Time to wrap up this rather long weekend in the Danish capital. After another late night at a beer bar, this time Himmeriget, food was once again required to get us on the move. Since we had been to Ol & Brod on Day 1 before our full troupe had arrived, not everyone had experienced smørrebrød – the essential Danish eat of open-faced sandwiches, with toppings piled high on dense rye bread. To satisfy our desires, we stumbled across the road to Fleisch, a stylish restaurant and butchers in the Kødbyen (Copenhagen’s trendy meatpacking district).
The lunch menu is dedicated to smørrebrød, and with eyes bigger than our stomachs, we worked our way through all of them. Ol & Brod had the edge on flavour, but Fleisch is a beautiful space for a leisurely meal. Suitably stuffed, we split up to visit various museums and markets, from the impressive Glyptotek to the festive, artisan offerings outside Ved Stranden wine bar and Copenhagen Coffee Lab on Boldhusgade.
I tend to get photo fatigue after a few days snapping in a new city, which explains why there are no pictures of the rest of our Sunday afternoon. We strolled through the old town to gather at Torvehallerne, a modern Borough Market of sorts spread across two units packed with superior food and drink. Start with a caffeine hit from The Coffee Collective; demolish a duck sandwich from Ma Poule; buy a tonne of Danish cheese; eat some porridge at GRØD; feel the heat with Hija de Sanchez tacos; and get some beers for the road from Mikkeller & Friends Bottleshop.
Exhausted, we rolled ourselves over to Ørsted Ølbar, a relaxed, candlelit pub with a great beer selection by Ørsteds Park. It’s a cosy spot to set up camp for a lengthy session. As I was in danger of falling asleep, I followed a couple of friends to Tivoli Gardens to get some much needed exercise before dinner. Out came the camera once more as we were surrounded by beautiful lighting in this beloved Copenhagen institution that comes in to its own at Christmas. An “amusement park and pleasure garden” may not sound like your thing, but it truly is a magical place not to be missed.
To finish the weekend in style, we splashed out on a fancy meal at Höst – a stunning seasonal restaurant focused on Nordic produce that has won three international design awards. Five courses and a wine pairing plus several amuses bouches set us back about £80 per person. Several hours passed as we worked our way through Norwegian lobster, smoked scallops, beer porridge and more in rustic surroundings. Copenhagen isn’t lacking outstanding restaurants – it just depends on your budget! Save those pennies and book ahead if you want to make it to Relae, Amass, Manfred’s, Noma & co.
No evening is complete without a trip to a Mikkeller joint, so those of us that were still awake popped in to the original Mikkeller Bar on Viktoriagrade which has a modest 20 taps of fantastic beer in a modern space. They had some gorgeous sours left from a tap takeover by The Veil which we took full advantage of. Mikkeller are gradually taking over the whole street, with the aforementioned Ol & Brod and all-day breakfast spot Hyggestund next door. Counting their two Ramen To Biiru locations and the new La Neta taqueria, Mikkeller currently have a hand in 13 sites in this small city, and no doubt that number will have grown by the time you read this. What’s most impressive is that each space they open has its own unique atmosphere and charm – something that London’s franchises could learn a lot from.
Rather than drag this out into a fifth post, let me just briefly mention Mirabelle where I had lunch the next day before catching a flight home. It’s a casual all-day café, bakery and restaurant attached to Baest, over the road from Brus (see Day 3). We had marvellous plates of pasta with fresh bread, and took some pastries for the road. There are several boutique shops in the surrounding streets if you have time for a wander. And there you have it! Four and a half days of exceptional excess in Copenhagen.
I must give a shout out to the Visit Copenhagen website which I’ve linked to several times in these posts. So often, these tourism sites are a mess, packed full of out of date or obvious recommendations, but Visit Copenhagen is a genuinely useful resource with its finger on the pulse.
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Matt The Tips – Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you are planning a trip to Copenhagen and have any questions, or if you have some suggestions for places I should check out next time! Email me at matt@mattthelist.com
Plan your own adventure with Map The List : Copenhagen
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MATT THE TRIPS | COPENHAGEN
A selection of travel posts from the Danish capital
