Trip Report: Denmark, Day 2

Unfortunately I woke up with a cold. My throat became scratchy on the plane and I hoped it was dehydration but alas, it was not. We had managed to find some cough drops at a supermarket the night before, although whatever these are called in Denmark it's not cough drops, because the lady had no idea what I was talking about. It turns out that "lakrids" means licorice, which is not the best. Denmark LOVES licorice, apparently. Who knew?

Anyway, I felt overall not too bad so we set out for our first adventure in Copenhagen, brunch at the restaurant inside the Nationalmuseet (National History Museum). We always like to get a good education on the cultural history of a place when we first get there so we have some context, and I'd read that the museum did a good breakfast buffet, which seemed like a good idea early upon arrival so we wouldn't have to figure out what and how to order, etc.

It was raining but fortunately Morten had an umbrella so we were able to make it to the museum without too much trouble.

The breakfast buffet was very impressive!

Ben refused to eat these brownies because he said that sauce looked like cheese but too bad for him, because they were delicious.

The restaurant is up on this balcony overlooking the entry. 

We explored the museum for a few hours - they have a really extensive collection of stone age and other prehistorical stuff from Denmark. 

Here is an old room.

The day before we left, I'd seen our high school friend Fred posting from Copenhagen on facebook! So I messaged him and we met up for coffee in the museum and chatted for a few hours. I don't know if I've seen Fred at all since high school, or certainly college, so it was great to catch up! 

After the museum we went home to chill out for a little while before setting off for dinner. We decided walk north into the neighborhood of  Nørrebro, which is hipstery and "multi-cultural," according to the guidebooks. We had to walk along and then cross the lake which was a half block north of our apartment.

We ended up at Manfred's, which someone on the internet had recommended to me. We sat at the bar and ordered the 6 course tasting menu, which was small plates to share. And then while I was in the bathroom Ben took it upon himself to add the beef tartare, which they said was their signature dish.

The first two dishes were smoked herring with dill (we learned this is a very traditional Danish food and ate a lot of it on the trip) and thinly sliced cucumber salad with parsley powder and some other leaves which look to me like nasturtium but I don't remember if that's what they actually were.

Next up was the beef tartare, which I have to admit was great. There were herbs and little rye crunchies in it.

This was a whole caramelized onion topped with tons of salty Danish cheese.

Poached egg with cauliflower rice and more rye crunchies.

The last two courses were cabbage braised in butter and Danish beef with marrow. I know that beef looks kind of gross but it was fantastic.

Everyone says restaurants in Denmark are super expensive, but we found that unless you seek out higher end places it's really not too bad. There is no tipping culture, which helps cut it back a bit. This dinner cost us pretty much what I would expect to pay in the US. 

We walked back along the lakes, which were gorgeous at night. 

There were women running alone along the paths even late at night - I don't know that I've ever been in a city that size that seemed so completely safe. Denmark has a reputation for being the happiest country on Earth and we found that to be a well-founded stereotype. Up with Scandinavia!