You know we’ve got to talk about Danish food at some point, no?

Much as I wish I could report back on an experience chez Noma, that did not happen because it’s so freaking difficult to get a table, not to mention the risk of going into an overdraft given how puny my salary is by comparison to the living standard in Denmark. But, there were plenty of delicious things to eat at more wallet-friendly prices *phew*

As soon as we dropped our luggage (well, two day packs) over at J’s, he brought us back into town and straight into the cosy Kalaset for a spot of brunch. Old radios on the wall, plus non-matching tables and chairs, lent the place bucketful of charm. Brunch in Copenhagen is not just something for the weekend (I’m look at you, Paris and Dublin) but can be a daily treat. There’s something for the meat lover, and there’s something for the vegetarian too.

With happy tummy, we walked around town. With curious gaze, I peered into many windows with any sign of food at all. Having heard much about the delectable selection of Danish pastries and their penchant to generously dose every bun and snegl with cinnamon (cinnamon shortage is a very real threat in Denmark!), I was keen to try them. J managed to persuade me to rein in my enthusiasm by promising a good selection of pastries for breakfast the next day. Sold!

J did not disappoint. (Have I mention how great he is as a host?) The bakery closest to him may not be one as well-known as Meyer’s Bageri, but they sure have a wonderful selection of baked goods to please our tastebuds. Each day, we bought a selection of different pastries so we can try as many variety as possible. However, as soon as I was introduced to frøsnapper, I just want more of that and nothing else. It was SO good.

F and I were also brought to the best hotdog stand in town for a spot of authentic Danish street food. DØP – Den Økologiske Pølsemand (aka the organic hotdog man) – serves succulent organic hotdog on perfectly toasted whole grain and linseed bread, topped with remoulade, onion (raw and fried), and pickled cucumber. Two spots in the city centre: by the Round Tower on Købmagergade and by The Church of The Holy Ghost on Strøget. It is now my benchmark to compare other hotdogs with.

We cannot be in Denmark and not speak of the smørrebrød, the traditional open-faced sandwich built atop dense rye bread. One with pickled herring and dill should be tried at least once, and all the varieties available made it even harder to choose. Roast beef and tartar seem to be quite the hit as well. I came back to Paris while lamenting not eating enough smørrebrød…

Over at Royal Smushi, they serve smørrebrød with a modern twist. Sized like sushis (hence the name smushi), each piece gave only a couple of bites but they packed quite a punch in flavour and had us wanting more. Maybe that was also because we were still a wee bit famish… Three pieces for nearly 20 euro stopped me from re-ordering. That, and the fact that we needed to hurry if we wanted to make it to the Rådhus in time for a guided tour of the building.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the amount of savoury food we were having in general, we ended up eating not too much of the sweet stuff. We did drop by La Glace, a famed cake shop, for an afternoon tea and layered cake break. The system to put through the order was slightly confusing, not to mention the ticketing concept was not strictly adhered to by some, leaving F rather annoyed when a group of 6 who came in after us cut the queue to be served first and took a long time deciding what they wanted.

With a couple of sunny days for us to enjoy during this trip, of course we had to hunt for some ice cream too. We tested out a couple of places: Siciliansk Is over at Christianhavn, which led us to the discovery of sea buckthorn (sweet and tangy), and Istid on Jægersborggade in Nørrebro, where ice cream are made fresh using liquid nitrogen to flash freeze them. Gnom gnom gnom.

Some of the meals, well, I was too hungry to even think about photographing them or somehow my brain skipped a few beats and the photos came out dark and blurry. We had had very good Japanese dinner, salads from Palæo, and J even cooked us a superb vegan meal and baked a cake for our last evening together.

I had a few more places on a list of “to eat” but didn’t get a chance to even go near them; there just weren’t enough meals in a few days for us to taste it all! I guess I’ll keep them for a future trip. In the mean time, I have also sent this list to another friend visiting Copenhagen so I hope she and her hubby makes good use of it and let me know which I really should not have missed. ;)