Café Bang & Jensen in Copenhagen

Ok, I just have to introduce you to one more of my favourite cafés in Copenhagen: Café Bang & Jensen, which is situated in an old pharmacy in the nice end of Istedgade on Vesterbro. If you look closely at the picture below you can just make out the beautiful old Art Nouveau frieze/mural on the back wall.

This place is very special to me.

When I first moved to Copenhagen many years ago I shared a flat on a Vesterbrogade with a good friend. We were both single, so all weekends were spent partying, and on lazy late Saturdays and Sundays mornings we would drag our hung-over bodies down to Bang & Jensen to recuperate over brunch. You order brunch by filling out a slip, indicating how you want your egg, if you want plain or chocolate croissants etc.

And a few years later Sam and I went here on our first date. We had been to the cinema to watch The Sixth Sense and ended up having quite a few pints here, as you do when you’re a bit nervous on a first date.

So this is a place I’ll always return to and I often arrange to meet up with my friends here when I’m in Denmark. And I quite like the haphazard decor with red café tables in the front room and a sofa and armchair lounge in the back. In the summer you can sit outside.

The menu is just as unassuming with cheap and easy-to-prepare café fare (they don’t have a proper kitchen) such as baba ghanoush (see pics), chili con carne, burritos and sandwiches.

In the evening Bang & Jensen turns into a proper bar and is open until 2 in the morning.

Café Bang og Jensen
Istedgade 130
1650 København V
Website
Map

Café Dyrehaven – Copenhagen

Another café I keep returning to when in Copenhagen is Café Dyrehaven, nestled on a quiet corner on outer Vesterbro.

This used to be an old værtshus/pub, but luckily the make-over has left behind some of the old features and it now oozes “hipster retro” with all its dark wood, bright orange lamps and antlers on the walls. Not to forget the trendy yet friendly staff behind the bar.

So retro and old pub-like is it that I know someone who went to explore this place when it first opened. After having spent half and hour or so  in a dingy smoke-filled old pub 50 metres from this one they finally realised they were in the wrong place.

And the food is great. They mainly do classic Danish food with a contemporary twist. For lunch you can get everything from salads to the famous smørrebrød/open sandwiches like the one shown below.

In the evening there’s always a handful of warm dishes to choose between. When I was there in December I had medisterpølse/Danish pork sausage with potatoes and red cabbage and it was really, really good. Prices are very reasonable.

Dyrehaven
Sdr. Boulevard 72
1720 København V
Website
Map

Kalaset – Mormor brunch in Copenhagen

A quick post about one of my favourite cafés in the centre of Copenhagen (a part from my beloved shawarma place of course, but that hardly counts as a café).

Kalaset lies on the corner of Vendersgade and Nansensgade. The interior is cosy and very laid-back with red walls and loads of old mis-matching furniture. It just has this friendly and relaxed vibe to it, which makes you want to use the café as your extended living-room.

Maybe it’s because it’s owned by Swedes, because the service is very friendly too. Not something you see often in Copenhagen.

And then there’s the food. Kalaset makes a helluva brunch. So good is it that it has been awarded the title “Copenhagen’s Best Brunch” by Danish newspaper Politiken.

The brunch comes in different versions: there’s the Mormor (grandmother) with bacon, eggs, sausages, potatoes, smoothie etc. (pictured) and if you don’t eat meat you should go for the vegetarian Tante (aunt).

Prices are very reasonable, considering you’re in one of the world’s most expensive cities: around 90 kroner (£10) for a brunch. You can also get traditional café food such as sandwiches, salads, burgers etc.

In the summer you can sit outside.

Kalaset, Vendersgade 16, 1363 Copenhagen K. Map.

Copenhagen’s best shawarma

I’m slowly…..very slowly coming out of my Christmas holiday/energi-sucking winter blogging-hibernation. And today I want to point you towards THE best place to fill your stomach with comfort food in Copenhagen.

Because that’s what your body screams for, when it’s cold outside, isn’t it?

When I’m in Denmark, it’s become a tradition that I meet up with my good old friend Tine at Shawarma Grill House at Strøget. (There’s another similar joint a few metres down the street, but it’s nowhere near as good as this one).

Here we choose between lamb or chicken (lamb is best) which has been marinated in a secret spice mix and is served up with salad and yoghurt dressing in home-made pita bread. The shawarma menu also gets you fries and a soft drink for 67 DKK (£ 7.70).

Then we head towards the kitschly decorated first floor, clutching our precious meal. We find a window seat near the gleaming red neon signs and chat and eat and occasionally look down at all the people running past on the busy shopping street.

Fast food doesn’t get much better than this! Even our eerie former Prime Minister loves this place (click and scroll down for pictures).

Damn, now I really feel like eating one again…

Shawarma Grill House
Frederiksberggade 36
1459 Copenhagen K
Website

Cold Christmas Copenhagen by night

The cold Copenhagen weather has turned evil and given me a bad cold. Add to that my constant running around town to catch up with good old friends and the poor blog has had to suffer a bit.

But I have four new Denmark-themed posts in the pipeline. One about my new practical black boots, another about where to find Copenhagen’s best shawarmas and then two about my favourite cafés.

But today I’ll leave you with a few pictures of cold, cold Copenhagen by night.

Snowed in

We arrived in Copenhagen yesterday and this morning I woke up with a sore throat only to be greeted by this Winter Wonderland outside the windows. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

It’s THE perfect weather for cosying up on the sofa with chocolate and a cup of hot steaming tea. Not so much for venturing out. Oh well, at least the Metro is not far away…..

Second-hand find: Sparkly brocade wool dress

Black wool dress, bought many years ago in what used to be my favourite Røde Kors/Red Cross charity shop in Copenhagen (must remember to revisit it when I go back in December). Here’s a link to something I wrote about the shop when I worked at the city guide AOK.dk.

I paid around DKK 50 for the dress (£6).

The shape is simple and it’s not too short or dressy, which means I can wear it both in the evening or as a casual winter day dress, paired with a cardigan. I love the  brocade bit on the top as it adds that necessary bit of X-mas sparkle.