Image by David Brandt

Tugged along the canal behind the Parliament building, a hidden gem lies in a high basement. One of my favorite things to do is step down the couple of stairs to the restaurant. It’s like entering a time capsule.

Waiters in traditional Danish wait staff attire of white shirts and black vests embroidered with sponsored beer names run around serving Aquavit and open-faced sandwiches between red-clothed tables and an odd maritime theme. The walls are full of old sepia photos of sailboats and you have the random ore and Ships Wheel hanging from the ceiling. 

The food is traditional Danish lunch with open-faced sandwiches. You can find this all over Copenhagen, but at Kanal Cafeen they manage an excellent balance between tradition and ingredients. More modern interpretations exists (check the Schønnemanns article) but at Kanal Cafeen you’ll find an authentic honest version. You can of course get the whole range of classics, including my favorites Pickled Hering, Filet of Fish with remoulade sauce and Roast Pork with red cabbage. The wait staff are jovial and usually hung over from drinking too much Aquavit the day before. The manage to run a high service level regardless, but they might give you some good-hearted heat if ordering non-alcoholic beverages with your meal.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Kanal Cafeen | Restaurants (Danish) | Sandwich from DKK 60.00
Frederiksholms Kanal 18 | Inner City | +4533115770
Mon – Fri 11:30 – 17:00, Sat 11:30 – 15:00

Image by Margrethe Kofoed Olsen

Wullf+Konstali is a strange little shop. It is part small café, part coffee house, but mostly it’s a place where you can buy delicious things. They call themselves a Food Shop and I think that is quite an accurate name.

In the small shop there are a few places to sit, an Apple iMac with internet access for free use, free wi-fi, but most people stop in to pick something up on the way somewhere.

In the morning people choose the freshly made bread from the artisanal bakery on their way to work. Later in the day the delicious sandwiches and salads are popular with local business people and various workers in the area. When people start getting off work they stop by to bring home Beuf Bourgoignon or Spagetti Bolognese.

For the sweet tooth, there is a large selection of quality chocolates from Summerbird as well as home made cookies, brownies and cupcakes. And of course a selection of coffees, tea and juices.

The bakery is located on Lergravsvej 57, 2300 København S and has the same hours and selection as Wulff+Konstali on Isafjordsgade as well as an open bakery where you can watch the bakers in action.

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Wulff+Konstali | Coffee & tea, Snacks
Isafjordsgade 10 | Amager | +4532548181
07:00 – 20:00 daily

Image by David Brandt

In Denmark we have a special type of bar called a Bodega. A bodega is dark, has tinted windows and is frequented primarily by old drunks. You can smoke in a bodega and the beer is cheap! Most bodegas are empty during day except for a handful of regulars, but come to life at night with young people coming in, in search of indoor smoking and cheap drinks. Palæ Bar is an upscale bodega. It is located on an expensive address and it shows in the clientele. You’ll find old retired lawyers, architects and doctors alongside artists and journalists. The average age is well above 50 but it lends an informal air to the place. People play chess, discuss jazz and politics and in general just enjoy life over a beer or a glass of rose wine.

A simple lunch is served every day, as Palæ Bar gets a big order of Smørrebrød (the infamous danish open-faced sandwich) delivered from a local take-out place. It is served for lunch as long as they last, and if you are really lucky, there might be a piece or two left later in the evening as well. Every 3 weeks on Sundays there is live jazz.

On sunny evenings quite a crowd can gather on the sidewalk outside enjoying the last rays of the day. Not a bad place to spend an evening.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Palæ Bar | Bars
Ny Adelgade 5 | Inner City | +4533125471
Mon – Wed 11:00 – 01:00, Thu – Sat 11:00 – 02:00, Sun 16:00 – 01:00

Image by David Brandt

Spring is fast approaching and Valbyparken, one of the largest parks in Copenhagen has a few surprises. Mostly known to locals as the venue for large concerts and one-day festivals, Valbyparken is located a 15 minute bike-ride from the city center. In the park you can find playgrounds, people barbecuing and a quite nice collection of roses in the Rose Garden (boasting 12000 roses).

However, my favorite part of Valbyparken and why I go there, is the Disc Golf course. Disc Golf is an – admittedly – odd sport that basically combines golf with Frisbee. Disc Golf allows for both beginners as well as experienced players to play as you can choose to start from the easy (red), middle (yellow) or hard (white) tees. And just like in regular golf, the goal is to get to the target in as few strokes/throws as possible.

You throw the disc towards a strange basket on a pole equipped with chains for catching the disc. The Valbyparken course has 18 holes in a varied landscape with both water hazards and small hills. Most holes in Valbyparken are par 3 or par 4. You should expect a round to take about 2 hours. For me, it is one of my favorite ways to spend Saturday afternoon before a night out with friends.

The Disc Golf course is free, but you need to bring your own discs as there is no onsite pro-shop.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Valbyparken | Relaxing | Free
Hammelstrupvej 100 | Valby
24 hours daily

Image by Salon 39

Salon 39 is a cocktail bar and restaurant in the Frederiksberg neighborhood of Copenhagen. It is small place with an amazing ability to mix a few ingredients together to create outstanding flavors in both food and drinks. It started out as a cocktail bar founded by two Copenhagen friends, a Michelin-star trained chef and a trained bartender from Hotel Vier Jahrzeiten in Hamburg. They wanted to create a great cocktail-bar while serving a few simple dishes and snacks so people would stay around instead of leaving to go get food elsewhere.

Food is prepared with lots of love and great ingredients, cocktails are made with the best liquors imported from around the world; Pisco from Chile and Peru, Bourbon from small American distilleries and homemade infused vodka and cognacs. One of my favorite things to do is sit at the bar, let the bartender surprise me with new concoctions and listen to him chat with off-duty cocktail-bartenders from around Copenhagen who somehow always hang out at Salon 39. Don’t be surprised if the topic is something geeky, like how to make the perfect ice cube for shaking cocktails.

The décor is dark and somber. The soundtrack is vinyl jazz records. The main reason I love this place is their insane passion for making sure that both food and cocktails are the very best. Not the most fancy, but the very best.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Salon 39 | Bars, Restaurants (Italian ) | Cocktails DKK 85.00
Vodroffsvej 39 | Frederiksberg | +4539208039
Wed – Thu 16:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 16:00 – 02:00