eat + drink

copenhagen’s cookin’

New landmark restaurants, inventive Indian fusion and a trattoria where you can win your meal. Dining out in the Danish capital is never dull

Bombay nights

If you’re after seclusion and excess, Koriander is the place. Swishing through pale, opaque curtains that blend into the low-lit minimalist interior, you enter a zen-like domain of flickering candles and hushed tones. It’s the kind of atmosphere that demands you pay attention to the food, which is not difficult to do. Chef and owner Singh Gill expertly fuses French and Indian cuisine, giving the rounded flavours of the Mediterranean a delicate piquancy.

At Koriander, you choose seven or nine courses from the set menu, which exceptionally well informed staff take great pride in describing – a little over-earnestly at times (all part of the VIP treatment). So it’s worth remembering, as you nibble on a delicate prawn starter, followed by a dish of halibut with mussels and mint chutney, and another of lentils in ginger butter, that you are nowhere near finished. Pike with keema (spicy ground meat), pork with lobster and tamarind, and desserts of chocolate kulfi, and mango with liquorice are still to follow.

A night at Koriander is ideal if you fancy popping the question or hiding from the outside world. Just be sure you have the whole evening, and lots of cash, to spare. 645 DKK (€86) for seven courses without wine; 750 DKK (€100) for nine courses without wine. –By Lucy Muss

Koriander
Store Kongensgade 34, +45 3315 0315
www.restaurantkoriander.dk

Luck of the draw

A new trattoria has brought a piece of Italian tradition to Copenhagen. Named La Tombola A’Smorfia (‘lottery’ in Italian), this restaurant gives visitors a chance to play the popular bingo-like game from Naples.

An à la carte menu that changes daily features seasonal antipasti such as mouth-watering deep-fried cheese, rice balls and charcuterie, and pasta dishes like linguini al pesto, and penne with zucchini and cream sauce served for sharing, family-style, around the table. Main courses are all hearty, no-frills dishes: breaded pork with roast potatoes, stuffed turkey and rabbit, and the most popular dish, veal with mushroom sauce. Desserts include classic Italian cheeses, tiramisù, torta diplomatica (amaretto cake), and millefoglie.

At the end of the meal, diners choose a number between one and 90, each with its own rhyme; the waiter draws a number from la tombola (a wicker basket containing numbered pieces) and if it’s yours, dinner is on the house for a table of up to five. And no, it’s not fixed as you might expect. The restaurant’s owner Jennifer Hummel tells us that within four months of opening, they had given away more than 40 dinners.
Food and wine for two is around 500 DKK (€67). –By Laura Stadler-Jensen

La Tombola A’Smorfia
Toldbodgade 55, +45 3314 5720
www.latombola.dk

On the waterfront

UK designer Terence Conran’s latest project, Custom House, is bound to take its toll on the waistline. Located at the junction of Copenhagen Harbour and the picturesque canal-street Nyhavn, the spot features three restaurants: the relaxed Bacino serves up Italian cuisine; Ebisu has a sushi counter and robatayaki grill; and the Custom House Bar & Grill offers a French brasserie menu that makes the most of Scandinavian produce. There are two cocktail bars, two private dining rooms and a deli selling fresh Italian, Japanese and Scandinavian goodies. It’s all presided over by award-winning chef Robert Nilsson, co-owner of Sweden’s Hotel Kattegat Gastronomi & Logi. –By C.A. Ferro