Best Restaurants in Ylläs (2026)

A fourteen-seat jewel from classically French-trained chef Rainer Nyman, with a short menu that changes often and rewards trusting the kitchen. Expect dishes like reindeer tartare, careful seafood and genuinely good desserts, all in a room small enough to feel like a dinner party. With so few seats, a reservation is effectively mandatory. It is the spot for a slow, special evening rather than a quick bite.

The reliable village all-rounder in the centre of Äkäslompolo, the place you come back to on a tired evening when you do not want a tasting menu. The cooking is solid international and Finnish a la carte that works for groups and families alike. It covers both lunch and dinner without any fuss. A safe, friendly choice when you just want a good plate of food.

Billed as the highest restaurant in Finland, perched at the top of the gondola with fell views in every direction. The food is honest mountain fare, soups, skewers, hot chocolate and freshly fried doughnuts, and the point is as much the location as the menu. It works best as a lunch or a daytime break between ski runs or hikes. Ride the gondola up from the Ylläsjärvi side.

The restaurant at lakeside Hotel Ylläshumina, where northern Lappish cooking meets coastal seafood, with a cosy pub and a wine bar for afterwards. The log-house setting on the north shore of Lake Äkäslompolo is as much the draw as the food. It is the kind of relaxed, characterful place that suits a longer evening with a nightcap. Reserve in winter high season, when the village fills up.

The fine-dining anchor of Äkäslompolo, built around reindeer, game and Arctic fish, in the kind of rustic Nordic room that candlelight was made for. The kitchen ranges from casual plates to plated multi-course menus, and the wine list is unusually deep for a fell village. The name means reindeer, and it is what the kitchen does best. Book ahead for dinner, especially in winter high season.

Arguably the best table in the whole area, run by chef-owner Sirly Ylläsjärvi of MasterChef Finland. The cooking is modern New Nordic, leaning on wild herbs, game and fresh fish, served in an intimate fifty-seat room on the shore of a frozen lake. That setting doubles as a fine northern-lights viewpoint, so a long dinner here can pay off twice. The room is small, so reserve well ahead in aurora season.