Copenhagen Vegetarian Finds - Day 2

Today's lunch in Copenhagen's colorful Nyhavn area was a big surprise. We stumbled upon a gem of a little cafe, just behind the walls of the Charlottenborg museum.



We almost passed by the Illy board on the street because we weren't looking for a coffee shop. But for some reason I went back to check the menu. They serve traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches at the museum cafe. And, low and behold, TWO selections were vegetarian! Up to this point we had ignored these 'witches because they typically contain smoked fishes or meats.

Cafe Charlottenborg Menu:


We checked all the other heavily inhabited restaurants around the canal, but one menu after another read the same: meat, fish, meat, fish. Or pizza if you felt like specially requesting it without meat.

We bee-lined back to the empty and not-so-happening side of the canal to check the Charlottenborg cafe again. We walked into a serene courtyard with just a few diners relaxing at sunny tables. A completely different world and change of pace from just beyond the brick wall, where tourists debark from busses and sightseeing ferries, pouring into the waterfront scene to swill beer, eat fried fish, burgers, and make lots of noise.

Museum/Cafe from street:


Cafe courtyard:


The super-nice guy running the cafe counter greeted us and was patient and helpful getting our needs in order. He suggested a Danish specialty, elderflower juice, as a drink in addition to my husband's local dark draft beer.



The elderflower juice was interesting. It's just mildly sweet, like a watered down honey wine.



Soon enough our open-faced sandwiches appeared. One was wheat toast topped with cooked yellow potatoes, some kind of fresh mayo, giant caper berries, salad and fried onions. The potatoes had a nice flavor and everything in one bite together was definitely enjoyable. Can't go wrong with delicate fried onions!

Open-faced potato sandwich:


The second plate was rye toast topped with mayo, salad, walnuts, generous amounts of goat cheese, and honey. The bitter rye complimented the rich mayo, cheese and sweet honey very nicely.

Open-faced goat cheese sandwich:


What a fresh, healthy, yummy lunch! I told the same cafe manager how much we enjoyed the food, and both he and his older buddy promised we would not find any as good as this. We continued to wander streets for a few more hours, and as we checked menus for dinner we found absolutely nothing comparable in any way.

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Location:Kalvebod Brygge,Copenhagen,Denmark