To some extent restaurant hunting is like an addiction. Chasing the next new “thing”, getting high on a meal. I love walking out of a restaurant feeling somewhat intoxicated by taste impressions and emotions. Living in one of the world’s (self-proclaimed) food mecca’s – Copenhagen – is pure bliss and/or dangerous for a foodie. I can get “high” ever so often (as my wallet allows it). Furthermore, I’ve been blessed to be able to travel around the world and eat some fantastic food. Some of the most memorable meals have been:

Dill – just amazing new Nordic. One of the best meals to date

Mielcke & Hurtigkarl – daring, innovative and non-dogmatic cuisine

Chez Dominique - one fine piece of meat they served

Kadeau København – (review on its’ way) – I can reveal, I think Kadeau is pretty amazing

Yang’s Fried Dumplings in Shanghai – it doesn’t have to be gourmet to be good

Din Tai Fung – my first encounter with Din Tai Fung. Probably my favorite chain-restaurant. Many soup dumplings have been eaten in Din Tai Fung’s since then

Meating hunting in Texas – technically not one meal, but still a great experience

It’s been a blast so far. Some times I feel a bit guilty, not updating frequently enough and at the moment I have 15-20 reviews waiting to be written, but I’ll get around to it eventually. If you want a more updated insight on what’s on my plate follow me on facebook.

Thanks for logging on to my log on food for the past two years – I appreciate it!

Radio is another child of Claus Meyer. Named after its’ next door neighbour, the old radio house. Interieur is sleek, modern and minimalistic. Radio’s philsophy is very much build around Claus Meyer’s Almanak thinking – using locally produced ingredients and adhering to the season.

We started out with a small snack.

Salsify with garlic creme

Squid, kale, apple

The first course was squid, kale puree, brown butter, brussel sprouts and shallots. The very attentive waiter also informed us that there were Granny Smith apples in the course, but it turned out there was a small misunderstanding in the kitchen and the courses went out without apples.

Nevertheless, I like the course with its’ subtle flavours of kale and sprouts, chewy squid and sweet brown butter.

Cood, celeriac, seaweed

Next up was cod, celeriac, almondsauce and seaweed. The course taste like the sea.

Mussels, onion, jerusalem artichoke

Jerusalem artichoke cream, pickled salad onion, scallops, watercress and mussel foam. Light and delicate flavours.

Pheasant, leek, apple

As a compensation for the small mix-up with the first course the kitchen offered us an extra course. It was pheasant with leek, apple foam (so we got our apple) and ciderfoam. Very flavourful tender pheasant.

Veal, smoke beetroot

The veal came with dehydrated beetroots, smoked marrow and sauce of horse radish. The veal was a bit anonymous, but the horse radish-beetroot-marrow-combination worked very well.

Cheese

We threw in a cheese course – Deichkäse from Southern Slesvig. Matured for a year. It came with fermented quince.

Sourdough bread, pear, buttermilk

Radio is great. Simple as that. Prime Nordic ingredients and delicate flavour combinations. Don’t expect little Noma – it’s not and Radio deserves to stand on its’ own.

Visisted: January 2012

Estimated price: 475 DKK

Radio

If you follow me on facebook, you’ll know that besides the meals I write about on my log on food, I eat a lot I don’t blog about. I am often asked for restaurant tips, and of course I can only base it on my very subjective opinion of what’s hot and what’s not. So here a quick run-down on where I at the moment go for (pics taken with iPhone):

Breakfast, lunch and random snacking:

Instant hunger relief: Torvehallerne. Lots of good quality choices on the cheap. Nice to hang around when sunny. Price range: 50 DKK and up

Hang-over repair: Meyer’s Deli (several locations) for a roast pork sandwich. Price: 90 DKK

Roast pork sandwich, Meyer’s Deli

Egg benedict fix: Dyrehaven – hip, Vesterbro and great heavy egg benedict. Price: 68 DKK

Egg benedict, Dyrehaven

Danish nostalgia: Any sausage stand in town – but for a good organic version I go to DØP . Price: 34 DKK and up

Hotdog, DØP

Smørrebrød/open faced sandwiches: Aamann’s take away (there’s seating despite the name). Price range: around 55 DKK for one piece of smørrebrød. I usually have two pieces.

Burger: Salon 39 – my favourite burger is served at what also happens to be my favourite bar. Price: 139 DKK

Burger and fries, Salon 39

CPH airport before boarding: Joe & the Juice – I’m pretty conservative and almost always get a “Joe’s sweet kiss” and a “Avocado with serrano sandwich”. Price: 88 DKK

Dinner:

Seafood on the semi-cheap: Oyster’s & Grill – acoustics suck, but food doesn’t. Price range: around 250 DKK if you go all in on seafood

Seafood plate, Oysters & Grill

Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup): VietSense . Best pho I’ve found in Copenhagen. Price: 119 DKK

Pho, VietSense

Informal dinners with friends: Madklubben Vesterbro. There’s something for everyone on the menu. Price: 3 course dinner, 200 DKK

Steak frites and fatty bérnaise: Retour or MASH (several locations) which is not excatly cheap, but so worth it. Price range:  225 DKK and up

Thai: Chai Wong or Aroiidee if seating is wanted, otherwise Aroii (several locations) for take away. Price range: 90 DKK and up

Beef and curry, Chai Wong

Sushi: While I consume a lot of sushi, I seldom eat it at a restaurant. Sticks’n Sushi (several locations) is a good bet, if dine in is a must. Price: 179 DKK and up

New Nordic without blowing the budget: Radio -  a Claus Meyer restaurant adhering to what’s in season. Price: 3 courses for 300 DKK

Michelin star restaurant: Formel B - I guess Michelin star restaurants can’t really be labelled as cheap, but Formel B is not expensive (by Danish standards) either. Price range: 3 courses for 390 DKK

Coffee, desserts and cake:

Take away coffee: The Coffee Collective (several locations) – Coffee is darn expensive, but  The Coffee Collective coffee is worth the DKK. Price range: 30 DKK and up

Coffee – cake is from Laura’s bakery

Icecream: Siciliansk IS - I think they make the most creamy Italian icecream in town. Price: 33 DKK for a medium size icecream

Icecream, Siciliansk IS

Cake: Montmartre – a little piece of France in Copenhagen. Price: 40 DKK a piece and up

Macarons: Nikoloas Strangas Cakeaway - yummy macarons. Price: 19 DKK a piece

Macarons and cake, Nikolaos Strangas Cakeaway

So, there you have it. The list is subject to change and this is a still picture of my version of foodie Copenhagen on the (semi) cheap July 2012.

Oh well, Cofoco is repeating its’ success from last year – SPIS. Prices have gone up, but it’s still a good deal if you secure “seats” at one of the early or late seatings.

Browsing through the staycation catalogue one destination caught my eye – Fanø. Though by far the least exotic destination, it’s the isle closest to my heart.

So on the opening night of the SPIS campaign we braised ourselves and boarded the Cofoco airline and ended up in Fanø. Fanø is a small island in the Wadden Sea on the West coast of Jutland. Famed for its’ wide beaches, sunbathing seals and picturesque towns it is my favourite Danish vacation spot, and writing this post I can almost feel the sand between my toes, smell the sea and taste the sweetness of the summer strawberries.

Enough about Fanø. Cofoco chose to interpret Fanø in the following way (pics taken with iPhone).

Salmon tatar with cucumber foam

The salmon was fatty and tasteful, the cucumber foam airy and light. They complimented each other nicely. A bit of rye bread crumble added a bit of crunch.

Crab bisque with peas

A powerful crab bisque with generous amounts of cream (I am sure). Fresh taste impressions from green peas and dehydrated cottage cheese.

Lamb with new potatoes and bakskuld

The lamb had a pleasant charred taste. There were little pieces of bakskuld here and there, but the taste wasn’t prevalent . Now, I’m perfectly aware what bakskuld is, how it’s made and so forth, but I am not sure it is average knowledge for all Danes. Our nice waiter didn’t explain what bakskuld was, and I doubt he could tell I knew already. I know things have to move at a fast pace when you have several seatings a night, but a fun part of choosing the Cofoco SPIS destinations is to try something from the selected city/region. My point is, it would have been nice if the waiter had taken his time to give us the detail of bakskuld as that was the most distinct Fanø-ingredient on the menu.

(More on bakskuld here)

Danish raspberries and liquorice

I love the taste of raspberries – in fact it’s my favorite berry. In this case the berry/liquorice combination was spot on. Sweet, sour, salty, creamy all in one.

Cofoco did Fanø justice and I was taken to my favourite isle while staying in Copenhagen.

Visited: July 2012

Estimated price: 171 DKK

Cofoco SPIS

Huge frying pans

The restaurant is small, humble and popular. Lines form infront of the restaurant – a cashier is benched beside the door taking orders. Once you’ve ordered you line up at the next queue to get your order of freshly fried dumplings.

The product line is efficient. At one end of the kitchen a production team is kneading dough and making dumplings at an amazing speed – at the other end the dumplings are placed in huge frying pans and fried to perfection. There’s no risk of your dumplings getting cold – they’re sold as soon as they’re off the pan.

Restaurant

If you don’t want to take you dumplings away, you can eat in the restaurant. You get your vinegar yourself, but sides and drinks are served at the table. We orded a portion of curry beef soup as well.

Dumpling

So, this is what all the fuss is about. Thick skinned pork filled soup dumplings fried in oil on one side and sprinkled with chives and sesame seeds.

Broth

Bite through the skin and the piping hot broth emerges. Dip into the vinegar and you’ll experience soup dumpling nirvana. Cripsy skin, soft pork meat ball swimming in a pool of the most tasteful fatty soup with hints of sesame, sharp chives and vinegar cutting through. One perfect little dumling parcel.

Visited: October 2011

Estimated price: 13 RMB

Address: Yang’s Fried Dumpling
54-60 Wujiang Rd
Shanghai
China