Speisewirtschaft Opitz
On our drive back to Belgium before arriving in our final destination Stockholm, we spent the night in Hamburg. With the opportunity to only eat one meal, we wanted to experience a typical North German meal. Luckily I have ex-colleagues in Hamburg and they recommended Speisewirtschaft Opitz. So we happily made a reservation and enjoyed the vintage atmosphere and delicious Hamburg-style food (aka lots of North Sea shrimp and fish!).
Grød
I can’t go to Copenhagen without at least one breakfast at Grød, the world’s first porridge bar on the Jægersborggade, in the Nørrebro-district of Copenhagen. I love their porridge so much, I even order it from time to time to be delivered to Belgium. Since we were about to head to Hamburg, a filling, healthy brunch at Grød was a perfect way to leave the city!
Rudo
When we were at Bæst, we noticed there was a bar upstairs but we didn’t really pay much attention to it. But then we ate at Relæ and were given two tokens for vermouth at Rudo. Then all the dots connected and we realized Christian Puglisi recently opened a vermouth bar! So of course we had to go with our tokens – we love vermouth after trying so many in Barcelona!
We headed over after dinner at Manfred’s and enjoyed a relaxing evening trying everything. The drinks sounded delicious, so of course we needed to try the cocktails and then the Rudo Experience (just one so we could split them 🙂 ). Really cozy and intimate!
Manfreds
Our very first time in Copenhagen, we celebrated my 29th birthday with dinner at Manfreds! It was such a delicious, impressionable meal. We realized just how delicius sourdough bread can be and tried naturally fermented wines for the first time! Koen and I left very inspired and experimented a lot once back in Antwerp with our cooking. So of course we came back this trip! The food is very reasonably priced and creative (plus local and organic), so definitely worth visiting – especially if you can’t get a table at Relæ.
Resting in front of the sunny, colorful Nyhavn
Inbetween lunch and dinner we needed to kill some time, and what better way than a walk along the famous Nyhavn?
Closeby, just over the bridge is Restaurant 108, currently ranked #98 in the world, opened by Korean-born chef Kristian Baumann (a Noma alum) in 2016 with René Redzepi. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a reservation, but we were able to grab a coffee at The Corner, the Coffee Bar from Restaurant 108. From their website, “We are one of only a handful in Denmark to collaborate with Oslo-based Tim Wendelboe, world champion barista and one of the pre-eminent coffee roasters in Europe. Throughout the different seasons, we work with several different types of Tim Wendelboe’s coffee.”
Smørrebrød from Hallernes for lunch
If you don’t have a lot of time in Copenhagen and want to try a few specialties, TorvehallerneKBH is a great place to visit (but also super busy!!). This is a centrally located food hall where you can eat and buy Danish specialties to sample and/or take home – like the Danish openface rye sandwiches, aka smørrebrød, pastries, fish, cheese, coffee, etc.
Hija de Sanchez
Copenhagen is filled with so many great, interesting restaurants and many of the chefs got their start at Noma, consistently the top restaurant in the world over the last decade. One of the chefs is Hija de Sanchez who owns and operates 2 taquerias in Copenhagen. I read a bit about her (and saw her on Somebody Feed Phil!) and her passion to bring Mexican cuisine to Europe and was excited to try her tacos!
The restaurant is very small with a limited menu, which changes daily. With only 3 to choose from, we wanted to try all of them and took the #2 menu, which included all three plus rice and beans. I had expected to like the fried chicken the most, but was surprised to have liked the cabbage taco the most! Super delicious and such a great price point. To finish, I couldn’t resist ordering the avocado popsicle!
Mikkeller Bar
When we were in Copenhagen a few years ago we discovered Mikkeller beer and visited the bar in Vesterbro. So many delicious, innovative flavors to choose from! Once back in Belgium we noticed a lot of Belgian-Mikkeller collaborations, so revisiting the Mikkeller Bar was a must for us this trip!
Relæ
For our second restaurant of Christian Puglisi, we had lunch at his highest acclaimed restaurant, Relæ, currently (2019) ranked #56 on the list of best restaurants in the world. Relæ is also the first Michelin restaurant to be 100% organic – so the food is not only good for your tastebuds, but for the world as well!
Always happy with a good cup of coffee in my hands!
One of our favorite places for coffee in Copenhagen is at Coffee Collective on the Jægersborggade. Since our last visit the relocated from one end of the street to the other and are now in a much bigger location. I love how in Copenhagen all of the businesses seemed aimed toward sustainability, like using organic, local, seasonal, and fair trade products and practices. Coffee Collective is not an exception. Of course we bought a few bags of beans to take back with us to Stockholm.
From their website:
Creating the best coffee experiences in the world while helping farmers achieve more value is what drives us. We roast daily and focus on sustainability from seed to cup.
An American in Antwerp 