American burger 3

No matter how much I like a place I don’t usually go there twice; yet there is a place I have already visited three times, and I am not sure Sunday was the last time. The place I am talking about is Sallies Restaurant and Snack Bar in Albertsund, Denmark.

The place tries to offer an american experience to its guests, and the first clue in such direction is it’s motel design (yes, there is a restaurant and a motel in the same place) with rooms which come with parking spots just in front of their doors.

However, I first went there at the invitation of some friends. I couldn’t say it amazed me; apart from the american-like style that can be noticed from outside, there were nothing else that captured my attention. Moreover, I didn’t like that there is offered a buffet-menu as well; I am not a fan of buffet places, and I see them as low quality offering. I don’t really remember what it was that I ate first time, but I remember that after about six months I visited Sallies again, and this time I had a Burger Club with some fries topped with cheese and paprika; appealing to try was also the coffee shake. Even that time I was surprised I was visiting this place for the second time, and I couldn’t see it coming another visit there.

Yet, last Sunday at the suggestion of the friends I was there for the first time, we drove again to this place and had a great time with lots of burgers, fries and milkshakes. This time I had the Bad Boy BBQ burger with the same fries with cheese and paprika, and the same delicious and big glass of milkshake.

The food as good, and the atmosphere as well, with almost all the tables taken, only the tables from outside were available, and so it was ideal we had made a reservation before going there.

We were five persons, and had four burgers, five burgers four fries and a snack and paid about 670 Dkk, which I would say it is more than ok; being one of the cheapest burger places I have eaten in Denmark.

Go and try it on your own, hoping you’ll enjoy it was well.

Meeting The Beast

I use to be marked by the facts I hear or the images I see, especially if they are linked to food and traveling. One of these situations has as subject a burger restaurant; namely Grisen in Copenhagen.

I first saw pictures and read short posts about it on social media channels as Facebook and Instagram. However, the posts I remarked about Grisen were not just some boring ones, but something which were made to attract views and mark memories.

Baring in mind this place, I had chased the chance to visit it, and inevitably I have finally got to eat there.

It is not the common restaurant you may think about, but it is still pretty close to the Danish style: diversity in unity, with different chairs, sofas, lamps etc in a not very large but not small either place. Moreover, there are plenty of pictures all around the walls, pictures representing the staff and the food. The menu is already sat on almost each table, having the style of the menus you may find in kebab or pizza places in Denmark. Moreover, the menu is not very large, but it offers enough for all tastes of burger lovers. On the menu there is also a corner for drinks, not very rich in offering either.

The action goes like this: enter the restaurant without having a booking, take a place at any table you find available, grab a menu, decide upon what is that you want and go the the counter to order. It sounds like you have been there isn’t is? it does to me at least! To me it sounds like a fast food restaurant at a better quality, more money and better looking.

I got the beef burger with fries and a lager. It sounds common, but it was not, due to the fact my beef burger was not like any beef burger but I chose to have it with double, and so I turned it in what is called on Grisen’s menu as “The Beast”!!!…and it is true, it looked like the beast… the beast of all the burgers!

However, it looked amazing but when it comes to the taste, I would say you can get a better one at the Greasy Spoon Restaurant in Copenhagen.

All in all, I had a great time at Grisen, a place which I would say offers a new concept; something in-between fast-food and family restaurant! A place just perfect for a cheap burger at a good quality, grabbed just on your way to a party or a meeting with friends.

My bill was thin: 240 Dkk for two burgers, one portion of fries, a beer and a cola.

PS. Bare in mind that the payment is done only in cash or Mobile Pay.

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!