Volunteer-run co-op book café located in the historical centre of Turku. Serves house-made vegan pastries, pies and snacks, and lunches weekdays 11am-2pm. Gluten-free options. Soy and oat milk for drinks. Free refills. Discounts for students, pensioners and unemployed visitors. Hosts free events from live music gigs and DJ nights to queer clubs, film screenings, talks/lectures, reading circles, skill-share workshops, and, in the summer, open air festivals in the Brinkkala courtyard. See website for evening and weekend hours. Open Mon-Fri 12:00-18:00.
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Last update on 09 Jul 2017 by Guest
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Added by Qtea on 24 Feb 2009
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27 Reviews
First Review by birgit.m
Rillutin
Points +27
Favorite café in my homecity - Edit
Cozy atmosphere. Everything is vegan and affordable. Also has books for free and for sale at affordable prices. Different rooms and spaces both indoors and outdoors. Hosts intetesting events!
Read moreGuest
NooraLeikas
Points +120
Little vegan paradise - Edit
Nice place with outdoor seating options. Food was tasty and cheap. All vegan Cafe so plenty of options.
Read moreGuest
undercovermartyn
Points +600
Favourite Café in Turku - Edit
Gotta love everything about this place: the location in the quiet, old yard; the selection of cakes, pastries and savoury things; the free box; the book shelves; the collective, political feel. A must if you're in Turku!
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2023-09-18
Guest
IuliaNOTLulia
Points +6455
Amazing place with reduced price coffee - Edit
It’s a very cool cafe. Cheap for Finland and tasty.
Read moreThey also have a book shop with prices between 0.5-3.00 euros
Guest
Jenni_jlo
Points +44
The best café in Turku - Edit
Kirjakahvila is in an old building, surrounded by history, all vegan, with books! Went there with my son to grab some lunch and it was so good we had to go again this week. I had a baguette with some seitan, veggies and pickles, a chocolate coconut treat and some coffee, and my 11 year old son had three tofu spinatch pastries, a piece of chocolate peanut cake and a smoothie. And it all cost only about 20€. The place has a unique, safe atmosphere, it is broad-minded, non-discriminatory and community-driven.
Read moreGuest
sauron
Points +37
Cozy bookstore - Edit
A new experience. Having coffe in an old bookstore in an old building surrounded by a mix of people, culture and books. Loved it!
Read morePros: I think everything was vegan, Cool vibe, Books!!
Guest
AnniSuvanto
Points +29
Very nice! - Edit
This place had a great atmosphere and very friendly staff.
Read moreVegan sandwhiches and pastries were super tasty, especially the seitan sandwiches! I can only recommend 😁
Guest
TheBlackCat
Points +1117
Good vegan food - Edit
Sandwich with vegan sausage and pickles was good and they also had a semla with chocolate filling.
Read moreGuest
extra-somatic
Points +82
Best Cheesecake - Edit
We had the raspberry cheesecake and it was an utter delight. The carrot cake, gluten free, was good, but not as good.
Read morePros: Great vibes, Pure vegan, Radical political ideals
Cons: No hot meals when we went
Guest
shiniemi
Points +128
Lovely vegan café - Edit
Absolutely lovely café with an interesting concept! Cozy and laid-back atmosphere, friendly staff and affordable prices. Best of all, everything is 100% vegan! We had some good coffee with a cinnamon apple parfait and a raspberry chocolate mousse cake. I’ll be going again.
Read morePros: Everything is 100% vegan, Interesting concept, Affordable prices
Cons: Difficult to access for disabled people
Guest
TeunVanDerWeij
Points +26
Great idealistic Cafe! - Edit
Everything vegan, interesting place full of concepts and ideas.
Read moreGuest
hapa21
Points +212
Light lunch and coffee with cake - Edit
All vegan cafe in a nice old setting. We enjoyed our light lunch sandwich with coffee and cake, recommended!
Read moreGuest
SofiaS
Points +177
Delicious cake - Edit
All vegan cakes, good coffee, great service
Read moreGuest
Clara893
Points +268
Lovely Café - Edit
Very cute Café in Turku. We found it by coincidence, but enjoyed it a lot. Coffee and Tea available with refill, soy and oat milk available. All snacks / pastries / sweet foods etc. were vegan as far as I could tell. Nice atmosphere for reading a book / working on sth and enjoying some coffee and cake.
Read morePros: Affordable, Student discounts, Great vegan options
Guest
KarlinaO
Points +69
Lovely place for a cuppa on a rainy day - Edit
Was looking for a place to hide from the rain and so happy I found this! Nice little community cafe, pretty busy when I was there even tho it's the middle of the day - people working on their laptops, reading, playing boardgames etc. A really nice community feel. I only had a cup of tea (1.70 euro including a free refill) but they had vegan cakes, chia puddings and sandwiches on sale too. I imagine its a nice place to visit in the evenings for a beer or two.
Read morePros: Central location, Affordable, Nice community feel
Guest
PaulínaŽákovská
Points +915
Love this concept! - Edit
We had mousse cake and cupcake both really good and quite cheap! People volunteering there are nice and globally the atmosphere is very friendly. We took away two seitan sandwiches and they were delicious:).
Read moreYou should go there when in Turku.
Guest
luuuris
Points +151
Cozy and down-to-earth - Edit
This is a great safe space for all kinds of people. It is not very fancy, but has a more homely feel to it. Serves affordable lunch and delicious cakes.
Read moreGuest
Harrrald
Points +128
Delicious - Edit
Great place and cheaper than other places in Turku, I found.
Read moreGuest
PeterChristian
Points +657
One of the best places to be in Turku! - Edit
One of the best places to be in Turku! Delicious vegan cakes, cupcakes, sandwiches...
Read moreGuest
mewwwey
Points +26
Love at first sight - Edit
This place is just amazing. The relaxing atmosphere, kindness, the lovely sellers and the super tasty products just make you smile for the rest of the (week) day.
Read moreKirjakahvila is absolutely the best vegan place in Turku, in all ways. I've never experienced as wonderful service as here. Thank you, Kirjakahvila's staff, you're great.
Pros: lovely service, tasty all-vegan goods, low prices
Guest
aisteve_
Points +133
Awesome Cafe! - Edit
It is a very cosy cafe with an awesome and a little bit unusual environment. We visited it in the evening so they did not have the savory pies but the sweet ones were amazingly delicious. The chocolate-mint pie was my favorite. They have a variety of teas which we got with the student discount and also the second cup is free! The staff was really friendly and helpful. They also have a lot of cookbooks, postcards, books and music and some other vegan stuff. All in all it was great experience and i will definately pop in there when i'm around next time.
Read morePros: Delicious Pies, Friendly Staff, Nice Environment
Guest
SCos
Points +109
The best cafe in Finland - Edit
Their vegan bakery is so delicious (both sandwiches and cakse) and the atmosphere is bohemian/hippie. For book lovers and other culture people this is the must-go cafeteria.
Read morePros: Cupcakes! , Coffee and tea (the 2nd cup is for free), Location
Cons: Not open during the weekend
Guest
Sarah_Lily
Points +93
Lovely vegan co-operative with atmosphere - Edit
Turun Kirjakahvila is hidden away in an inner yard but it was well signed and I had no trouble finding it. Luckily for me! It reminded me of a vegan co-operative in Brighton, England, as it was full of students, feminist rally photos, political books, vegan cookbooks for sale and artsy people deep in conversation, sharing books or flicking through images on their cameras.
Read moreI visited here twice, on the first day it was about 3pm and they'd stopped serving hot food. Everything in the place is vegan except for they do serve cows milk as well as soya milk for drinks. They had some bitesize vegan cheese and bacon pastries which they warmed up for us and seitan and salad in delicious granary rolls. Their cake selection is also fantastic and we enjoyed a peach filled cake and the best ever - vegan jaffa cakes!!! They're AMAZING and just like the ones I remember :D
When we returned the next day, expecting some hot food on offer, the selection was very limited as they only had beetroot soup, which we got with another seitan sandwich and unlimited tea and coffee for 7.50 euros. Their tea was a little on the weak side which is my only complaint. The soup was hearty and delicious.
The staff are volunteer students and some seemed to be learning the ropes, but all were very friendly and welcoming. The clientele pretty much all seemed to be students and they seemed as if they spent all day sitting chatting here, but they didn't seem to mind us popping by!
Another great thing about this cafe for me is that it was selling Go Max Go chocolate bars which I have never found in the UK.
I would really recommend this cafe if you like to support local, co-operative vegan business and want to enjoy some snacky food and cake in quirky surroundings.
Updated from previous review on Wednesday October 31, 2012
Pros: quirky atmosphere, good value and best ever jaffa cakes!, volunteer run co-operative
Cons: limited hot food selection
Guest
theveganbastard
Points +98
Lovely environment - Edit
I have the best experience in this cafe, I ate everything on the menu. the week that I went Turku, everyday the place have something a little bit different, and the best chocolate cake that you can get in Finland....
Read moreGuest
SonjaCPA
Points +5270
good for snacks and coffee - Edit
We ended up here after finding that both locations of KavsisKeidas were closed (one for the summer, the other for the week), so we were very grateful to find a place that served vegan food. As it's name implies, it's a book and coffee cafe, but it has a small serve yourself food area. We got the cashew foccacia (which they heated up for us), a hummus sandwich, a tempeh sandwich, a strawberry cake and a chai cupcake. As we were ravenous, it tasted good to us, so as long as you aren't looking for a whole restaurant, it's a good place to grab some snacks, drink coffee and check out some books. There were some tables outside for the summer as well, but we sat inside to get out of the sun as it was a rather hot day. Good central location too.
Read morePros: good location, vegan food at a book/cafe
Cons: a little hard to find
Guest
SimonaSignorelli
Points +95
not a wide choice - Edit
I have found a very little choice of food: only sandwiches with seitan or houmus and pizza with mushrooms. being intolerant to wheat I have found anything to eat. maybe it can be a nice place for a quite coffe reading a book but not if you are travelling and you arrived starved looking for a vegan lunch !
Read moreCons: little choice, anything gluten free
Guest
birgit.m
Points +16
great! - Edit
lovely little cupcakes with mint flavour the day i was there! small salty pies and sandwiches was also on the menue, larger cakes as well. small cafe with places outside in nice old town environment. yes, it was a little hard to find even though it's really in the centre. nice books and fanzine collection, and friendly poeple working, that gave service in english.
Read morePros: delicious cakes, good atmosphere, woman friendly
Cons: could offer bigger sortiment, not organic, bit difficult to find
Guest
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