Mahemarket Cafe

Austan Loodust vegan buffet is upstairs at Mahemarket food store (around corner on Mustamäe tee and set back from the street; see other Happycow listing). I arrived too early for 12 noon (Friday) start, but at 11:40 the salad bar, the soup, bread and water (with slices of cucumber and lemon) were already set out. The soup and a piece of dark bread cost 2,60 euros. By noon the hot buffet was ready. Sold by weight.
There’s a large outdoor deck for good weather. Rough wood walls, warehouse-like, corrugated tin ceiling.
The buffet included green salad, potato salad, sprout salad, cole slaw, pasta salad; and hot items: pasta, bean patty (crumbly but with accompanying tzatziki-like sauce), roasted beets and yams, potato patty and extravagant-looking desserts. I bought a generous slice of apple cake and a cabbage-filled pastry roll to take away. The next day I warmed up the takeaway vegan quiche in an oven (not microwave), and it was really good and satisfying.

This café is only open during the day time but is a really nice vegan buffet and well worth the trip from the city centre. Its really easy to get to just take trolley bus 6 and get off at the hippodrome stop. There is a really nice choice of salads and hot dishes and although we didn't try them as we were too full the deserts looked very tempting too

From the first visit to Mahemarket this place became one of my favorite places in Tallinn. I love to make first my weekly groceries at the store and then lunch/dine upstairs, where the buffet is located.

The staff is amazing, so polite and sweet. I really am amazed how they manage to pull off every day a new, vegan, super-nutritious and satisfying menu and options on the table! Without forgetting the unbelievably pretty and good raw-cakes...!

The salad side contains nearly always a mix of sprouts, bean spreads, greens, marinated veggies, fruits, nuts, cold sauces... Always something new and interesting. The warm options wont left anyone cold, e.g. lentil loaf, bean balls covered with sesame seeds, filled zucchinis...

Water (flavored with different herbs and fruits) and a piece of bread are included in the price. The plates are 100% compostable. You get a full meal and a happy face with 4-7 €, so I recommend to go.

Drinks and coffees aren't expensive and you can get any drink with a plant-based milk of your choice. A piece of raw cake and a vegan latte are together around 4-6 €.
Updated from previous review on Saturday October 12, 2013

I was absolutely amazed with this place!!! A veggie paradise!! Starting with the girls working there, so so nice and friendly!! Food was delicious!!! The daily meal and juice were not expensive at all. And they have an organic shop which sells raw cookies, kale chips, quiches and other food that you can take away! Desert was awesome! I mean if you go to Tallinn you must check this place out!! Really worth it!!!

Mahemarket Cafe is not really a restaurant, but rather a cafeteria for the customers of the Mahemarket organic supermarket. This is why it is closed in the evening. A pity, because the food is really wonderful!

The place is located outside of the city center in a rather industrial area. The building looks like an office building with a large storage hall attached. From the outside it is hard to guess that this is such a great place with a nice, friendly atmosphere.

There is a little restaurant part on the ground floor and a larger section on the upper level of the hall, overlooking the open space of the large supermarket. The interior is spacious, simple and modern, with chairs and tables made of bright wood. There is a little children's corner with toys and books.

Most of the food is raw and vegan. The menu is quite limited and at the end of the week they can run out of stock, so it makes sense to check up front what is available. When I arrived it seemed at first that there were only soup and several sorts of cake left because someone had just bought all the vegan quiche - the main dish of the day. But then the very friendly and helpful staff saw that they overlooked some more quiche in the kitchen and I could have it, along with salad, the raw vegan soup and ditto blueberry-apple cake. Everything was just yummy!