5.2.2025 | Restaurants

Authentic Chinese flavours from start to finish

Text Petri Saraste 
Photos Lauri Laan, Han’s restaurant

From the Bao Zi menu, you can taste steamed or oil-battered dumplings with a variety of fillings.

Chinese food should not be referred to as a generic term, as Chinese cuisine varies significantly depending on the province of China you are in. Beijing, Cantonese, Sichuan, Anhui or Shanghainese cuisines differ considerably in terms of seasoning, ingredients and presentation. That’s why it’s great that many new and different Chinese restaurants have recently opened in Tallinn.

Han’s restaurant at A. Lauteri 5 got a little brother in the restaurant world of Viru Keskus last summer, when a 75-seat Han’s street food restaurant opened there. Both restaurants are largely based on Sichuanese cuisine, characterised by strong spices. At Viru Keskus, the menu includes dandan noodle soup, which can be served with a choice of vegetables, chicken or beef. The spiciness is up to you. The chefs, ingredients and spices are all 100% authentic Chinese.

The noodles are prepared in an open kitchen, and the process of stretching the dough into long slabs is fascinating to watch.

Sichuan flavours: dandan, bao and dim sum

Just to be on the safe side, I had a smaller and less spicy portion, which was really enough for my appetite. The portion also included three small cups of vegetable toppings: spring onion, red cabbage, cucumber, carrot and seaweed, seasoned with sesame oil, garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander.

The bao zi menu that my companion ordered included three types of handmade dumplings, cooked in steam and oil, and stuffed with vegetables, pork and beef. In addition to these, he also sampled dim sum filled with jumbo prawns. The speciality of Han´s street food is that the menu changes – every week they try to bring something new to the menu. The restaurant also offers classes on the secrets and preparation of Chinese food every two weeks or so.

This family of Chinese-Viennese-owned restaurants also includes the NuFace restaurants in Ülemiste and Baltijaam. In February, a brand new hot pot restaurant will open in Viru Keskus. Chinese restaurateurs Zhuoya Wu and Yang Fan originally came to Tallinn for reasons other than setting up restaurants. Mrs Wu is an economist and still teaches at Tallinn University, and her husband Yang Fan is originally a film director.

“I am a very spontaneous person,” says Mrs Wu. “I have always loved cooking, and when I was asked if I wanted to join the restaurant business, I probably only thought for about half an hour,” she laughs.

Han’s restaurant, A. Lauteri 5, Tallinn.

HAN’s Street Food, Viru väljak 4/6, Tallinn.