Travelogue: A Medieval Meal at Olde Hansa

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn is a time capsule, with roads and walls and buildings stretching back for centuries. Beyond that, people hold on — as much as is reasonable — to traditions and customs that are as ancient as the place itself, and nowhere is that more apparent than at Olde Hansa Restaurant.

Proudly standing tall at the center of Tallinn’s Old Town, Olde Hansa offers a uniquely authentic medieval dining experience. The building itself painstakingly evokes its 15th century roots, boasting art, furnishings, and atmosphere appropriate to the era. There is no electrical lighting in the eating areas — instead, food is served by candlelight, and troubadours move from floor to floor to provide music and entertainment.

But Olde Hansa is much more than just aesthetics. The food served there is the food of 15th century Estonia. Obtaining meats and produce directly from local hunters and farmers, every meal at Olde Hansa is cooked using recipes used 700 years ago. As you might imagine, there is a real focus on meats — particularly game meats. But you might be surprised — as we were — that you won’t find things like potatoes or tomatoes in these dishes, as they were not yet common in the 15 century. Instead, our meat main courses were accompanied by things like smoked sauerkraut, cheese, spelt, and mushrooms.

Enough talking already — let’s get to the meal!

Olde Hansa brews their own beers, so we started with that. We both opted for dark beers — mine was brewed with honey, and Mike’s was brewed with herbs. We shared so we could try both, and they were quite good. Heavy, though — I couldn’t drink many of them! Along with our beers, our in-medieval-character server also brought out '“weapons” for us to eat with — they looked suspiciously like forks, knives, and spoons, but didn’t say anything for fear of bursting his medieval bubble.

We had been warned that portions at Olde Hansa are large, so we skipped appetizers, but we did both order the Earl’s Forest Mushroom Soup, which was served with bread baked with herbs and nuts, as well as Castle’s cream cheese.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever eaten. It was so fresh and creamy, and so warming on a chilly evening. I honestly could have just ordered a soup refill and more bread and been very happy with my meal, but we were there to try medieval Estonian cooking, and that meant branching way outside of my normal food comfort zone.

I’m not a big meat eater. I’ve spent years of my life as a vegetarian, but since moving to Europe, I’ve added meats back into my diet — mostly because I want to try everything, and also because, generally speaking, I find meats taste better here. I’m saying all of that to show that the game meats at Olde Hansa were a big swing for me, but I’m so happy I went for it. What’s the point of travel if we don’t take chances and try something new?

We purposefully ordered different meals so that we could share and cover more of the menu. Mike ordered the bear, which is served stewed in a wild berry sauce. We were surprised by how beefy the bear tasted, and it was also very rich. We liked it, but it would be really difficult to make it through the whole serving as it was very decadent.

I ordered the Būrgermeister’s Game Fillets (because honestly I was just so excited to get to use the word “būrgermeister” in an actual conversation), a selection of seasonal meats — for us, the meats in season were elk, wild boar, and deer. I asked the server which of the meats was his favorite, but because he was in character and the word “favorite” is too modern, I had to clarify what I meant. I have to give credit to the servers — they were remarkably adept at staying in character while still providing excellent service, which is a real balancing act — too much of that in-character business could get very tired, but they did a great job of keeping it fun.

Anyway, back to the būrgermeister’s fillets! All were good, but the elk, served with a truffle sauce, was the star of the show.

We ate as much as we could, but were both ultimately defeated by our large entrees and did not order dessert. Our server kindly offered several ways for us to pay by “magic” — like credit card and ApplePay — and off we went to try to walk off our delicious, but heavy, dinner.

Eating at Olde Hansa was a lot of fun and a really memorable experience. If you’re ever in Tallinn, I highly recommend making a reservation so that you can be sure to get a table. But I am not nearly hearty enough to eat like a medieval Estonian often — there was just so much food, all of it very rich, and it made me feel like I needed a nap. And also, a big salad.