting with flavor. Each dish brought something new and exciting — a real culinary journey. The staff were so friendly and welcoming, which made the whole experience even more special. You could really feel the care and passion behind everything. From the ambiance to the service to the food, everything was just perfect. Highly recommend Nili to anyone looking for a memorable and delicious dining experience!

We dined at Nili on a Thursday evening and were fortunate to get a table despite not having a reservation. From the moment we arrived, the service was exceptional—we were warmly welcomed and even treated to complimentary starters. The food was outstanding and exceeded our expectations. The reindeer was perfectly cooked, juicy, and tender, while our fish dishes were equally impressive. We ended the meal with a delightful dessert, making the experience even more memorable. If you’re in Rovaniemi, we highly recommend dining here. Reservations are advised, but if you’re lucky, you might snag a last-minute spot like we did.

Arrived at the hotel from Sweden and immediately booked at this restaurant not knowing what to expect and the whole experience was simply stunning. Waldemor, waited on us and expertly guided us through the menu and our choices both with and without wine pairing. The food was Magnificent!!! Definitely recommend.

I recommend booking in advance as it gets quite busy. We went for lunch which included Laplands potato pancake, Willow grouse broth, Arctic pike perch and Traditional sautéed reindeer. The surprise of an amuse bouche salmon mousse was a nice touch. Food was great on the whole, but we felt the reindeer was slightly overdone. Slightly expensive but that's the norm in Finland.

An amazing and delicious restaurant where you can try typical Finnish food. The staff is very friendly and everything is amazing. It has a high price but it is worth it. Highly recommended!

Great introduction to the Lapland’s cuisine. Friendly and easy going atmosphere, lots of tourists, but also natives who are happy to be finally able to reserve the table (we had our dinner in the end of the touristic season in April). You are welcome to ask for the vegetarian option always. Place to be!

They have interesting meats you normally can’t try anywhere other than north of finland, and quite many of them are delicious. I really enjoyed foods made with reindeer meat. there is a starter they make with grouse, which was quite a unique taste. the bear soup was not bad but i had more expectation from bear meat. ambiance is super nice, decoratons are authentic and waiter that served us was really friendly and fun to talk to, he really took our experience from good to great.

Had an incredible meal here on vacation in rovaniemi. The place is beautifully and authentically decorated! The menu is extensive and everything we tried was amazing!! The staff was extremely attentive and so nice with great service! Food service was also very quick and we had a great and relaxing meal!! They started us off with some rye bread with butter along with a crispy rye bread topped with smoked salmon sour cream which was delicious! For meals we got the arctic pike perch which was delicate and delicious served with mashed potatoes. The star of the meal however was the king of the forest which came with braised bear, reindeer sausage and potato. This was my first time trying bear meat and it was surprisingly so delicious! I can't recommend this place enough!! They do get quite busy it seems so good to book a reservation in advance!! For dessert we got a couple hot chocolates and the sea buckthorn crème brûlée. I had never had sea buckthorn before and it was a bit tart but the crème brûlée was delicious and also came topped with some cookie crumbs and sweet apples in addition to the sea buckthorn! Possibly our best meal of ou

Nili is a traditional Lappish restaurant on the pricier side in Rovaniemi. I recommend booking a reservation online, which is English-friendly, because it gets booked and busy and the hostess was quoting an hour wait for those who walked in. The restaurant is very warm and cozy with traditional decor - hides & taxidermy. My sister and I got the potato pancake to start and had the reindeer & salmon entrees. The potato pancake was delicious and featured a whitefish mousse and smoked salmon. The creamy mousse paired nicely with the pickles on top, while the smoked salmon was extremely fresh. The salmon was good and came with potatoes. The reindeer was personally not for my taste, but I am glad to have tried it! The mashed potatoes were extremely smooth and buttery. Overall, I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Rovaniemi who wants to have a taste of Finnish cuisine!

Nice place. Super attentive staff. Made a reservation well in advance which I recommend. They get very booked up. I know this is an extremely meat forward place but still it's the new century so there should be vegan options - we marked on the reservation one person was vegan and they did make note of this and bring it up during ordering and mentioned there was exactly one dish that was vegan available. I appreciated it of course but perhaps one other option since otherwise Finnish cuisine has had lots of vegan options in my experience! Nonetheless very high quality - partner had the fish dish and it looked exquisite. We don't do dessert but they had some excellent options. I am so glad we were seated in kinda a side room with only four tables as with this cool ceiling (of hides) as I would I have been really overwhelmed (circulation and covid wise) in the big dining room which was just chock full of people. If you can I'd request the side room in the reservation notes though there was still a large table nearby with 3 children that had a gross cough.

Food was outstanding as was the service. Ambiance was spot on and made us feel like we were dining in a Sami home n

Excellent ambience. Very attentive waitstaff. Exquisite food. We also loved the vodka flights!!

Nili was recommended to us so on our second night in Rovaniemi, we made a reservation and took the short stroll to the restaurant from our hotel. The restaurant is relatively small, with a main dining room and a smaller dining space near the kitchen. The menu looked good and I wanted to try some of their tried and true favorites, such as the reindeer. The amuse bouche was a smoked Finnish fish mousse for me and a reindeer drink shot (yep). We think it was the au jus that the reindeer was cooked in. For our entrees, we ordered reindeer two ways (overnight braised reindeer loin and grilled reindeer sirloin roast) and beef steak. We split their chocolate cake with crowberry sorbet. So this was my first time - but not by last time - in Finland trying reindeer. The two preparations offered different cuts of meat and they reminded me of veal and goat meat. The meats including the reindeer and beef steak were really good but the potato needed some seasoning. We really enjoyed the sorbet. Crowberry reminded us of blueberry and the sorbet was thankfully very light to accompany the dense chocolate cake. We enjoyed our lappish dinner in an environment filled with animal hides, reindeer antler chandeliers, and servers in traditional clothing. The prices were a little high compared to the nearby restaurants but it was a great find to introduce us to the area.

Authentic Lapland food, nice employees, aesthetic of the traditional ways. There was a large party in and the waitresses made sure I was taken care of and were kind and considerate.

Whitefish tartar with goat cheese mousse, sugar salted egg yolks, over salad was the first dish I had. The tartar was alright. I thought the sugar salted egg yolk was tasty and a creative way to utilize egg yolk in a tartar dish. The salad was flavorless but the goat cheese mousse was light yet dense with flavor. The steak was great and tender and the potato was a bit flavorless had it not been for bursts of bacon. The decor is a bit overwhelming bit I loved the staff and the traditional music that they played. The servers are dressed in traditional outfits.its interesting and a great alternative to the plethora of pizza and burger places around the city center.

The food offered is no better than that in other lapland areas. The reindeer tastes sour unlike what I had in other places. To be honest, this place is best for tourists like us to check-in. 150 bucks once for all. :)

We stayed at Arctic Light Hotel and they were able to get us last minute reservations for dinner here. I liked that Nili boast traditional Finnish fare and the servers were in the traditional garb- the restaurant was cozy and decorated in rustic reindeer antlers and bear skin rugs. The tables were made of dark distressed wood and very roomy for my husband, son and I! The space is small but they made the best of it! DS has the classic reindeer dish which is chopped reindeer on a bed of mashed potatoes and ligonberry sauce- he was a huge fan as he ate the entire dish, which is a rare feat as he is a very picky eater! I had the braised bear loin, with a bacon n wrapped potato and a bear consommé I can't say I've ever had bear so I didn't know what to expect. The server told us that traditionally it is an honor to eat bear as it's the largest animal in the forest and they don't eat it often and the whole village would take part in the harvesting of the bear meat. I liked the texture and rick iron flavor of the meat- it was tender and flavorful. DH had the reindeer prepared two ways and found it to be just the right portion despite it bit seeming to be a large serving! It was a very nice evening and our server couldn't have been nicer- I really enjoyed the interaction with him and learned a lot about Finnish culture. I liked that there was an apertif nightcap at the end of the meal to digest the food! All in all a great dinner!

My last dinner in Rovaneimi was here, and I have to say I enjoyed it. The decor of the restaurant and attire of the waitstaff was intended to make you feel like you were in ye olde Lapland, which I could personally take or leave, but it wasn't the kind of silly, over the top stuff you see at some theme restaurants. I had the Reindeer prepared two ways, and a local dark ale, who's name I don't know. The beer was good, and the Reindeer was too! I liked the grilled better than the braised, but they were both pretty good. The menu isn't huge, but that's not a bad thing - I'd rather a restaurant do a few things good instead of a lot of things 'meh.' Would I come back? Sure!

My family and I had dinner at Nili. This restaurant came recommended to us from one of our tour guides. The place is nicely decorated and they have several authentic Finnish dishes. My son's girlfriend is Finnish and she thought that the food was a good representation of tradition fare that Fins eat at holiday time or special occasions. I was fortunate that they had bear available since it is not possible to order all the time. It was a very enjoyable experience. The stewed reindeer was a very ample portion and enjoyable. The reindeer prepared 2 was was also very good.

Glad I took Yelp advice and got a reservation. We went on a Thursday and they were turning people away. Not a large place but it is decorated wonderfully. Nice seleciton of traditional Finnish food. Staff was very nice. My kids (11 and 13) found food they liked too.

Our homage to Finnish cuisine, traditional decor and dress for the servers. good attentive service, warm and cozy atmosphere. We sat under Wilma the Bearskin, her head almost touching Pablo and she was draped over the wall.. Blini with roe, always a fave but even more delish was the zander (perch) with potatoes. All washed down with a Mondavi chardonnay and a shot of Finish Herb Vodka (liquorice). $65 euros...When in Rovaniemi at least one meal here is a must.

Lovely, high quality restaurant. Serves traditional Finnish food with a twist. A big more expensive place but worth the money.

nice food nice service，it's easy to find good location，but you'd better to make a reservation for dinner that you needn't to wait.it's a good place to enjoy the local food！

Mediocre food, paltry service and a terribly uncomfortable dining area make Nili a great disappointment for anyone thinking that the high price tag will equal a quality meal and an original Lappish experience. As a gift from my in-laws, we decided to go to Nili for our 10th Valentine's Day together and will never go back. The dining room is packed with small tables separated by tacky dividers. Packing the tables in like sardines means that you'll have either the rear-ends or crotches of the wait staff in front of your face for half off your meal. Portions are tiny, and mine was made even smaller upon discovering a hair in my food. The staff offered to compensate with a free coffee, but we declined and left to have coffee and dessert elsewhere. Having lived in Rovaniemi for nearly a decade, I can say that Nili is an over-rated, tourist trap that will leave you feeling hungry and ashamed as this restaurant isn't even among the top ten of restaurants in our city.