New Nordic dining at Vaekst

 

Vækst, Copenhagen

We wanted to try some New Nordic cuisine and made reservations to go to Vækst, in Sankt Peders Stræde in the middle of Copenhagen’s old Latin quarter. It was also close to our hotel and the greenhouse-inspired décor was lovely. There were so many places to choose from, but Vækst was also in the Michelin guide and had great reviews, so we needed no further convincing.

We had an early dinner where they started us off with a crepe with fresh vegetables and cheese. It was served with peas. Then, we had warm bread and herbed whipped butter. We also got an appetizer of cheese foam on top of foam with crunchy rye at the bottom. A delight for our palates, these apps truly whet our appetites as we looked forward to the rest of the meal.

vegetable and cheese crepe at Vækst

bread and herbed whipped butter at Vækst

cheese foam, potatoes and rye at Vækst

Hubby, Grandma and I had the set dinner meal, minus the wine pairing (leaving our server to take away the 15 wine glasses on our table). We had Salted Scallops with green gooseberries, apple and hazelnut. It was a nice starter with dice raw scallops and very flavourful. The presentation was also delightful as our server poured the sauce onto the bowl.

Salted Scallops at Vækst

 For mains, we had Fried Cod which was garnished with radish, pureed peas, trout roe and beurre blanc. The cod was perfectly fried, slightly crispy on the outside and tender and flaky inside. The trout roe popped in our mouths as we took a bite of the cod with the beurre blanc and pureed peas. The radish on the side provided the nice contrast to the sauce.

Fried Cod at Vækst

The girls had Danish Beef Tenderloin with grilled spring onions and truffle sauce. They were also served mashed potatoes. I got to try some from DD#2. It was perfectly medium rare and oh so tender. One of the best steaks we’ve had in a while. The grilled spring onions matched perfectly to balance the truffle sauce.

Danish beef tenderloin at Vækst

For dessert, we had Rhubarb Sorbet with white chocolate and chamomile, topped with meringue. It was a wonderful palate cleanser.

Rhubarb sorbet at Vækst

We really enjoyed our food with most of the dishes having a wonderful play on textures of light cream, sauce or foam and crunch or pop. The flavours complement each other very well and were refreshingly new to our taste buds.

The place was packed by the time we left, a testament to the wonderful cuisine they have to offer.

 

 

Torvehallerne Food Hall at Copenhagen

We can very well validate now that everything we read about Copenhagen, in that it was a very expensive city, was true. It worked out well for us that we were always on the go so the meals were relatively cheaper than if we had allocated some time to full-service dining. For reference, burgers or hotdogs would cost about CAD$20. Fancy coffee would be about CAD$8-9. One thing we really liked, however, was their recycling and waste efforts. Diners are encouraged to use stainless steel utensils and there is a charge for using the plastic ones. There is also a charge for condiments, which dissuades folks from being wasteful. Garbage and recycling bins are all properly labeled as well.

 Anyway, we all had a good chuckle in realizing that we went to Copenhagen to eat typically American food. In many good reviews, burgers came up often so we decided to try and see if the burgers were indeed so much better than the ones we had in North America. First we tried Max, which is a Swedish burger chain. The fam ordered classic burgers and cheeseburgers. I tried the Frisco burger (Frisco is a slightly more luxurious burger bread, which is light and tasty, topped with semolina). The burgers were definitely great and I would not mind having again! They were juicy and well-seasoned. Portions were just right. We also tried some cheese fries. Their desserts, however, were not as good. 

Max burgers

Another burger place that came up so many times in the reviews I have read was Gasoline Grill. We went to the one in Tivoli. We accessed this from inside the Tivoli Garden and am not sure if this can be accessed through the Tivoli Food Hall. The Tivoli Food Hall had a great selection of many different cuisines. If you wanted to have Thai, Italian, French, pizza, or even the traditional Danish Smørrebrød, you can find it in Tivoli Food Hall. At Gasoline grill, the burgers are organic—patties, buns, cheese and all! They also claim to sell out daily so that everything they sell is fresh. We got Original burgers and Cheeseburgers. While they were good, we agreed that we liked the burgers at Max more (which was also cheaper).

 

Gasoline Grill

From many recommendations, we decided we had to try Danish hotdogs too! While there were many hotdog stands along the main tourist spots, we tried the ones at Torvehallerne Food Hall. We really enjoyed exploring this food hall, near Nørreport, which had fruits and vegetables outside, meat, seafood, cheese, wine and so much more in the two buildings. According to DD#1, it was a bougie market. I have to say I think it is much better than St. Lawrence Market in downtown TO. Sorry! So anyway, we tried the hotdogs at Doghouse. Here, you can also have sparkling wine with your hotdog! How’s that for bougie? Hubby and I got the Great Dane, of course, which was the traditional Danish hotdog topped with pickled cucumber and crispy onions. It was indeed very delicious! Doghouse hotdogs were juicy and the remoulade offered the right amount of creaminess to counter the oils. The crispy onions provided a nice crunch. It was delicious! They also had other gourmet hotdogs with flavours of French, Spanish and Italian. 

 

Danish and French hotdogs @doghouse

 It did take a while to get our orders, so we ended up getting some tacos as well from Hija de Sanchez.

Tacos @hija de sanchez

 For dessert, we had some super yummy ice cream from Maggis Gelateria.

Maggis gelateria

Of course, for a couple of our meals, we had to have smørrebrød. We had the beautiful gourmet ones from Hallernes at Tivoli Food Hall (but they also have other locations including one at Torvehallerne). These were just ok for me as the Crispy Pork I had was a bit on the dry side. Hubby had Steak Tartare but as he had had Steak Tartare from Prague, he said it was also just ok.

Chicken salad and Crispy Pork smørrebrød at Hallernes

Steak Tartare and Chicken Salad smørrebrød at Hallernes

I would have to say that I liked the smørrebrød at Rådhus (near the National Museum) so much more. Apart from being only 1/3 of the price of the ones in Hallernes, with less fancier presentation, the smørrebrød we had were quite delicious! I really enjoyed the liver pate topped with bacon, while Grandma’s shrimp and egg came in second.

 

smørrebrød at Rådhus

We also could not leave without trying Danish pastries. In the basement food hall of Magasin du Nord, we had some Direktørsnegl at Lagkagehuset. The pastry was flaky and soft, swirled with chocolate. It was one of the best pastries we’ve had! I was so glad we went for that afternoon coffee and snack. Now, if only the Danish Pastry House can make their chokoladesnegl as good as this!

 

Direktørsnegl at Lagkagehuset

Oh and by the way, let’s not count how much weight I gained from all the eating we did!

Castle-hopping in Copenhagen and our favourite castle

Royal Flag @Amalienborg

There are three castles in Central Copenhagen which are major attractions. Technically, you can cover these three in one day if you want to pack your schedule. Common hours are from 10 to 5 and if you spend about 2 hours each, take lunch on the go and walk fast (or take transit), then I think it is doable. We were on chill-mode so we did these three over a day and a bit—with other stops in between. I took a quick fam poll and we were all pretty unanimous in our ranking of the castles. First, here are the Copenhagen castles in order of preference. I will reveal at the end, our favourite castle, which is technically not in central Copenhagen.

Rosenborg—we like this 17^th century castle, built by one of the most famous Danish kings, Christian IV. 

Rosenborg 

We walked up the spiral steps and discovered rooms filled with beautiful clocks, armoires, writing tables and other furniture--many of which had an Asian influence. These were so beautifully intricate, definitely screaming royal. 

Armoire at Rosenborg

One of the clocks on display at Rosenborg

My favourite and possibly one of the main attractions of this castle is the Knights’ Hall with the coronation thrones. These were decorated with narwhal tusks and had three life-size silver lions standing guard. Tapestries on the walls commemorated battles between Denmark and Sweden. Guess who was winning in these battles? The interiors were well-preserved and the castle housed an exquisite collection of Flora Danica, ivory carvings (if you manage to think past the material used) and an amazing Venetian glass collection. In the basement, they had a collection of firearms and wine barrels (not sure if this is a wise combo), leading up to the treasury. In the treasury, we saw the Crown jewels, which was why the castle was watched by actual armed guards. 

Danish Crown Jewels at Rosenborg

Outside the castle, you can find the gardens which was perfect for relaxing and just enjoying a nice afternoon.

King's Garden, Rosenborg

Christiansborg—was once the royal residence but now houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme court and the Ministry of state. 

Christiansborg

We visited the Ruins under the castle, the Royal party kitchen which had such an amazing collection of copper cookware and also the Royal Stables, which was home to majestic white (Kladruber) horses. Unfortunately, the Royal Reception rooms were closed at the time. It seemed like there was an official event—it is, after all, where they hold functions and receive foreign dignitaries. It was indeed unfortunate, as from the pictures, it seems that it would have allowed us a glimpse of what we expected palaces to look like—somehow like Versailles (but of course, not nearly as opulent or “golden”).

Ruins under the castle, Christiansborg

Royal kitchens at Christiansborg

Amalienborg—our least favourite castle, and something we all said we could have skipped. While the history of current King Frederik X was interesting, it was not so much compelling for us to see many of the items in person. 

one of the buildings at Amalienborg

We did, however, stay for the changing of the guards at noon. The guards marched from their barracks by Rosenborg Castle through the streets of Copenhagen to Amalienborg. The whole process within Amalienborg took over 20 minutes and while it was interesting, there were many dull moments, wherein, according to DD#2, they were just staring at each other. Hubby and I agreed that the Changing of the Guards in Athens was so much more entertaining! 

changing of the guards at Amalienborg

Amalienborg is also close to the marble church, which was so beautiful. Also called Marmokirken or Frederik’s Church, this Lutheran church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31 metres.

Marmokirken

Our favourite castle (that we have seen in our Denmark trip), was actually about 50 minutes by train away from Central Copenhagen. We took a trip to Elsinore (Helsingør) to visit Kronborg, the setting of Hamlet and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The castle started off as a coastal fortress, Krogen, built by King Eric VII in the 1420s.  In the 1770s, King Frederick II had the medieval stronghold transformed into a magnificent Renaissance castle. 

Kronborg, Elsinore

We took the Hamlet’s tour where we saw the cellar, the beautiful 1580s chapel (with its original interior fully restored), the Royal apartments showing the bedrooms, the well-preserved tapestries and the ballroom, reminding me of many familiar scenes with Kenneth Branagh. 

1580s chapel at Kronborg

Royal apartments, Kronborg

ballroom at Kronborg

There were a few quotes from our tour guide officially making it a Hamlet tour. If you happen to be here in the summer, I heard they hold live performances of Shakespeare’s plays.  After the tour, the fam (minus Grandma, of course) took 145 steps up to the Cannon tower to take in the beautiful vistas of the sea and the town. We also checked out the kitchen which was less impressive than the Christiansborg kitchens. Hidden deep down under the castle, in the casements, we saw the stone statue of Holger the Dane (Holger Danske). In Danish legend, if Denmark is ever in trouble, Holger will wake from his rock throne under Helsingør and defend her. 

Holger Danske at Kronborg

The casements were eerie and cold, hosting an extensive series of low-ceilinged dungeons, storerooms and soldiers’ quarters. I did not venture further down to where bats supposedly lived. 

casements at Kronborg

We also no longer went to the barracks/flag bastion as we wanted to catch an early train back to the centre. The castle’s history and preservation/restoration were amazing. This was our favourite castle of the trip and well-worth the day trip!

Over 5 Things to do and see at Copenhagen: Canal Tour, Nyhavn, City Hall, National Museum and Tivoli Gardens

 

Copenhagen

Scandinavia had been in hubby and my bucket list so we decided to hit a couple of the Nordic countries. And, to celebrate several milestones in our family, we visited the happiest country in the world, Denmark (rankings change yearly, but Denmark is always top 3). We got a Copenhagen Card and checked out some top attractions that were included. Apart from admission, the card included transit which was very efficient and convenient. We managed to ride the Metro, S-tog (like a streetcar), bus and regional train. We did not rent bikes as that would be harder for Grandma. Bike rental was very accessible and there were bike lanes everywhere. While there were so many attractions included in the card, here are those we went to that could fit in our trip:

1. We started our trip to Copenhagen with the Canal Tour. We wanted to just take it easy, having come from a red-eye flight and wanted to situate the attractions so we decided a canal tour would be perfect. We knew that we would not have a chance to visit Christiana and the Church of our Savior so we just took a peek from our tour.  

Church of Our Savior, view from Canal Tour

As well, the Little Mermaid statue was reputed to be so underwhelming and far from the rest of the attractions, so we wanted to get those checked off our list via the tour. 

The Little Mermaid statue

The Stromma Canal Tours was great and our guide, Peter, was funny! We learned a few things (and a few jokes) and saw many sights. The Ved Stranden departure point is the one included in the Copenhagen card as the Nyhavn location was more expensive. It was all fine since the one-hour tour will take you to the same sights.

Opera house, Copenhagen

Black Diamond, Copenhagen

2. When you Google Copenhagen, Nyhavn is one of the first things you will see in pictures. It is a waterfront, canal and dining district lined by brightly coloured 17^th/early 18th century townhouses, bars, cafés, and restaurants. We took a leisurely stroll (and many photos) from Kongens Nyrtov to the Inner Harbour. The buildings as well as the tall ships and sailboats moored along the canal were so picturesque. Nyhavn is truly iconic.

 

Nyhavn

4. Grandma, the shopper, was looking forward to going to Strøget, which is known to be the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe at 1.1km. Here, we were also going to check out the Lego store (which is based in Copenhagen) as well as other Danish brands including Ecco and Pandora. Department store, Illums Bolighus (also with a basement food hall) was also there among so many other stores.

5. But before heading to Strøget, we went first to the City Hall where we checked out Jens Olsen's World Clock (Verdensur).  

Jens Olsen's World Clock (Verdensur)

This astronomical clock was intricate and so cool to see! We were only expecting to see the clock but we were happy to find that the interiors of the City Hall was very nice as well. The hallways and staircases were ornate and provided us with a few photo ops. 

City Hall, Copenhagen

Outside, you can also find a statue of Hans Christian Andersen looking over to the Tivoli. 

Hans Christian Andersen looking at Tivoli

The building itself was beautiful, having a tower which is the highest structure in the capital. As well, the statues and fountain in front made the edifice grander.

City Hall, Copenhagen

After the City Hall, we went to the National Museum of Denmark.

inside the National Museum of Denmark

6. National Museum of Denmark - As we wanted to learn more about Danish history and culture, we breezed through the top floor housing Classical and Near Eastern Antiquities. The exhibits for Danish pre-history, Middle Ages, all the way through to 2000s were very informative and we could easily have spent a couple more hours (on top of the two we spent here) if we wanted to read through everything. They also had a collection from various other countries including Japan and Africa. However, the Viking exhibit, which I would have wanted to see was unfortunately under renovation. It was a good foundation to visit the museum to learn more about Denmark before exploring other places.

one of the exhibits at National Museum of Denmark

 7. While the girls thought the rides at Tivoli Gardens would not be able to compare to the thrill rides at Canada’s Wonderland or Disney World, we still had to visit the second oldest amusement park in the world. And we were so glad we did! 

Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli Gardens is a nice theme park from 1840s. The flowers in the gardens were just beautiful and various birds were a delight to see across the grounds. The different rides and shops were interesting, and they had a huge grassy area where you can just get a lawn chair to relax. We watched a couple of shows—one, of an up and coming local band, which we really enjoyed, and as well, a Pantomime show which was too silly for us to sit through. 

beautiful flowers at Tivoli gardens

 

grounds at Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli Gardens

Carousel at Tivoli Gardens

We stayed through the evening so we can experience the gardens with the lights and catch the light and sound show at 9:30pm. Fair warning, if you have seen fireworks at Disney or the water show at Bellagio, you will be really underwhelmed. It was still a nice enough show and surely the younger kids would have appreciated it more. Overall, we really enjoyed our relaxing stroll at the Tivoli Gardens, as we imbibed a bit of Hygge.

Light and Sound show at Tivoli Gardens

8. Other attractions we passed by but were not included in the Copenhagen card were the Round Tower and the Trinitatis Kirke (no admission for this one).

Round Tower, Copenhagen

Trinitatis Kirke 

We wished we were able to go to more of the attractions that came with our Copenhagen card but with the limited hours that we did spend on those that we went to, we know we wouldn’t have been able to swing it. At that rate, we averaged 15,000 steps a day and were definitely exhausted by the end of the day. Nevertheless, Copenhagen had a lot to offer. I can actually imagine see myself living here!