When “best” is beaten by “best”: Best Cafe in Copenhagen in 2015 – Mad og Kaffe!

I believe that there is not such a thing as a best place for something e.g. best bar, best restaurant etc. However, some places might get such appellations, but they only apply to a particular time, and they refer to individual opinions. In regards to this thought of mine, I may admit I myself have some places I call them “best” in something; and most of the time I add this appellation to their real name until I discover another “ best” place…and more or less this is what has happened to me today! This is because today I got the pleasure to visit for the first time a great place in Copenhagen, Mad og Kaffe!

Before someday ago I didn’t even know about it -and I had had already another “best” place close to my heart- but here’s where the magic of social media interferes: it happened that scrolling down the posts of my network, one of them captured my attention through the beauty of the picture; a lot of small little pieces of happiness were displayed in that picture, all with different colors which give them the power to attract many food lovers and not only. For me it was love at first sight! I saw that picture, and then I committed to find that place and try its food; I managed to do so, and now I am totally pleased with it. Moreover, this café, Mad og Kaffe, has won the title of The Best Café in Copenhagen for 2015 (http://www.aok.dk/byliv/overblik-her-er-vinderne-af-byens-bedste-2015).

It is the end of November in Copenhagen, and for the ones not used with what it means I can describe it in one word: grey; grey weather, grey sky, grey atmosphere, grey moods etc. This attribut reduce from the charm of many places as well, which may seem abandoned. This was also my impression when I arrived at Mad og Kaffe. Although it is located in the central area of Copenhagen, on the Sønder Boulevard, few minutes away from Dybbølsbro Station, the whole area seemed abandoned when I arrived there. Even though it has a lovely patio, which I assume it is a very popular spot in the nice days of summer, now the same patio is empty, used only by the smokers.

However, once I opened the door of the café another universe opened in front of my eyes: a lot of people inside, gathered around the numerous tables, enjoying dozens of copy paste pictures of the image that had driven me there, all these wrapped in a very cozy atmosphere.

I went there together with my wife, but without any reservation; thus for a moment, seeing the crowded atmosphere displayed in front of us, we thought there were not available places for us. Luckily there was a table for two, and a friendly waitresses escorted us to it. The table was so crammed between two other little tables, that the guests at those two other tables had to help us a bit and so make place for us to take our seats. But this situation passed unnoticed to me at least, being all deleted in my mind, because the only thing I could think of at that time was the memory of the picture I saw on social media taken at Mad og Kaffe!

When it comes to the food, there are three options to choose from, depending on what you want to eat and how much; therefore there can be chosen three, five or seven little dishes from the menu which is divided in five categories: vegetables, dairy, bakery, meat and fish, and treat of the day; the drinks are ordered separately.

This idea of placing the order for food in this way was pretty new for me, and I enjoyed it from the beginning. Thus I chose to have five dishes based more on my individual tastes rather on the way they could work together! I had avocado with chili and almonds, grapefruit with cane sugar, scrambled egg with chive and mushrooms, fried chorizo sausages and Croque Monsieur. Beside these I enjoyed a big jar of homemade lemonade with mint and ginger. Hence, I ended up with a very strange mix of spicy (chorizo, Croque Monsieur and chili), bitter-like taste (grapefruit and lemonade –due to its ginger) and the omelet.  One thing didnt give me peace though: I received two chorizo sausages, although on their website it is advertised as there should be three of them…and all this dissapointment because -boy!- these sausages were delicious! Nevertheless I did enjoyed the whole brunch, and I mixed all the dishes in the way I know best.

As a conclusion, having brunch at Mad of Kaffe was one of the main attractions and one of the best things it has happened to me in October 2015. The awesomeness of this place don’t stay in its food or drinks particularly, because although they are delicious I had tried the same things before, and I enjoyed with almost the same intensity. Yet, the combination, of great food, fantastic atmosphere, novelty, and good prices make from Mad of Kaffe a must visit cafe in the city. The brunch itself has been the best so far…of course, until I will discover another place with another amazing brunch! However, for the time being Mad og Kaffe is the ultimate place for brunch that I can recommend to everyone living or visiting Copenhagen, and it definitely deserves the title of the Best Café in Copenhagen!

Burger crumbs from Cocks & cows SP34, Copenhagen!

I love burgers…no matter from where, when, how etc. I usually associate them with adjectives like: delicious, nourishing, fast and cheap :-)! Of course this is not the case all the time; sometime burgers mean also art or fancy meal.

Refering to the city I arguably know the best, Copenhagen, there are several good places with good and very good burgers, and of course there are different rankings used to name the best burger places in the city. These rankings include many places, but some of them are present in almost all the tops, which might be an indication of their value and appreciation from customers’ side.

One of these places is Cocks and cows! With a very weird name, but very appealing in the same time -although there are neither cocks nor cows in the restaurant- Cocks and cows is a chain of burger restaurants in Copenhagen which has been nominalized several times for the best burger restaurant in Copenhagen (http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/cocks-cows-sp34-gdk916953 ; http://www.aok.dk/restaurant-og-cafe/cocks-cows-paa-gammel-strand). Almost any time one searches on internet “the best burger place in Copenhagen” the majority of the results will suggest or include Cocks and cows.

This is how I decided for the first time to visit Cocks and cows; it happened about one and a half year ago; that time I visited the restaurant situated on Gammel Strand Street. Although the burgers were delicious, the overall experience was not memorable; or to put it another way, the only thing I could really remember was the name of the place stamped on the top bun of the burger!

That was my first experience with Cocks and cows; yet, few days ago I decided to visit Cocks and cows again. I decided to do so not based on my previous experience, but on some other things like: availability, mood, curiosity, venue etc.!

Since Cocks and cows is a chain having three restaurants in Copenhagen, this time I decided to go to another restaurant of the chain, Cocks and cows SP34. The booking I made was for Sunday evening. Surprisingly at the moment I made the online booking –three days before the actual visit- all the tables were available; first thought: something is wrong with this place; although, I knew this place was very appreciated in the city, thing which confused me even more. Anyway I didn’t change my mind, and Sunday, at 19:15 I was in front of its door. I wasn’t alone, but together with my girlfriend and two friends. Although it has its own entrance, we were asked to enter through the entrance of the hotel which is hosted by the same building. The first remark: there were customers in restaurant (contrary to the feeling I had when booking the table); not fully booked but enough to create and support a good atmosphere for a great evening. Once at the bar, after the waitress found our reservation, we were asked whether we would like to seat in the restaurant or on the terrace. Since we didn’t know about the terrace, we asked it to be shown to us before we could made a decision. Kindly, the waitress took us to the first floor, where an intimate and quiet terrace opens in-between the walls of the buildings. We liked it and decided to stay there. Like Visit Copenhagen says very well this terrace is “an intimate oasis in the middle of buzzing Copenhagen”. No noises, no traffic, no people staring in your plate…!

First we received the menus, in English, and then we were given some time to consider what we would like to have! Personally I was happy to see in the menu the Jacobsen Brown Ale beer, and I went for it without any thoughts; as for the burgers, The New Yorker winkled at me and I couldn’t resist its call.

Beside the sandwich, as the menus are now made in many burger places, the customer is asked to choose separately the type of the bread, the sides, and the dressings! Of course each of them has its price! My choice: sweet American bread with salty fries, no dressing! Then we got engaged in discussing different topics. Meanwhile the drinks arrived, but for three of us only; for my beer I still had to wait about five more minutes.

No long after that, the burgers arrived. Then the silence took over and our hands, jaws and mandibles started working. Delicious! My burger was made with steak, which was so juicy…exactly like those served in genuine steak houses, like Mash (in Copenhagen).

I enjoyed so much the burger that I totally forgot about the fries; so I served them as chips for the beer! Worth mentioning or not, this time the logo of the restaurant was on the bun was well, though it was a bit difficult to decipher it; yet this time the taste of the burger got stuck in my mind, and not the logo!

All in all I had a great time at Cocks and cows SP34, and I left from there with better memories than after the first visit. Not the last, to the great experience a funny situation contributed as well! It all happened when at the moment we decided to pay the bill, I went to pay it at the bar, and while I was returning to my table, with the bill in my hand and my eyes resting on the numbers (especially when I noticed I paid for the tap water as well!!!), I could hear a gentleman from a table close to ours, calling me and saying, in Danish, “can we also get the bill, please?”! I was very confused, and all I could say was: “excuse me!?” after which he repeated his request. Finally understanding his request I started laughing, and I replied “well, I am not a waiter, I am just a client as you are too!” Then, the discussion was interrupted by long moments of good laugh, coming from both tables and not only!

What could I expect more for a that night!? However, I cannot asses  in what degree this place is one of the best burger restaurants in Copenhagen, but it definitely satisfyed my expectations for that specific night.

Go and try it, see what you get out, and then share your experience so the other readers can make the best decision for a great evening out in Copenhagen!

Tårnet Tower up(s) & down(s)!

Yesterday was the day when I decided for the first time not just to visit the Tårnet Tower in Copenhagen, but also to have dinner there. The interest in these targets was given by a post on Instagram talking about the tower, its highs, views and the restaurant. At that point I was amazed about how I had missed this place, and I decided to put it on my “must do” list. First step: book a table for dinner; then, wait for that day, and hope the day of my visit will be a nice one, with warm weather and a lot of sun. The day has come and all these wishes were  fulfilled: the weather in Copenhagen is amazing with a clear blue sky, and circa 27 degree Celsius in thermometers. So, Tårnet here I come; with the booking for 18:30, I arrive to the King’s Gate at about 18:00 willing to go up in the tower as well, and to enjoy the best possible weather one wish for the moments one goes for enjoying a view.

The entrance point I chose was the central one; the one giving access to the city center, channel tours and bus station for the lines 1A, 2A, 9A, 26 and 40. The entrance cannot be missed, since it is the only one, and it is a visible through its big door; beside this. there is just behind the statue representing a rider on a horse. After passing the threshold of that door, there is a sign showing the direction to the tower and restaurant. However, the access to the elevator which take you to the tower is made only after a security check; process which is pretty similar to the one in the airports, although a bit more relaxed.

From that point, an elevator takes you up the restaurant, and from there if you want to reach the highest level of the tower, you should go up the stairs. So, all in all, the itinerary is simple and easy; enter the King’s Gate, wait several minutes to be welcomed to the security check, go through security check, take the lift for a short ride, walk up few stairs and there you are: in top of the highest tower not only in Copenhagen but in the whole Denmark: Tårnet!

There are four sides from where one can enjoy the view. However, even though one visit this tower to enjoy the view, but actually the view is missing. The view one can enjoy through these four windows is not a proper view, because it is not much to be seen. Luckily there is -in front of each window- a description of what can be seen from there, the highest buildings in sight!

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All the way up the tower, together with the picture session doesn’t take a lot of time, so I have time enough to arrive in time to the restaurant, looking forward to and enjoyable and fancy dinner. About my experience at the Tårnet restaurant you can read the review I wrote on TripAdvisor at http://www.tripadvisor.dk/ShowUserReviews-g189541-d7166129-r296200824-Taarnet_Restaurant-Copenhagen_Zealand.html#REVIEWS. As a short description of what I experienced in the restaurant, I can say that it was all enjoyable, stylish and not very expensive. As a funny but real fact I experienced it was that, although the rename of the place is a promise for a romantic evening, everything goes perfectly until the moment the cheese is served (if you order cheese, of course). At that moment, the cheeses look great, the same their description. Yet I was advised that for a more enjoyable experience I have to eat them from the left to right. This is what I did, but arriving at the last piece of cheese, called The Little Cristian, everything has changed. Why? because it stinks in a big way. It stinks so badly that even after I tasted it my breath smells terrible. Funny enough, that was the moment that ruined my evening, because my girlfriend never again that evening wanted to stay close to me.

Coming back to visiting the tower, there is to be appreciated that visiting the tower is free of charge.

However, even though the view didn’t level up my expectations, the experience was still enjoyable, and it is still worth visiting.