Trillby & Chadwick - a “secret” bar in Helsinki
You might or might not know that between 1919 and 1932 prohibition was in place in Finland which meant that all alcohol had to be imported, sold and consumed in secret. In many restaurants, alcohol was served under the pseudonym “hard tea” but also a lot of secret bars existed at the time.
Trillby & Chadwick, a bar in the city centre of Helsinki, aims to create an air of secrecy and mystery around the place even though alcohol is no longer illegal and the bar has its liquor license in order. This is done by not revealing the exact address of the place so if you, besides enjoying a nice cocktail, like a bit of detective work, this is the place for you.
[unfortunately no photos this time since it was forbidden to take photos because of their aim to keep things secret]
Although, the mystery is not too difficult to solve, the street which the bar is on, Katariinankatu, is only about a 100 metres long, so you do not have to work too hard to earn your drink. Once you find the right door, you have to ring the bell in the hall and wait for a waiter to prepare a table for you before they actually let you in. You might wonder if its worth all this trouble and fuss (like I did when by partner suggested we try it out), but it definitely is.
Besides the very good quality cocktails, the best thing about this place was the service: our bartender was very friendly and knowledgeable. I also got a gimlet even though it was not on their list. Plus he told us that many of the bartenders there are interested in gin as well and the aim is to introduce new gins every now and then - which is one more reason I definitely want to go there again.
They had a lot of nice different kinds of cocktails but as they had two gins on their list which I had not tried, I first went for a g&t made with Geranium gin and Fever Tree’s Elderflower tonic and mint as a garnish. All the components went very well together and the g&t was fresh, delicate, and summery. My second drink was the already-mentioned gimlet made from Old English gin, the other one on their list which I had not tasted before.
The place was quite nicely decorated with furniture, such as leather arm chairs, that reminded me of what I imagine old English gentleman’s clubs to have been like (I guess you could also say there was a whiff Sherlock Holmes there). Once again there were some Hendrick’s ads on the walls and ceiling near the bar and those of their signature drinks that contained gin were made with Hendrick’s - more indicators of how Hendrick’s seems to have taken over the bars of Helsinki.
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