Best pizza…with Danish twist!

What does the name Christian Puglisi say to you? It would be interesting to hear some answers to this question. For me, Christian Puglisi is the Rene Redzepi of the organic movement. Inspirational cook this guy; not only for what he did at Relæ, but also for this new place, Bæst.

For a long time I wanted to visit Bæst restaurant. The main reasons: the prices for the pizzas seem reasonable, and the thought that is served in a place founded be Puglisi. However, it looked that many others thought the way I did, because the restaurant was full in the evening of my visit; luckily I had a reservation.

Bæst is located in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, which -at least for me- doesn’t mean it is difficult to find. Moreover, it is very close to another nice restaurant in the city, Kiin Kiin.

The only table I found available at the time of the booking was for 17:30 of an Sunday,  and even so, at that very early evening moment, three tables were booked already. The place made a great impression on me from the beginning: welcomed by a Italian (by accent) waiter, clean, dimmed lights, and a huge pizza-oven just behind my chair.

Then the menu. It is small, but not really…what I mean with this is that there are offered two options for the so called tasting menus: the small tasting menu & the large tasting menu. Beside them there is the possibility to order a la carte pizzas, cheeses (made on the spot just at the upper floor). After a short talk with one of the waiters we chose to go for the small tasting menu. It is important for mention that if one, at a table, wants one of the tasting menus, then all at that table should have it; the same happened with us; yet, we added a portion of mozzarela.

The first round of the servings came quickly including many cold cuts, salad and some other products I cannot remember by name, but are present in the picture.

Then, it was time for pizzas, two of them served at different times. We were three at the table, so we got a slice for each. They were absolutely delicious, and now I can say that this is the best pizza I have eaten in Copenhagen since I settled here, four years ago.

Last serving (a moment when we were all full) consisted of pork, pumpkin polenta and beetroot with mascarpone. The beetroot has never been something I would fight for, the same happened this time. However, the pumpkin polenta was delicious. The pork was good as well, but the corn and the other ingredients it came with I didn’t like them.

Dessert is not included in this small tasting menu, but we couldn’t eat it anyhow. We just had a coffee, though the offer is very poor: filter coffee and espresso.

After about two and a half hours at Bæst we asked for the bill, which I would say was a bit costly for what I tasted and for my expectations as well.

For three persons, with three small tasting menus, a portion of mozzarella, water (even though it is tap water, it is charged 25 Dkk for a big bottle), 2 x glass wine, a filter coffee and an espresso we payed 1600 Dkk!

As a final remark, I love their pizza, and I cannot wait to go back there for 1-2 pizzas with some wine, which I recommend you to do as well.

 

Grilled camembert at La Petanque

I love cheese, almost all kind of cheeses. Even so, I like some of them in a higher degree than others. Of the ones I like very much grilled camembert has its place.

A couple of days ago, I went out for lunch with my wife, aiming to enjoy some crepes at La Petanque, in Copenhagen. It was the first time we visited that place, which we chose based on some random Instagram posts we discovered and which looked to us very appealing.

La Petanque is centrally located in Copenhagen, close to Nørreport Station; somehow opposite the foodie-hub, Torvehallerne.

La Petanque is a cosy place with tables on the sidewalk, but also inside. It is not a fancy place, but is designed in a friendly and welcoming way; to this feeling, the owner -a welcoming french man- plays an important role as well.

The menu as plenty of crepes, but also other dishes among which there are some French classics as well. Like I said I went there to try some crepes, but when I saw in the menu the Grilled camambert dish I changed my mind and went for it with no hesitation. Together with it I chose a glass of red wine from Chile.

Short time after I placed the order, the food arrived, and my cheese was ready for enjoyment. It came with marmalade, salad and fresh bread. The cheese had the consistency of honey, and it was so much that I couldn’t finished it with all the bread I had. I would have asked for more bread but I was so full I couldn’t eat more.

In the end my wife and I left La Petanque super satisfied: she had the desired crepes, and I had the grilled camembert, one of my favourite dishes.

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.

Shrimps à la Alabama

Today has been a long day out: walking, walking and again walking. The day couldn’t go on without refueling our bodies (mine and my wife’s one).

We didn’t choose any random place, but we considered some of the places we have had in plan to visit anyway. However, we decided to visit a place based on the pictures we saw on Instagram; it is Alabama Social.

As we found out ourselves, the restaurant is located in central Copenhagen, just over the most crowded bikes bridge in the world, in the direction Nørrebro.

There is a terrace, tables, chairs, people and good food. I can say this based on my visit.

I am not a big fun of lunch menus; I consider them very scarce in offerings; something like a second league in football comparing it with the first one. This experience didn’t contradict my opinion.

The lunch menu at Alabama Social has more or less six dishes and three desserts. Yet, two of the dishes captured our attention, and we went for them: chicken waffle and shrimp sandwich.

We received them quick, almost as quick as you continue reading from a paragraph to another in this post.

I had the sandwich; it looked good and big enough. Without tasting it I squizzed the lemon over it. Not a inspired moved, because the sandwich has already pickles in, and thus I turned it in a double sour sandwich. Yet, in some parts there were enough shrimps to overcome the sourness of my lemon.

While eating our main dish, I saw the waiter taking two jars with some very good looking  stuff in, to a table next to us. In his way back I asked what were those. I found out there were cheese cakes; and I ordered a jar instantly.

We had wine with our main dishes, but we ordered a bottle of water for the dessert, expecting get some very sweet cheese cakes.

The jars looked very appealing with the dessert in, arranged in layers: biscuits on top, blackberries in the middle and the cheesy-cream at the bottom. It was sweet but not as sweet as we expected, so the water was not really need it. However, it looked enough, and it proved to me much, since I barely eat it, and my wife had only half of it.

All in all: 2 mains x 2 desserts = 550 DKK…a fair price for a decent lunch.

Romanian food experiences disappointed me this time

In this post I am going to present shortly my culinary experiences I have had during my holiday in Romania. I will be talking solely about the experiences I had while eating out, not about the ones eaten home at my family.

My holiday lasted about one and a half weeks, time when I was road-tripping Romania, crossing 14 counties, traveling from Dambovita up to Maramures, and then down again to Dambovita (my home county) from which I went one more time up the country, this time in the eastern part of Romania, in Bacau County.

I traveled all these areas because there were many points of interest (tourism wise) for me, points I have never traveled so far, eg. to the Merry Cemetery, Timisoara, Corvinilor Castle etc. However, apart for this points of interest, food was another goal of my trip. I use to travel for food, and I am very interested in tasting local foods, or just eating out and trying the talent of different chefs or the level of service different places have to offer.

I am quite used with the local food in Romania, but I am still excited about eating out -in Romania- as often as I can, looking for exciting experiences both through the places and service, but also through the dishes.

This time I was pretty disappointed with most of the experiences I have had in Romania; and here starts my story:

Me together with my companions first ate out in Baile Herculane, a touristic destination in the western part of Romania (very popular not long time ago). There we had dinner at a place named Restaurant Pizzerie Cristal; a random place we discovered in the middle of the town. From the street the place looked clean and appealing, with plenty of guests inside, and a menu of interest for me (with grilled trout and the traditional papanasi).

The disappointment started here from the very first moment, with waiters being inattentive at us, letting us stand in the middle of the restaurant without welcoming us or having any kind of interaction with us. After some moments when we waited for their attention, we decided to go to them and ask them. Just then we got a table. That was also the moment when we began to discover more about the places. There was water on the floor but nobody cleaned it, or place a sign of slippery floor. The waiters seemed to be all very uninterested in their guests. Moreover, some of them just used our chairs to support themselves while discussing about their guests or arguing that some guests left the place without paying. Then some of them began a fight with another guest who apparently didn’t received its order for a long time. At a moment I received the food I ordered; grilled trout with boiled potatoes. If the fish was good, the potatoes were cold and not very well boiled. The first positive aspect from waiters’ side came only when my wife received hers papanasi, and the waiter decided to give us two spoons instead of one, since there was only one person who ordered it. At the end of the dinner, on one side, we paid a cheap price for a dinner, but on the other side the food and the service matched the price we paid; both being very low.

The next time we ate out properly was in Timisoara. This time we chose the place that was recommended to us from our hotel’s receptionist. The restaurant is named Casa Bunicii. It is located in downtown Timisoara, and it has a very lovely garden; a perfect place for a dinner in a nice summer evening. Although there were many guests, we managed to get a table without having a reservation. The waiters seemed to be guests-orientated, apart from one of them who seemed very uninterested in working there, waiter from who we had never received back any answer to our requests, so we had always to ask one more time another waiter. Yet, the food was delicious and comes in the right portions.

In Cluj -the next major city we stopped in- we asked the receptionist of our hotel for some recommendations of good restaurants, but we were not able to receive any hint; we were sent however to the historic center of the city, being told that there are plenty of restaurants. It is truth that there are many restaurants and eateries, and after a long walk around them we decided to eat at Bistro Vienna, a bistro with terrace and a menu close to the Austrian menus. However, from the first interaction with one of the waiters we faced the same problems: poor service and extremely long waiting time. The waiter was quite irritated by our questions related to the menu or availability, closing the discussion with a invitation to stay only if we want to wait about 45 minutes until we receive the order. We stayed! We chose a table for ourselves, order and then wait. The drinks came first, and the food came after a long waiting time. I got a portion of Bistro ribs; the food looked ok, but it tasted not very good. The ribs were kind of plain; the cabbage was fade, while the boiled corn was almost sour. Then, the waiter forgot about the portion of papanasi my girlfriend asked for, so I had to go and order it again. When it finally came the waiter realized he had never cleaned our table after we finished the main dish. In the end we paid about 40 euro, and left the place disappointed, wondering whether we’ll find a decent place with a good service or all the places have the same issues in Romania.

Next stop was at Spanata, in Maramures, a place very popular for the Merry Cemetery. After we visited this tourist attraction we head for lunch at Complex Pastravul, a place recommended to us by a local. Complex Pastravul is a guest house somewhere close to the nature. It looks very clean and well maintained with a terrace behind the building and two deer in a small garden in front of it.

The menu is quite exciting with many dishes representing Maramures’s region. I decided to go for a goulash soup, a portion of warm polenta with sheep cheese and scarps, and a lemonade. The excitement was very high, but it was cut off be the news that the waiting time for the food was of about 45 minutes; and it proved to be no more and no less than 45 minutes. The waitresses were running all the directions, but they seemed not to be enough. I saw guests disappointed and leaving, but me, together with all I traveled with, decided…again…to stay. In the end it was all worth it, because the food tasted very good. However, the disappointment remains for the lack of attention businesses pay to services.

One of the best experiences I had, was the coming morning, when I had breakfast in the restaurant of Maestro Hotel in Vatra Dornei. There I had for breakfast food most of you’ll like to have for lunch or dinner: fried chicken livers, and fried cheese. Here the place was clean, the menu was rich, the prices not bigger than other places I was eating before, but the service was very good -at least in comparison with the other places: the waiter was welcoming, polite and customer-minded. The food came in good time, but I have to mention there were not many guests either. However, this was the first place I left tips at a restaurant in Romania, after driving about 1000km and eating in many different restaurants; the tips was worth it.

The last part of my holiday in Romania I spent it in Bacau, my wife’s city. There I use to ate at my wife’s mom -who cooks very well- but it happened to eat out three times. First time I ate at Restaurant Manhattan. There I had a portion of lasagna and the Romanian traditional dessert profiterol. Beside I had a glass of fresh orange juice. The atmosphere was very decent, and the service as well. There was a waitress who behaved nicely, and the food came in good time, especially if compared with the other experiences I had in Romania before. The food was good, though the orange fresh juice tasted a bit “not fresh” and the profiterol was a bit different than what I knew it should be like; moreover, it was very big, more than enough for a hungry man.

The second place I ate in Bacau was Pizzeria Luca. Luca restaurants have spread around Bacau and now they can be found all around the city offering different goods: from pretzels to sandwiches and pizza. I discovered this place by driving by it and it caught my attention with the crowds present on its terrace, and through its appearance: made of wood and clean. The first impression on spot was still not satisfying: we entered the restaurant, passed by some waiters without being greeted or asked anything, reached a reception where the waiter in charge there didn’t even looked at us for about 2-3 minutes although we were just face-to-face. In the end, we were sent to a table, with a cold voice. The waitress who served us was quite professional though, and together with the quality of the pizza we had, we declared the dinner to be ok.

The last dinner out we had in Bacau was at restaurant Piazzetta, located on the way to the town Roman. The place serves as a restaurant and bed and breakfast. From the street it looks just like a big house, but after making few steps the footpath takes you to the entrance in the restaurant, terrace and parking lots. Here I first made a reservation for the dinner, and we arrived there at 19:30. The staff at a first impression was professional. Once we got at our table we had to wait about 40 minutes for the waitress to get our order; at that moment she said that it will take maximum 30 minutes to receive our dishes. In the end it was 2 hours of waiting for the food, and I am not exaggerating. It is the worst experience I have had. It is a pity for the food and the place which both deserve more.

My holiday in Romania ended with a coffee in Otopeni Airport, at a lounge which name I don’t recall. However, although the prices are high -as it usually happen on airports- the service satisfied me very much. The waiter was welcoming, helpful and prompt.

All in all, after all these experiences I had in Romania, I can say I was very disappointed and I believe all the businesses activating in the service and hospitality sector in Romania have to improve seriously if they want to attract more tourists to them. I was surprised unpleasantly by the lack of training of the staff in the restaurants I visited, the lack of personnel and the lack of quality and creativity when it comes to food, situation I met in most of the places I ate.

Next time I will travel to Romania I plan to try some of the restaurants in Bucharest, and I have already higher expectations; based on the experiences I had in Bucharest before leaving Romania to live abroad, but also on the fact that being a capital city there is a bigger diversity and more people with money willing to spend them on quality stuff, including here food as well; so where there is demand for a product or a service, I expect that there are also companies willing to bring that on market.

As soon as I’ll get to visit any of the restaurants in Bucharest I’ll write about it here!

Restaurant Kadeau (Bornholm) seen through my eyes!

Even before I booked the tickets to Bornholm I had the wish to eat at restaurant Kadeau, the only Michelin-stared restaurant on the island. Then, once I booked the plane tickets, the first thing I did was booking a table at Kadeau; with about one month prior the visit there were some available spots in the restaurant, but only after 20:30, yet we booked one for the evening of our arrival on Bornholm.

Me and my girlfriend arrived on the island on July 26, a sunny day for the sunniest region of Denmark. Our plan from home was to rent a bike and ride it to the restaurant and back, thinking that it would be an enjoyable way to visit the restaurant and explore its surroundings. Another option was to travel there by public transportation; however, once we got on the island we realized that public transportation is very poor on Bornholm; first it took us more than an hour to get to our hotel located in Rønne, only few kilometers away from the airport. Then, once arrived at the hotel we learned from the receptionist that the public transport on the island -in the direction to the restaurant Kadeau at least- runs until about 18:00, so there were no real chances to get to the restaurant by public transport. Then, the bike-shops were also closed at that time; they close at 18:00. Last option was a taxi, but we learned that from Rønne to Kadeau the charge is 450 Dkk for one way, too expensive in our opinion. In this circumstances we decided to call to the restaurant and try to reschedule our booking, or if not possible to cancel it because there were no way we could get there in time. Although on the website there were no available tables for the next day, when we called we were able to receive a table; however all this chain of facts didn’t affect, but rather intensified the greatness of our night at Kadeau.

The second day we rented a car so it was easier for us to move around. Only driving the car to the restaurant we realized what a uninspired idea could be to ride on a bike there and back. This is because there are about 24 km/one way till the restaurant, with short distance through a sort of a forest where there is not any road for bikes or lights at night.

Now to talk about the experience at the restaurant; it was beyond the words. What enhanced my experience was the location of the restaurant. As I said it is located in the middle of nowhere, at some kilometers from the main road, on the rocky coast of Baltic Sea. The view is superb, the atmosphere is quit and relaxed. The deign of the restaurant is not fancy, but it has something that made me like it: the big windows around all around the dinning room; beside this the tables outside are also contributing to a pleasant evening, for those who choose to seat there.

When it comes to food, the menu is offered in two options: eight courses menu or five courses menu. Beside them there are three appetizers offered before the first dish of the menu, coffee and sweets for coffee. I opted for the eight courses menu, while my girlfriend chose the five courses. Generally the food is delicious, although I can not say there were any exceptional dishes. The food is enough, so that after the first four-five dishes I was full, so the remaining ones were an extra.

An amazing fact about the food was to see one of the kitchen members going outside the restaurants and picking some flowers from the “garden” to use them later for the dinner’s menu; that was a boosting moment to my experience. This note comes as an example of the fact that all the dishes are based on local products from Bornholm.

When it comes to drinks, because I drove I went for juices only. However, there are pairings for both juices and wines. I didn’t take the pairing because I knew I couldn’t drink so much, but I had three bottles of juice locally made (Bornholm Mosteri).

All in all, for one large menu, a small one, a wine pairing for the small menu, and three juices we paid 2680 Dkk. It was reasonable for that level I would say, or at least I was satisfied with it.

I would end this post by encouraging any of you reading this post -if you have the chance to visit Bornholm- not to hesitate to visit this restaurant; you would thank yourself for this choice. However bear in mind that Kadeau Bornholm is open only a few months a year, during the touristic season.

Sometime is good to eat spicy…especially if it’s delicious too!

This story is as simple as possible, or the circumstances make it simple. It happens that I have few Pakistani coworkers, with who I spend a lot of time due to the nature of our job. Thus we have a lot of time to talk all the things in the world; but one of the topics we like a lot is food, the Pakistani cuisine especially. I had tried before the Pakistani cuisine in some restaurants but I was not very prepared in the way that I didn’t know too much about the food and what I would like to eat, though after each of these experiences I was very satisfied. However, now I took advantage of this situation, and I debated with my Pakistani colleagues the most of the aspects of the Pakistani cuisine. Moreover, they made recommendations to what particular restaurants to good in Copenhagen in order to have a more intense and authentic Pakistani experience. Two of them even brought to me Pakistani food cooked by them home.

After such an intense “training” I decided that I could manage the situation, and I was ready to visit a Pakistani restaurant. However, even though they made recommendations to where to go, in parallel I conducted my own research of the restaurants, and I ended up with other options. So I decided to go at one of the top Indian restaurants in Copenhagen based on the reviews; Restaurant Guru. Restaurant Guru promotes itself as a Indian restaurant but due to the small differences between India and Pakistan when it comes to food (as I learned from my colleagues but also through my own experience) I considered it and I will talk about it as a Indian/Pakistani restaurant!

So, I took my wife for a day out, and after a very good time wandering around Copenhagen, the dinner time came, and we headed to Guru Restaurant. We didn’t have any reservation, because we didn’t know exactly the time we could make it to the place, so we just pop in, hoping there would be some available tables. The day of our visit was Sunday; we first were able to go there at around 17:30, but arriving in front of the restaurant we noticed through the big windows that no other customers were inside, although the restaurant was opened. We don’t like empty restaurants so we decided to make a go around, hoping that at our return there would be more people inside. We came back in about one hour from our first try, and again through the windows we saw there where two tables taken at that time. It wasn’t exactly the kind of atmosphere we were expecting, but our hunger couldn’t wait and so we entered.

At the door there was a smiling waitress welcoming us and taking us to a table next to the window. Form there we had a view over the whole restaurant; it is very big, with many tables. Moreover it is very clean and designed in a modern style, very different than the other Indian/Pakistani restaurants I had visited before.

Then it came a waiter with the menus. My wife had still to figure out what she wanted, I knew by heard from before my visit what I would like. Hence, I ordered chicken biryani, fish pakoras and –as drinks- a big glass of mango lassi.

Before we even got our ordered we saw the waiter bringing a colorful plate on our table; and, before we even got to ask him about it, he said it was a treat from the house: pappadams with a trio of chutneys. Nice gesture! We enjoyed the pappadams…a lot. It was like eating chips with salsa; and believe me, eating chips with salsa is one of my favorite sports. It burned me but I kept eating.

Then our order arrived. First the lassi: flavored, with a beautiful color, dense and delicious. I like it so much that I ordered one more until the end of the dinner, although this one big glass was enough; but it taste was fantastic. One funny thing about mango (especially the salty one), is that it is popularly called “the white whisky“. This is what I found out from my colleagues. They also told me that a glass of the white whisky is just perfect for a good sleep!!!

Then the fish pakoras arrived, and it was as enjoyable as the pappadams, just that it tasted like fish ;-).

At last I received the attraction of the night: chicken biryani with peshawari naan. Amazing dish: very hot, rich and a lot. It was such a huge portion that even after I was full and my wife also had eaten from it, I still had a lot on my plate, so for sustainable reasons I ask to get it to go.

This dinner was one of those moments when one regrets s/he cannot eat more.

Like I said some rows above, Restaurant Guru is a bit different from the authentic Indian/Pakistani restaurants, not only in the design but also in offerings; one more thing to support my point is that at Guru one can also get alcohol as well!

After such a succesful night, I was very impatient to meet my Pakistani coworkers and described them my experience. They seemed glad to so I enjoyed the kind of food they love that much that they eat every day!

However, this dinner has spiced up not only that evening but also my tastes and my knowledge in matter of food and cultures! So in case you find yourselves in Copehagen and you will like to warm up a bit, then Restaurant Guru can help you in that regard.

Bon appetit!

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!