This little basement bar/cafe is exactly how I would imagine my grandmother decorating her first apartment, when she moved out of her parents’ place… maybe a bit more flamboyant.

At the far end, there are old-school radios on the wall, the tables and chairs are straight out of a ’60s setting and the service personnel has tied a bandana in a knot on their foreheads and have ironic tattoos on their arms. The tables are packed, but the acoustics are great, so you don’t feel like you’re listening in to everybody’s conversation.

Kalaset is a well-visited café, which is actually owned by Swedish people. Go here to get your brunch – normal, hangover, vegetarian or vegan. But make sure to be here at 10:00 sharp. Otherwise you’ll have to wait in line with the other brunch-excited people. 

If you get lucky to get a table around coffee hour, get a drop-dead delicious hot cocoa. Hot chocolate, whipped cream, cherry coulee, melted chocolate and marshmallows. It’s basically diabetes in a glass, but if that is the price, I am willing to pay it.   

The vegetarian choices are rich and the coffee is made from scratch with lots of love. This is probably one of my favorite cafes close to the city center and very close by Nørreport station, so it’s easy to get there from anywhere in the city.