Söderkulla Manor Restaurant

Söderkulla manor

Formerly a landed estate, today Söderkulla Manor Restaurant welcomes its guests by offering them Finnish and international delicacies. Söderkulla’s kitchen specialises in meals made of fresh Finnish ingredients of good quality and served with carefully selected wines. The emphasis is on traditional Finnish food with an international influence.

The Manor features a Restaurant with seating for a maximum of 150 guests, available for groups only and requiring advance reservation. For Tourist groups, check with Porvoo Tours, Mannerheiminkatu 16, Porvoo (+358 (0) 19 574 2200 or email porvootours@porvootours.fi.

The main hall can seat up to 180 and includes meeting rooms and a sauna section (this is Finland, after all). Weddings are also catered for – Söderkulla advise that their staff are experienced in organizing international weddings. Supposing you don’t live in Finland but still desire to celebrate your wedding here? Their all-inclusive wedding package will be tailored to your wishes. The pre-wedding arrangements can be made by telephone so that you won’t have to travel before the wedding. Söderkulla take into consideration special expectations related to nationality and religion when it comes to catering and service.

For more casual diners, the Summer Terrace is open through July and August without reservations, although to be sure you should contact Söderkulla and check.

A typical Tourist Dinner Buffet consists of

Starters:

Hot soup of the day
Marinated herring
Raw pickled salmon with mustard sauce
Pickled cucumbers, honey and sour cream
Mushroom salad
Green salad
Cold smoked reindeer with jellied berries
Karelian pasties with egg and butter

Bread
Butter
Potatoes

Main course:

Fish of the day with currant sauce
Warm vegetables
OR
Fillet of pork in cream sauce
Warm vegetables
Pommes chateau

Dessert:
Blueberry mousse

History of Söderkulla Manor Restaurant

Söderkulla Kartano (Manor) is an old Finnish Manor House of historical and architectural note, located in the scenic Sipoonjoki river valley between Helsinki and Porvoo. The estate was founded in 1557, although the present main building was completed only in 1908. The architecture is typical of the Art Nouveau movement. The main building was originally meant for residential use and has served during its history as a nursing home as well as a school for forest guards and a school of agriculture.

Hjalmar von Bonsdorff (1869 – 1945)

Perhaps the most notable owner was Admiral Hjalmar von Bonsdorff, first commander of the Finnish Navy (1918-1919), who owned the Manor from 1925 until his death in 1945. Hjalmar von Bonsdorff was born in 1869, began study at the Naval Cadet Corps in St Petersburg in 1884 and entered the Russian Navy as a Midshipman in 1891. He served from 1891 to 1898 in the Imperial Russian Navy, after which he joined the Finnish Pilot Service as a Captain.

He fought in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War as commander of a Torpedo Boat, then as Chief of Staff of the Nikolajevsk Fortress. After the war, he rejoined the Pilot Service and headed the Oulu Pilot Service from 1909. In the First World War he again served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, commanding first a transport ship and then the Destroyer Stremitelni. He was commander of the defence of the Danube River entrance in 1916, but left the Russian military when the Bolshevik Revolution broke out and returned to Finland. During the Finnish Civil War he was a Colonel in the White Army, as well as Chief of Staff on the South Savo Front.

Buffet à la admiral Hjalmar von Bonsdorff

In the Spring of 1918 he was appointed to govern the Åland Islands. Shortly thereafter he was appointed to command of the nascent Finnish Navy, a position which he held for around one year. He resigned in 1919, and on his resignation was promoted to Admiral. He died in 1945 at the age of 75 years.

Söderkulla Manor Restaurant’s Buffet à la admiral Hjalmar von Bonsdorff is a supper buffet named in honour of the Admiral and held in a private ballroom (for groups booking an elegant show dinner only with a minimum of 20 guests).

For wedding parties and all special occasions, you should contact kartano@soderkulla.fi or see Söderkulla Manor Restaurant’s website.