A deli in Copenhagen

My last culinary experience in the Danish capital was Meyer’s Deli. I read a couple reviews and hey the place is owned by chef Claus Meyer, yes the same one that in conjunction with Rene Redzepi opened Noma. I was keen to see his Nordic cuisine style outside the fancy world of Noma, a more traditional down to earth approach with a tapas menu so you can try different options. 

Meyer's Deli

 Inside

Menu

Many options in the menu, after a while I opted for the Fiskefrikadeller which is fish meatballs or fishballs, and a cold tomato soup. The tomato soup was sublime, plum tomatoes with pepper and with it a warm wheat bread with basil and apple vinegar. The fish meatballs were excellent, the battered cod in complete balance with the potatoes and green peas salad with lovage and green onion dressing. 

Beer Time

Tomato Soup 

Fishballs

Great food, excellent concept, you can eat in the place or take it away for a picnic. Three convenient locations spread around Copenhagen, well actually the one I went is in Frederiksberg which is surrounded by Copenhagen. 

Meatballs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Little Jerry”

Elaine: Kurt? What's with the sweats? Aren't we going out? 

Kurt: I don't care. 

Elaine: You, uh, got a big stain on your shirt. 

Kurt: Oh yeah, meatball, fell out of my sandwich. 

Elaine: You already ate? 

Kurt: It's from yesterday.


Meyer's Deli
T: +45 33 25 45 95
Nordic Cuisine
Borough: Frederiksberg

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Mikkeller Beer Cellar

Vesterbro is a vibrant area, some sort of a mix between Soho and the Red Light District in a Danish style, art galleries, bars in former butcheries, and strip joints. A place I found thanks to the Copenhagen tourism website VisitCopenhagen was Mikkeller. The beloved microbrewery by Danish beer fans, in this small and intimate bar you can enjoy 20 different taps and most of them own house selection. Basically a beer paradise. 

Entrance to the Fun

Two homebrewers Mikkel and Kristian who progress from hobby to business. The bar has a cool atmosphere, a men’s dominated land, everybody minding their business which in this case is trying the different house beers while having a chat and catching up with friends. I originally went for an hour and stayed all night trying every beer they have there. 

Tap list

Inside

A hidden gem in Copenhagen, don’t miss it if you’re around. 

Stout Style

Lager Style

Who doesn't?

Beer reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Sniffing Accountant”. 

Kramer: I'll have a brewsky, Charlie. 

Bartender: Name's Mitch. 

Kramer: Oh, there's nothing like a cold one after a long day, eh? 

Barry: Yeah. 

Kramer: Oh yeah, I've been known to drink a beer or two. But then again, I've been known to do a lot of things. 

Kramer: Cigarette? 

Barry: No, I never touch them. 

Kramer: I suck them down like Coca-Cola. Well here's to feeling good all the time. Looks like you've got yourself a little cold there, eh? 

Barry: I don't think so.

Kramer: Me neither.

Mikkeller

T: +45 33 31 04 15

Beer Bar

Borough: Vesterbro

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Pølsevogn War – The Børge Hotdog

My third and last stop for hotdogs in Copenhagen was Harry’s Place. I read about the Børge and had to go and try this huge hotdog. The place a small store in Nørrebro loved by the locals and hide to the turists, been there for more than 50 years, with clientele including prime ministers, but who made famous Harry was a lorry driver who visit the place daily and had 3 of these bad boys, after that devotion they decided to name it after him apparently. The options the red casing hotdogs, including the monstrosity 150 grams Weiner. 

The Place

Got to the place and asked for the big dawg, immediately got approval nods from the locals that were gobbling happily at the place. To complete my selection the Danish version of a meatball sandwich the Frikadeller. 

Big Daddy

Meatball time

The Børge was huge and with great flavour, the Frikadeller extremely good. Simple food, great flavours, in summary my kind of place. 

My Kind of Place

Meatballs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Nap”. 

Steinbrenner: Boy can you think of what went through my mind when I saw there wasn't going to be enough room under that desk for me and my babies. 

George: I'm sorry sir. 

Steinbrenner: You know what I think? I think you knew about that bomb ahead of time. 

George: What? 

Steinbrenner: About that bomb. You climbed under that desk because you have ESP George, what's on my mind? Meatballs! Huh? Unbelievable. Anyway this terrorist had a specific demand. Not more cheap adjustable hats on hat day. He wants fitted hats just like the players wear.

Harry's Place

T: +45 35 81 26 69

Hot Dogs

Borough: Nørrebro

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Pølsevogn War – The Gourmet Hotdog

My second stop to try the Copenhagen style hotdogs was Andersen Bakery. The place is in Tivoli Gardens exactly in the Nimb hotel. Pretty easy to find as the hotel is a replica of the Taj Mahal. Andersen has 4 locations around the world, including Hiroshima, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Copenhagen. 

Side entrance from Tivoli

Three dogs, Grand Danois, Bulldog, and Fransk Hotdog. I’ve already tried the Fransk in DØP so I was between two options pork sausage versus halal veal mixed with beef sausage. At the end I went for the Grand Danois, pork sausage, home baked bread, ketchup, mustard, remoulade, cucumber, and crispy onions. 

The Menu

Preparation

Amazing, excellent flavour, a dawg worth of the gourmet title. 

The Gourmet Dog

Hotdogs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Chaperone”. 

Jerry: Hot dog?
Miss Rhode Island: No, thanks. I'm watching my weight.

Jerry: Ah. I'm watching my height. My doctor doesn't want me to get any taller.

Andersen Bakery

T: +45 33 75 07 35

Bakery / Hotdogs

Borough: Vesterbro

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Pølsevogn War – DØP The Ecological Dog

I would have never guessed that Hotdogs were so big in Denmark. For my joy the Pølsevogn or Sausage Wagon are basically everywhere in Copenhagen. So my task was simple, find the best one in town, after a little bit of research I decided to visit three places.

DØP

My first stop Den Økologiske Pølsemand A.K.A DØP. The idea organic fast food concept, just creating a hot dog without compromising in health or quality, centrally located besides the Round Tower, this organic hotdog man is serving grilled pork and beef sausages, baked sourdough bread using wheat and rye flour with linseed, and you can’t miss the classic chocolate milk.

First try 

I Ordered a Fransk, which comes in a special bun with a hole in one of the sides, top with Danish remoulade and ketchup. Excellent flavour, the remoulade sauce was brilliant, and the location couldn’t be better.

Organic Action

Fransk 

Hotdogs remind me the Seinfeld episode “The Gum”.


Lloyd: Ah, tell you what, they're expecting us though. Let me just grab a hotdog here.
Kramer: Uh, yeah. 

Lloyd: I'd like a hotdog, please.
Attendant: Are you out of your mind? 

Kramer: What's the problem here?
Attendant: This hotdog's been here since the silent era. You'd have to be insane to eat it.
Kramer: No, no, no, no, no. This man is not insane. Now there's nothing wrong with it or you.
Lloyd: Kramer, maybe. 

Kramer: No, no, no, no. I'll show you. One hotdog please.
Attendant: Okay.
Kramer: Mmm, doesn't that smell good, huh? Yeah, here we go, yeah. Mmm, oh, that's delicious. Mmm. It's a perfectly sane food to eat. Uhm, interesting texture. It's chewy. I got to get, some air.

Den Økologiske Pølsemand
T: +45 30 20 40 25

Street Food Hotdogs

Borough: Indre By

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I Heart Smørrebrød

One thing I was keen to try in Copenhagen was the famous and traditional open faced sandwiches or smørrebrød. Consider one of the most iconic dishes on Danish cuisine, the translation is butter and bread, but it’s far from that, galaxies away in my opinion, there is rye buttered bread but on top you will find the most delicious combinations, including cold meats, fish, cheese, and vegetables with imagination as your only limit, obtaining a divine visual and tasty creation.

In a Danish State of Mind

There are many combinations, places like Ida Davidsen are offering more than 250 options, the classics which you will find almost everywhere are the Veterinarian’s midnight snack, what a name isn’t it? The snack consists in liver pate, with corned beef, aspic, raw onions, and garden cress on top of a rye. The other one is the shooting star, which is two pieces of fish one steamed the other one fried, mayo, red caviar, and lemon on top of white bread.

Smørrebrød Attack

But the real place to have these delights is no other than Aamanns, Adam Aamanns' fine dining restaurant and besides it a take away concept or should I say a fine dining take away concept. The place has won several awards including best open sandwich in the Gastronomiske Dage.

Aamanns

The Take Away

Arrived to Aamanns on a rainy day, all the menus in Danish, so completely confused and soaked asked the friendly waitress to help me. The options in the place are unbelievable, pickled duck breast with kale, horseradish, roasted celery and cranberries, or how about a sirloin steak with onions, coarse root remoulade, horseradish and chervil, maybe the beef tartare with egg emulsion, tarragon, gherkins, capers, onions, and mini potato crisps, if that is not enough braised pork belly with apple, balsamic and honey vinegar, lettuce hearts, orange, apples, and walnuts, or maybe chicken salad, baked root vegetables, apple, chives, fresh celery, and crispy ham.

Inside

As you can imagine I went for the chicken salad, the beef tartare, and obviously the pork belly, got a beer and gorge the amazingly wonderful and unique snacks I ordered.

Beer

My Triple

Aamanns definitely a must when you’re in the Danish capital.

Miss you Smørrebrød

Sandwich reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Blood”

Jerry: Didn't go for it, huh?

George: No.

Jerry: So, she didn't appreciate the erotic qualities of the salted cured meats?

George: She tolerated the strawberries and the chocolate sauce, but eh, it's not a meal, you know? Food and sex, those are my two passions. It's only natural to combine them

Jerry: Natural? Sex is about love between a man and a woman, not a man and a sandwich

George: Jerry, I'm not suggesting getting rid of the girl. She's integral.

Jerry: Maybe instead of trying to satisfy two of your needs, how about satisfying one of somebody else's.


Aamanns
T: +45 35 55 33 44
Danish Cuisine
Borough: Østerbro

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Danish Pastry

If you are in Copenhagen you have to try Danish pastry, the most popular is the Snegl. They come with cinnamon, icing, sugar, just name it, a spiral pastry full of sweetness. Another quite popular on the shelves is the Spandauer a type of wienerbrød or Vienna Bread which dates from 1850 when Danish bakers went to strike and the bakery owners hired Austrians to work in their shops, Austrians made their recipes and the Danish felt in love with these deciding to adopt these recipes and made them regulars in their bakeries.

Snegl

After research I found that the places to go are Lagkagehuset and Sankt Peders. The first one a chain with several locations around town, pretty convenient, the second one more a small little gem hiding in the city centre.

Lagkagehuset

Lagkagehuset

Sankt Peders Bageri

I went to both, got a couple snegl some spandauer, there are so many options to choose that I lost track of all the perfect pieces of bake dough that I ingested. Both places are a must but I quite prefer the Sankt Peders is more personal and unique experience. Good thing is that you can have these sweet treats all over the city, you will be bumping into a bakery in every corner, hey they call it Danish Pastry for a reason right?

Breakfast at Lagkagehuset

Inside Lagkagehuset

Spandauer Time

Sankt Peders

Breakfast at Sankt Peders

More Snegl please

Danish reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Nose Job”.

Elaine: Daddy certainly does have an extensive wardrobe.

Landlord: He is a fine dresser and I'm sure I don't have to tell you he's quite popular with the ladies.

Elaine: My father, really? I had no idea.

Landlord: Yes, they're crazy about him. There was one in particular, came around about two years ago, looked a lot like you, Professor. Could have been your mother. What was her name again? Carter? Kramer! That's it, Babs Kramer. Nasty woman, many a night I had to throw her out on the street, drunken stumblebum.

Kramer: You don't say?

Elaine: I found it!

Landlord: The woman used to walk around here half naked, sucking Colt 45 from a can. Her big fat stomach hanging out, orthopedic hose up to her knees, screaming down the hall, “Come back to bed, Albert, you big hairy ape, and bring back that box of Danish!"

Sankt Peders Bageri

T: +45 33 11 11 29

Bakery

Borough: Indre By

Copenhagen

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Lagkagehuset

T: +45 33 11 36 07

Bakery

Borough: Vesterbro

Copenhagen

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A few days in København

My second stop during my holidays was in Copenhagen. An amazing city recognised worldwide as one of the cities with best quality of life and environmentally friendly. For a foodie is a paradise, 13 Michelin starred restaurants including the best restaurant in the world Noma (according to the British magazine Restaurant).

Radhuset (City Hall)

Den lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid)

The must if you are around, go to Tivoli park to have a ride, wander in the octagonal courtyard while contemplating the Amalienborg Palace, visit the free town of Christiana, enjoy an al fresco lunch or just a pint in Nyhavn, go shoping in Strøget, contemplate the Little Mermaid, have a view of the city from the top of the Rundetaarn, appreciate the harbour from the atrium of the Black Diamond, lay down in the lawns of Rosenborg castle, have a night out in Kødbyen or the Meatpacking District in Vestebro in some of the trendy places, and have a pint in the Carlsberg brewery.

Christiania

Nyhavn

Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Castle)

In terms of food the options are many, you must try to get a table in Rene Redzepi and Claus Meyer place, at this moment is just like winning the lottery as it’s fully book, but I got lucky so you might. You have to try Smørrebrød, and believe it or not Hot Dogs are quite a treat.

The best restaurant in the world

Smørrebrød

Great city, great people, great food, and great restaurants.

Den Sorte Diamant (Black Diamond)

Typical green table

Denmark reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Pilot”.

Tom: What do you mean made up?

Jerry: It's made up. Haagen-Dazs is made up. It's not Danish.

Tom: You're crazy.

Jerry: No I'm not. George. Is Haagen-Dazs Danish?

Michael: What do you mean Danish?

Jerry: Danish. Is it from Denmark?

Michael: No, they make it in New Jersey. It's just a Danishy name.

Tom: I can't believe that. They fooled me Jerry.


Copenhagen
Denmark

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