5 MEALS TO TRY IN COPENHAGEN

A weekend in Copenhagen. A city that looks nice and is good for your physical condition… Tidy, neat with coffee machines on the train from the airport, citizens speaking perfect English and hordes of bicycles… That makes Copenhagen amazing! There’s so many bikes, that when the traffic lights turn red you can see them getting eager to start – like cars. Everyone rides a bike everywhere. The infrastructure is perfect (bike routes and separate bike lanes on the streets), bikes are diverse and allow you to carry a child (or children – even three at the time) with you, also a dog, shopping, furniture, a pram etc. It’s the biggest advantage of Copenhagen, which I’ll write more about later…

Today it’s going to be culinary and tasty (hope so!) with sandwiches, herrings and Denmark in the main roles…

A weekend in Copenhagen is a great idea, but an amazingly costly one. The flight is quite cheap (thank you again, LOT’s crazy Wednesday), hotel price is affordable, especially in such location, with such delicious breakfast and overall hotel level. But the prices in the city can really make you speechless. PLN 20 for a scoop of ice cream? PLN 6 for a 0.5 l bottle of water? PLN 40 for two waffles? ARE THEY MAD??? Tell me!! A hot-dog from the booth costs PLN 30 so PLN 200 is a normal price for lunch! Even a kebab costs around PLN 40 and McFlurry in McDonald’s PLN 15!! The world’s gone mad!!

Therefore we try to keep it as cheap as possible, spend money wisely and pack some snacks from the breakfast for Maks… We still have to spend PLN 20 for an ice cream scoop for Maks everyday as it is his latest obsession on every trip… Despite trying to keep it cheap there are some treats that we have to try while being in Denmark’s capital

1) DANISH SMØRREBRØD SANDWICHES

Smørrebrød are the famous Danish sandwiches, usually served on dark rye bread with sunflower seeds and bran –  rugbrød. The bread features various toppings, usually served so generously, that you can’t even see the slice of bread – you can choose a sandwich with herring (a must, but I’ll get to it later), salmon, shrimps, fried European plaice or a smoked eel with scrambled eggs. You can also choose a version for meat eaters – with tartare, baked beef, hot liver pate, minced meat. Obviously there are always some other ingredients to go with meat or fish. Even though smørrebrød are sandwiches, you consume them like a regular meal – with a fork and a knife.

The name smørrebrød means “bread with a spread” and is partly true – usually the already mentioned dark rugbrød is the base but on the other hand, you can rarely see it under the delicious toppings!

First restaurants serving smørrebrød were established in Copenhagen in the 80. in the 19^th century! There are many versions of the sandwiches – one restaurant  Ida Davidsen

has as much as 250 on the menu! We only had to try a few to know that it’s a great idea for lunch. One of my favourites and a popular one at the same time is called “Shooting star” (stjerneskud in Danish) and consists of white bread, two types of fish (steamed and fried), shrimps, lemon and mayonnaise sauce. Delicious!

Smørrebrød sandwiches are available in various places in Copenhagen. We liked those in Told & Snaps, the most. It’s near Nyhavn known from postacard which we’ll write about later on. We had Shooting Star in Frk. Barners Kælder close to our hotel and that’s also worth recommending…

2) HERRING – DIFFERENT STYLES

It’s hard to be in Copenhagen and not come across the omnipresent herring. The herring is everywhere. Like the cod in Lisbon and tortilla in Mexico. It’s on every menu and in the breakfast. Łukasz was in heaven – he loves herring and could eat it on breakfast, lunch and dinner here. I was so happy, though as I’m not a fan of herrings. I tried a bit of the marinated one and the one in root spices… Łukasz was amazed and I decide to stick to other meals 🙂

But if you like herrings, in Copenhagen you will surely be pleased! Herrings served in various manners are available in most of the restaurants. Marinated, fried, spicy, on a slice of bread, curry, rollmops, smoked, pickled, with veggie or fruits. Something for everybody!

3) FRIKADELLE, PREFERABLY WITH A POTATO SALAD

Frikadelle is one of the basic Danish meals. These are little round meatballs. They look and taste a bit like homemade minced meat steaks but are served with a thick, heavy sauce.

The Danish serve the meat with potatoes (or potato salad), beetroot and gherkins.

Frikadelle we got in Frk. Barners Kælder restaurant were delicious; same goes for the vegetable side dishes – gherkins and beetroot. What I liked the most, was the potato salad. I liked it so much, that Łukasz had to order a second portion! Maks also went for a meatball similar to the ones that grandma makes and he wasn’t disappointed!

4) HOT LIVER PATE, served with properly fried bacon and mushroom

It’s absolutely not my cup of tea, but you’ll find it in every restaurant. Liver pate, served hot in a little ramekin with a well-fried bacon and fried mushrooms on top. To try during breakfast, lunch time or in the evening.

5) HOT-DOG FROM A BOOTH 🙂

Walking around Copenhagen sightseeing, we looked for something to satisfy a little hunger. A snack – nutritious and preferably cheap. We usually came upon ice-cream (already mentioned PLN 20 for a scoop) and waffles (Belgian!). In many places, especially the tourist ones, we found hot-dog booths. Different types with lots of people queuing! You can even buy a single wiener or a bread roll there. A nutritious and cheap snack. Well, MODERATELY cheap. But as for Denmark/Copenhagen it was cheap. A hot-dog costs around 30-40 Krones which is around PLN 20-30.

It sounds like daylight robbery but if you look around in Copenhagen you’ll realise that there’s not much else to choose from. So we decide to go for the hot-dogs that are great, especially if consumed while seating on the grass!

What’s best to drink while eating Danish specialties? Beer of course. And not only the most popular ones such as Carlsberg, Tuborg or Faxe but also less popular local ones. Beer, especially wheat beer, goes very well with smørredbrød sandwiches.

Remember that even though the weather is far from Spanish of Italian standards, the restaurants in Copenhagen also have “siesta”. The kitchen closes usually around 3-4 pm and opens in the evening.

How did Maks like Danish cuisine? He loved the little Greenland shrimps the most. These were usually served as a side dish in a little container. He also liked healthy Danish rugbrød, preferably with butter or pate. He also liked local (quite smelly to be honest) cheeses, frikadelle and fish.

We missed kids’ menus in the restaurants we visited. Even something as simple as pasta with tomatoes or the immortal nuggets. Seems like the little ones from Copenhagen eat smørrebrød with herring from the moment they’re born 🙂

So, how do you like all this? Feeling full already? Tomorrow we’re going sightseeing in Copenhagen, walking (or riding a rickshaw) around very specific stands in hippie Christiania… See you!