Copenhagen Food Consulting - Restaurant Cofoco

 

At the end of the last blog post we had just got back from Malmö, as neither of us had been to Sweden we weren’t sure when we left this morning if we would stop in Malmö for a meal or have something when we returned to Copenhagen this evening. As it turned out we opted to leave Malmo on the 3.40pm train and got back to the hotel at 4.36pm, plenty of time to wash, change and go out for dinner. So, where to eat?

Whereas I normally plan our eating in great detail, today, as we weren’t sure of location, we weren’t sure where to eat. 

I remembered an article I’d seen earlier in the holiday about an up and coming Danish company called the Copenhagen Food Consulting Company which had developed a distinctive Nordic cuisine in the small-plate tradition. I googled the company and it turned out that the first restaurant the company developed in 2004 was only .3 of a mile from our hotel – so we took a quick look at the menu and checked their availability for this evening. We were very lucky to find that they had a table for 8.30pm. The restaurant is called Cofoco based on the initial letters of the company name!

We strolled down to the Restaurant, which was set just below ground level on Abel Cathrines Gade, indeed we had walked past it twice before, though not really noticed it. The restaurant was very busy, but in the tradition of fællesspisning which is becoming common in Nordic culture, the seats were close together – not quite shared tables in full fællesspisning style, but a simple menu which allowed no options other than to have four, five or six courses. Of course, we opted for the six, or as it was described in the menu as ‘snacks and 5 course’. 

Drew at Restaurant CoFoCo

We began our six courses with a little taster of Toast with vesterhavs cheese and iberico ham.

We have tasted the Vesterhavs cheese on a few occasions since arriving in Copenhagen, often for breakfast, so know it has a very strong tangy flavour, that and the salty richness of iberico ham - a full on Pata Negra flavour - worked really well as a taster. The snack was served like a toastie, the bread carried the strong flavours and was perfect as an appetisier, making us hungry for more.

The next course was a Trout tartare with horseradish cream, cucumber, and garden sorrel - with puffed rice and white current

The lightly soused trout was spread over a base of horseradish which acted as a perfect foil for the piquant horseradish, the fish was dressed with sorrel adding a crisp texture and the white currents provided a sharp contrast as you came across each berry.

Before the next course came, we were offered Oat Bread with Butter

The oatey bread was richly textured with little bits of oat seed through the bread so it had crunch along with the delicious flavour, an interesting alternative to wheat bread.

Our next course was salted scallops with foamy mussel sauce, dill oil, and apples with some parsley sprout shoots 

The texture of the foam was more like a soup, the scallop was cooked through the foam rather than as a chunk, but the scallop flavour pervaded the whole dish. I was too polite (not like me I hear some say!) to lick the bowl, but I was very tempted and used my spoon to almost the same effect.

Next came the Grilled romaine lettuce with cream cheese, smoked “Vesterhavs” cheese, and herbs

Yes, good old Vesterhavs again, but here grated over the toasted lettuce leaves in the way you would sprinkle parmesan over pasta sauces. It was crisp and delicious, this is a recipe I'm certainly going to try and recreated when I get home, simple yet with an intensity of flavour that makes me smile to remember. The grilling of the leaves made them a little bitterer than I'd expected, but this enhanced the flavour on the tongue, rather than took away from it - lovely. 

Our 'main' course, if you can call it that, as it was another small plate was Confit of cockerel with grilled corn, pointed cabbage, and tarragon with bolt flowers.

The male chicken, which I'd heard was tougher than the female variety more commonly served in the UK, was soft tender and juicy. The tarragon sauce gave a hint of aniseed to the dish and the microherbs and microflowers each offered a tiny zing of their own. Another excellent mix of flavours. 

Our dessert was Elderflower yoghurt ice cream with vanilla cream, and compote on apples and Mirabelle plum.

Regular readers will know that I don't normally do desserts, but the idea of yoghurt ice cream and the sharpness of apples and plums meant that Drew was disappointed in his normal experience of two desserts. Indeed, as you can see above, I was so eager to try it that I had eaten quite a bit before remembering to take a photo!! It was, as expected, sharp rather than sweet, a perfect dessert for me.

We finished with a lovely Espresso each.

These were served with some Petite Fours

I did let Drew have all of these, as they would clearly be way too sweet for me. They were a French nougat and creme caramel and a sweet block called Toast på briochebrød – Toast on brioche bread! Drew loved them all.

We completed the meal at five to eleven and then walked back to the hotel the other way around the block from the one we had come and were in bed soon after 11pm after a busy day, and delightfully tasty evening.