Culinary Globetrotting in Copenhagen

I recently read an article about how your astrological sign relates to your eating habits. My sign, Sagittarius, is said to be a “culinary globetrotter” who needs a variety of cuisines to be fulfilled. I can’t say I always believe my monthly horoscope, but that statement was spot on. I’m a girl who likes her variety and I have to say it’s hard to find the variety I crave while in Europe. I have no right to complain seeing as I’ve eaten amazing French food in France, fresh pasta from the Italian motherland, and the best of brats in Germany and Switzerland, yet my greedy self wants all of these food genres combined in one trip. Turns out that a weekend in Copenhagen was this culinary globetrotter’s dream come true.

Similar to New York City and San Francisco, dining in Copenhagen offers great tastes from every country around the world. Though we were only there a short time, I am happy to say that every meal satisfied my tastebuds. 

We arrived in Copenhagen around lunchtime to an absolute downpour, thus warm soup was calling our name…pho in particular. We headed to LeLe’s Street Kitchen and slurped up some of the good stuff, along with some fried spring rolls. 

After some wandering around the city and attempting to stay dry in the rotunda church, we headed back to the hotel before our next culinary adventure. This time we were tasting five courses of Mediterranean Danish food, alongside four delicious wines at Den Lille Fede. 

This was hands down the best meal we had in Copenhagen and I recommend that everyone make a reservation upon their next trip. The service was superb, the wines were perfectly paired (well, to my immature palate at least), and the food was delicious, without being overly gourmet like many tasting menus. Two separate friends recommended this place to us and I’m sure glad they did.

{cauliflower soup with peas and shrimp}

{pan-fried mackerel}

{pork two ways}

{rhubarb ice cream with caramel crisps}

The next morning, we grabbed Danish pastries and attempted to take a walking tour of the city, though our outdated travel book failed us with the timing (or we failed by using an outdated travel book?). 

Not to worry, Rosenborg Palace to the rescue.

After our tour of the palace grounds, we stumbled across a Mexican joint, Bar Burrito, that looked halfway decent. Turns out it was fullway decent, treating us to the best burrito we’ve had in Europe thus far. Just beware that they call tortilla chips “nachos”. We were a little disappointed when we didn’t receive a bed of chips topped with meat, beans, salsa, and guac, but our burritos made up for it. 

More wandering we did, heading over the famous Nyhavn area to take some shots of the colorful buildings and then onto the Little Mermaid statue, which is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale (later turned Disney movie). 

Twenty thousand steps later (according to my lovely iPhone pedometer), we made it to dinner. The tasty pho from the day before, combined with a lack of good Asian food in Zurich lead us to another Vietnamese meal. This time at LeLe’s evening restaurant. We opted for a variety of starters…the tuna ceviche with wasabi rice puffs being the winner. 

Our last day provided us with a full day of sunshine, which meant I didn’t have a good enough excuse not to ride a bike anymore. I really do enjoy riding bikes, but I’m a nervous nellie when it comes to sports not on my own two feet (i.e. snow-skiing, ice-skating, roller blading). Thank goodness for my sake; the bike lanes are gigantic in Copenhagen and completely separate from the road and pedestrian sidewalk. I seriously think I might own a bike if I lived in Denmark. 

We headed to Tivoli Gardens, parked our bikes, and wanted to grab a bite before we headed into the amusement park. We decided to try the MAD burger joint…which was ironically located next to the restaurant who claimed to have the best burgers in town. I think we chose right, because MAD was full of happy customers and the “best burger joint” was empty. The burgers and fries were juicy, flavorful, and had the right kind of bun. Not to mention a super-size soda for my coca-cola lover. American taste buds satisfied. 

As good as our lunch was, I suggest not eating a full plate of burger and fries before going into Tivoli Gardens. This amusement park, which later inspired Disney theme parks, is full of fun rides, carnival games, and entertainment. Though I do like roller coasters (how I trust roller coasters more than biking, one will never know), going upside down on a full stomach didn’t sound too appealing. Instead we tried some of the easier roller coasters and the Hans Christian Andersen story ride. 

For our last meal in Copenhagen, we headed to the Torvehallerne for a wide selection of eats. It is an indoor and outdoor food hall with tons of different booths, similar to the Street Food Festival. I loved the variety, ranging from Paleo to Vegan to Danish to Mexican eats, but I was unfortunately still too full from lunch. My eating partner in crime managed to find room for a delicious Thai curry, while I was wishing we had visited earlier in the trip. 

Between the diverse restaurants, nice Danish people, wide bike lanes, beautiful scenery, and walkable city, we found a place we would be happy to return to. Even if just for another dinner at Den Lille Fede.