Wonderful Copenhagen
Ξ October 2nd, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, Restaurant Reviews, Tasting Notes, Wineries |
Continuing with a Viking theme my next trip after Oslo had me staying 2 nights in the Danish Capital. My hotel was close to the central railway station so a walk past the famous Tivoli Gardens, then down the chic and pedestrianised Strøget, the main route from the City Centre, was required to reach Nyhavn (New Port), the location for the 17th Century canal linking Copenhagen to the sea and recommended for dining.
One side of the canal is non-stop restaurants, all with outside seating as an option which I took advantage of seeing as this was the first week for a while where it hadn’t been raining non-stop. On the other side brightly painted houses stretched away into the distance and one, a bright red front, was pointed out as Number 20, an old residence of famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen.
On the first night we ate at Barock, number 1 right at the beginning of the street. Apart from saving our feet another reason for stopping here was a basket of wine bottles next to the “check it out” menu at the front of the restaurant – I’m a sucker for obvious marketing ploys!
A simple but enticing menu saw me looking for wine matches and to begin with I was toying with the idea of a lobster bisque with an Alsace Gewürztraminer, but finally I went for the Carpaccio paired with a 2006 Sancerre, Le Grand Fricambault by André Neveu, 160 Danish Krone, about $30, for a half bottle. The wine arrived first and I was pleasantly surprised to find it barely chilled, as this allowed the rich flavours of this full bodied white to express themselves. Moderately dry this was refreshing on its own and delicious in combination with the Carpaccio on salad leaves with generous shavings of Parmesan which I’d selected as a starter. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for my colleague Birgitte, who had ordered the mussels in white wine – the shellfish had a basic, sea-water flavour, little succulence or sweetness and were approaching (or past) their “best before” date. Compared to the mussels I’d had at Vollen Flordkro near Oslo less than 2 weeks before they were very poor.
Onto the mains and we both ordered the pan-fried salmon steak served with tagliattelle pasta, roasted mushroom and carrot with a sharp tomato sauce. To go with this I selected the Chateau La Croix de St. Georges 2002 St. Georges St. Emilion, again in half-bottle and 10 Krone less than the Sancerre. At a restrained 12.5% abv this elegant wine went well with the full flavoured salmon, its black fruit nose still vibrant and with smooth integrated tannins. The mid-palate moved into a short finish with good acidity (cutting the tomato sauce perfectly); it was a lovely drinking wine which went very well with the fish, much to the surprise of the waiter! Apparently half bottles of wine are not that common in Copenhagen but they were exactly what we needed, since the house wine by the glass didn’t appeal and a bottle of either colour would have been too much for us across both courses. All in all a tasty meal for me, but very slow service and the mussels detracted from the experience.
24 hours later and a cool but dry Thursday evening had us taking a different route past the Parliament buildings and financial area of Copenhagen to reach Nyhavn from the other end. We walked up the street (towards Barock) looking at each of the menus as we passed, then turning round and walking back again. Italian was in the back of my mind en-route and so Porto Bello at number 31 seemed an appropriate choice. This is easy to spot as the orange building it is part of has “Sunny Side” in enormous letters on the front!
Once again we sat outside and enjoyed the air, although it was a little chillier than before. Tonight a half bottle of white seemed too much so we each had a glass of a lovely Soave, the Tommasi 2007, at approx. 50 Krone per glass (just under $10) while we waited for our starters to arrive – unfortunately while we thought the service in Barock was slow the previous evening we hadn’t seen anything! First the waitress popped by after about 25 minutes to apologise for the wait, explaining that there was a big function inside the main restaurant and then 15 minutes later she came back and said there’d been some mix up and our starters hadn’t been prepared yet. She offered us something complementary and, as we’d finished off the white another glass seemed appropriate to go with my Crostini Misto once it finally arrived. This was 3 baguette pieces with a delicious topping on each – smoked salmon and caviar, Parma ham wrapped around soft, warm pieces of creamy mature buffalo Mozzarella and a delicious tomato topping on the third. Along with the extra wine this was a delicious appetiser and almost made up for the wait!
Main courses took another 30 minutes but meantime a half bottle of Nero d’Avola, Feudo Arancio 2007 from Sicilia (150 Krone) provided something fruity and easy drinking while we waited. Both of us chose pasta with a seafood theme; Birgitte had a beautiful looking lobster tagliatelle with a half lobster on the plate served with whole grain mustard stuffed in the carapace. I chose the linguine alla Marinara and was well rewarded with a creamy tomato-based plate of pasta mixed with squid, salmon, prawns and whole langoustines. We both agreed on the superior quality of the food and the delicious wine, completely outshining Barock from the night before. Although the service was slower at Porto Bello (remember Barock wasn’t fast) the waitress not only acknowledged and apologised for that, but provided a welcome free glass of wine and the quality of the food was definitely compensation enough. We left sated and satisfied.
Denmark doesn’t have as strict wine laws as its Northern neighbour and, even though taxes are still higher than its southern neighbours, wine prices were not as bad as I’d expected – definitely less that Norway and enough to order wine with a meal and not worry about breaking the bank. Nyhavn itself has a host of restaurants on its main street, some looked equally inviting and I’d recommend visiting if you’re ever in the Danish capital. Barock was pleasant enough, but Porto Bello was far superior and if this is full try out some of the other ones nearby.
Greybeard
