Hesp Out West 8 - Copenhagen Cuisine

Is the burger in our photograph the best in the world? Silly question, I know - superlatives are far from scientific, because who can really tell? And when it comes to burgers, there’s an awful lot of very good competition. But I’m here to tell you that this particular meat patty, along with all its many trimmings, really does stand a chance of claiming the title - partly because of its amazing flavours and multi-layered accompaniments, and partly because of its pedigree. 

You will probably have heard of Noma - the Michelin three-star Copenhagen restaurant which is often claimed to be the best eatery in the world. Well, this is basically a Noma burger - and, believe me, when those guys cook stuff, they do so with enormous panache. The burger-meal I was served in Popl - Noma’s down-to-earth sister diner - last weekend was the best beef-patty-in-a-bun I have ever eaten. Which is saying something because my burger-eating career began 48 years ago when I first discovered the luxury version of pressed-mince-beef delights in the Texas, which many would argue is the spiritual home of the beef burger. 

It’s all side-dishes, the foraged ingredients and the intricate minuscule touches that come with this burger that makes it so glorious. The wondrous assembly of side dishes are all inspired by the Nordic Cuisine cooked and served by staff at Noma - the world-famous mother-ship-restaurant down the road - but at less than a tenth of the price. 

During the covid lockdowns, the team at Noma decided to continue offering something basic but good to local customers, and a pop-buyer joint was formed. The concept was so popular they opened a permanent burger restaurant on a quayside in Copenhagen’s delightful Christianshavn area nearby and some of the staff moved over to help run Popl. It’s not at all pretentious, humbly describing itself as a “neighbourhood spot” in which to grab some good food, either to eat-in or as a takeaway. 

Fried local brown shrimps at Popl

It’s me, having dined there last Saturday night, who’s making grand claims about the burger meal. 

Why was I in Copenhagen? Because I’d asked my friend Kasper Iversen, who is Denmark tourism’s representative in the UK, if the invention of Nordic Cuisine and the rise and rise of restaurants like Noma had altered his capital city’s food offering. I wanted to know if Copenhagen, which has an amazing tally of 15 Michelin starred restaurants, had seen a general upgrading in its food on offer. Had worldwide acclaim for its much-celebrated high-end eateries result in higher standards across the board? 

I am interested in such things because I have seen how the Cornish food scene has been elevated over the past 25 years. You could call it a “seed tray effect” - sprinkle a scattering of very good purveyors of excellent food into a designated area and you will soon find a whole garden of excellence evolving and growing. West of the Tamar you can thank the likes of Messrs Stein, Ainsworth, Outlaw etc for the upturn - and in next week’s Hesp Out West we will be discovering a new and exciting centre of Cornish foodie excellence. 

But last week, as I was on a press trip elsewhere in Denmark, Kasper invited me to spend a quick weekend in Copenhagen so that I could sample a smattering of its more down-to-earth and affordable food outlets. I can report they were very good indeed. 

Hesp In Copenhagen

That’s partly due to the fact that many shun the wearisome dictates of what’s sometimes known as “international cuisine”. It’s almost as though many Danish chefs are saying: “Let’s just stick to what we have and what we can do best - whether that fits in with the expectations of others or not.”

And that is an ethos which hinges upon fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. Nowhere is this mantra better demonstrated than on top of the classic Scandinavian “open sandwich”.

What you do is take a slab of fresh-baked dark rye-bread, upon which you build layer upon layer of flavour. It could be based on a herring fillet, or maybe a layer of finally chopped raw beef, to which you had layers of complementary flavours such as pickles, sliced vegetables, fresh leaves, boiled eggs… The combinations are endless and, of course, these open sandwiches give chefs a great opportunity to show off and make the food look very appealing indeed. 

One place where you can see the art of the “smørrebrød” writ large is at a Bib Gourmand restaurant called Bjørnekælderen, in the city’s Frederiksberg area. At night the place specialises in French food with an Asian twist, all made from Nordic ingredients - but at lunchtime they serve high-end smørrebrød, and very delicious and satisfying they are too.

My Danish friends and I went for the recommended lunchtime offering of three open-sandwiches. They included smoked eel topped with scrambled eggs, truffles and pepper; beef Tatar with smoked cheese, pumpkin seeds and rhubarb; herring with red curry, tomato and coriander; and a fried fillet of fish with kimchi, cress and lime. 

Three sandwiches for 40 quid? Worth every penny! These were no ordinary sandwiches - they were Rolls Royces of their kind. You can also blame Stirling’s poor post-Brexit exchange rates for prices across Europe. 

Having lunched at the wonderful Bjørnekælderen, I can’t help but think there’s an opportunity for chefs in the West Country to showcase their concepts as open-faced sandwiches. Yes, Scandinavia’s heavy black rye-breads are superb at withstanding the sogginess which juices or liquids might soak into them, but a West Country version featuring a good slice of freshly made sourdough, topped last-minute with best Red Ruby beef, finest Cornish seafood or whatever, under layers of fresh salads, veg, fruit or even seaweed, would be a real eye-catcher. 

Another excellent restaurant I sampled on my brief sojourn last weekend was the Fasangården, situated in the scenic and hidden oasis of Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg Gardens. I went there on a really warm evening and was delighted to find myself strolling though lovely gardens where hundreds of people were enjoying the sun and picnicking under the trees. The Fasangården is located in a historic building that was originally built to breed pheasants for the royal hunts under King Christian the Fifth and afterwards turned into a royal official residence. 

Delightful Fasangården in Frederiksberg Gardens

The place specialises in Danish classics, all served with a modern twist - and my meal was very good indeed even if I did have to wait an age between courses.  Spare a thought for the solitary diner, by the way… It was a Friday evening and the place was buzzing - so who are waiters going to concentrate on when it comes to the pressures of time… the big group at a large table or the single bloke eating alone? Last Friday I was that sad blighter and waited ages between courses - but the fine meal made up for it. On the menu there’s a starter dish of warm-smoked salmon, green tomato, gooseberry salsa, dill mayo, and toasted buckwheat and a main which is a creamy salad with Rokkedahl chicken, apple, celery, crispy bacon, and pickled beech mushrooms. I had a particularly memorable starter featuring local shrimp and a fantastic dish of halibut for my main.

As I say, I enjoyed sitting there watching the happy, very well-behaved, crowds milling around out in the public gardens. No drunkenness or bad behaviour in evidence - it struck me that Copenhagen’s parks were reminiscent of the way our own public spaces were back in the 1960s.

I was last in Copenhagen 15 years ago, when I didn’t think the food was anything to write home about. A decade-and-a-half later I only sampled a few of the city’s restaurants, but what I consumed scored very highly indeed - and walking around last weekend I could see there was a lot of very good food on offer. So, I had gone there asking the question: can a few top class and world famous places, like Noma, help to raise a location’s universal game? The answer has to be that the “seed tray syndrome” really does exist - you will find it alive and flourishing in Copenhagen. Also there’s the lesson that if you stick to what’s fresh, seasonal and local, and you cook with care, you can’t go far wrong.

veggie side at Popl

FACT FILE

Martin was a guest at the 5-star NH Collection Copenhagen, located at the very heart of the city in a unique historical and sustainable building in the district of Christianshavn. 

NH Collection Copenhagen has 394 rooms and suites, an amazing rooftop bar, a hotel bar and two restaurants, lounge area with fireplace, valet parking, fitness facilities, and much more. The city's landmarks, cultural offerings and shopping are all within short distance. Bikes are available to rent, and if a calm trip on the water is more relaxing, the local harbour bus ferry pick guests up right in front of the hotel. The local metro station with a direct line to the airport (only 15 min) is located on a 5 min walk away. The lead in price for a room for two people incl. breakfast is £195 per night.