Tšungel is a one-of-a-kind restaurant-bar, cocktail bar and DJ venue in North Tallinn, set in the courtyard of the Balti Jaam market, right next to Telliskivi. But it all started with a double-decker bus — and not just any bus.

It was a dream brought to life by the free-spirited souls of Hulkur Bar and the I Land Sound teams for the 2019 I Land Sound Festival. We built something no one had seen before in Estonia: a full-blown art bus — completely hand-painted, bursting with lights, 3D decorations, smoke machines, performance artists, loud music, and flames. It was bold, it was wild, it was unforgettable — and it worked.

But the bus had a mind of its own. Eventually, it just didn’t want to move with us anymore. So we came up with a new plan: “Let’s finish the bar inside, park it somewhere, and make back what we invested.” That’s when we found a spot behind the Balti Jaam Market, where an old shipping container café stood in the middle of an open yard. It seemed like the perfect place. So we took it.

Then, life threw us another twist. One morning, the group chat call came in: “Hey, do we want another double-decker bus? It’s been sitting for a while, but there’s potential.” Without thinking twice, we said to each other: “We already have the container, so why not? Let’s take the bus too!”

From that one parked double-decker, it quickly grew into something much bigger — Tšungel: a 400 m² restaurant-bar-venue with a spacious outdoor terrace by Balti Jaam, which opened its doors on June 11, 2021.

Today, Tšungel is one of Tallinn’s most colourful spots, where day and night are two different worlds. By day we serve à la carte lunch and dinner with table service, and brunch on Sundays; by night Tšungel turns into an energetic DJ bar and nightclub, where alternative-music DJs play four nights a week into the small hours. A lush outdoor terrace, distinctive cocktails and vegetarian options make it ideal for a relaxed dinner as well as birthdays and private parties in North Tallinn, right by Telliskivi.

The rest, as they say, is history.