Fika Bakery — Restaurant in Tallinn

Deming says uncontrolled variation is the enemy of quality. That's become my issue with Fika. I've been coming here pretty much every Saturday since they opened and will in all likelihood keep coming here because it's the only half decent bakery in our neighbourhood that opens at an early hour. But I am becoming increasingly frustrated. On the best of days, Fika is a five star experience. Their cardamom bun, when done right, is on par with the best in Stockholm (see picture 1). They also used to have a great prosciutto and cheese roll, which was one of my favourite savoury pastries in Tallinn. They still do a pretty good sundried tomato and cheese roll but my god has it become inconsistent. On roughly half of all weekends, there is something wrong. Sometimes the roll is burnt (picture 2), more often though it simply lacks either cheese or sundried tomatoes or — on some occasions — both (picture 3)! I gave this a pass because they somehow still managed to be consistent with the cardamom buns. But in recent weeks even those have become inconsistent. The last one I got (about 15 minutes after they opened!) was dry and a little underflavoured, a bit like a day old bun. A day old cardamom bun can still be good, but it's not worth the money you spend on buying fresh.

I can't really pinpoint what's causing this lack of consistency. I've written the cafe many times and they've always been nice about it, but unfortunately things are going in the wrong direction. Maybe it began once they stopped baking on the spot, though I vaguely remember we had issues even when they were still doing that (my first complaint was lodged around October of 2023).

In addition, service quality has gone down in recent weeks, but I can chalk that up to the Estonian winter.

It brings me no joy to write my home bakery a bad review. I only write because I really hope this place can return to greatness. We don't really have a lot of options in this area of Tallinn, so there's a lot of joy riding on a place like Fika. But something's...

A hidden, yet cozy place. Within a walking distance from the tram stop. The coffee spot is quite small. But you can even sit outside. The smell of the pastries is unbelievable, the coffee (Paper Mill roastery) is on top, of course. One of the best reasonably priced almond croissants in the city. Crunchy, not that sweet, straight from the oven. The flat white was well-balanced, and the coffee beans were super fresh! Amazing latte art in a cup. All in all, a perfect combination and a great start to the day!

P.S. Run as fast as you can to try its vastlakukkel. As a rule, not a fan of those buns that remind me of bread with heavy cream. But this one is something else, believe me. It got this unique crispiness, a nice combination of almond heavy cream with berries and jam....

Awesome buns and croissants. BUT! The guy worked on 26th of august was super rude. My wife accidentally touched the croissant, we agreed to pay for it, because it was our mistake. But the guy was super aggressive even when we agreed to pay. When I asked him to calm down and talk in polite and kind manner, he started talking like ‘I talk kind for this kind of things to kids only, not adults’. I don’t think this is the correct behavior for a person working in service area, considering the fact that we weren't rude to...