Virukeskus
Foodhall
Viru Food Hall celebrated the opening of two new restaurants with a lively event where fire spewed from both lions and guests who had tried chili peppers. The event was attended by well-known influencers and enthusiasts of Food Street.
Viru Food Hall is a unique place in downtown Tallinn where visitors can choose between 16 different culinary experiences. Recently, the restaurant family expanded with Han’s Streetfood, offering Chinese street food, and Hop&Hen, serving craft beers and crispy chicken wings.
At the opening event, the head chefs presented new menu items and secrets of preparing Chinese dishes to the guests. Attendees had the chance to try their hand at making traditional Chinese dishes in dumpling and mooncake workshops. A mooncake, traditionally eaten around the summer solstice, is a cream-filled pastry whose filling is often made from lotus seed paste, sometimes including salted duck egg yolk, resembling a full moon—hence the name.
The cultural experience from China was brought to guests by opera singer Yixuan Wang, and a lion known for bringing good fortune also delighted the crowd.
Chef Vlad, with experience from large cities, offered guests crispy chicken meat alongside refreshing beer, served either as a salad or in a burger. Plant-based food enthusiasts were not left hungry either, as Hop&Hen’s burgers are also available in a vegetarian version.
The evening’s highlight was the chicken wing eating contest organized by Hop&Hen, where participants faced a truly tearful challenge by eating chicken wings spiced with the Carolina Reaper chili pepper—one of the hottest peppers in the world.
Han’s Streetfood restaurant is known as the younger sibling of the Chinese restaurant Han’s, with a focus on freshly made Chinese street food from Chinese chefs. The restaurant’s most loved dishes include Lanzhou ramen, Chinese dumplings, and Dan-Dan noodles. Lanzhou ramen features handmade noodles in beef broth, a comforting soup invented during the Tang dynasty at the end of the first millennium, easy to prepare and suitable for Muslims. Its base consists of soft, hand-pulled wheat noodles, and the secret lies in the proper dough-pulling technique. Soy sauce is not used; instead, the beef broth is flavored with herbs and salt, making the soup lighter and clearer. Green onions, boiled/marinated eggs, beef, and chili oils can be added as garnishes.
The story of Hop&Hen restaurant began with a simple but passionate desire to offer something truly good alongside craft beer. Thus, the pleasure of crispy and juicy chicken was combined with the best craft beers. The founders of Hop&Hen, Tarass Markin and Vlad Boruhhin, believe that the best moments in life happen around good food, combined with beer and even better company.
The founders of Hop&Hen are passionately dedicated to making craft beer, especially that of Estonia, more accessible and relatable to people. From Hop&Hen’s taps flow 16 different craft beers, in addition to 7 non-alcoholic beers, and their selection changes every week. Alongside IPAs and pilsners from the Danish craft brewery Mikkeller, guests can also taste creations from brewers Põhjala, Pühaste, and Käblik. Hop&Hen offers not just food, but also creates experiences.
Photos Marek Metslaid
