AOC
Dronningens Tværgade 2 •
1302 København K •
Tel.: +45 33 11 11 45
Overall rating: 9/10
Date of visit: October 2009
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I was at AOC at the end of October 2009, shortly before they received their Michelin star, which they have held since then. Back then, however, the price was lower. If I’m not mistaken, I paid 650 or 750 kroner for six courses + drinks.
Despite writing this review much later, I still remember the meal quite clearly, as it was one of the best meals I’ve had in my life. My girlfriend at the time had also accompanied me to Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, and she liked AOC better, as the food was more “surprising/creative”.
The food at AOC is quite similar to the one at Herman, although my impression of Herman was that the concept originally was a modern and posh take on traditional food from the south of Denmark with a few classic French influences. But when I was at Herman in the fall of 2011, the food seemed very French in style. The food at AOC seemed to me to be slightly more Danish in style, but also with some French influences (among others).
There were several appetizers: Beetroot meringue, crisp chicken skin with parsley cream, mackerel with lukewarm mayonnaise and quail eggs served in a tin, and a citrus cocktail.
The actual courses were:
1. Rødgrød med fløde. The Danish dessert (a fruit stew) that we always try to have foreigners pronounce, as it’s impossible unless you’re Danish. They had made it into a starter with fresh berries, cream, jelly, Danish prawns and freeze-dried berries.
2. A scallop with a baby carrot, buckthorn, and a butter sauce.
3. “Fall”: Jerusalem artichokes with apples, hazelnuts, and browned butter.
4: “Beef as charcoal”. The small piece of beef really did look like a piece of charcoal. With chestnut mushrooms, some acidic berries, a few herbs, and a sauce.
5: Corn ice cream, pop corn, pineapple granite, and anis oil.
6: Vanilla ice cream (in a perfect egg shape), toasted bread crumbs, caramel, white chocolate powder, and hair wax served in a Dax Wax container. It was actually white chocolate with passion fruit.
Although I don’t remember every element of the food in detail when I wrote this review two-and-a-half years later, I remember leaving the restaurant feeling very happy, and since this meal (and the one at Gordon Ramsay) there has only been a few that has pleased me as much. It should be said, however, that this was one of the first posh restaurants I went to, so I might not feel the same if I had exactly the same meal for the first time today.
I remember the service as being really good as well. My girlfriend didn’t like one of the waiters as he never smiled, but to me that was no problem. Only before the beef dish did I feel like we waited a little bit too long.
I only ordered one glass of wine, an Italian white wine, which was one of the best wines I’ve ever had. The sommelier even wrote down the name of the wine and the name of a shop where I could find it. They charged 100 kroner for a glass, which in a place like this in Copenhagen doesn’t seem like an extraordinarily high price, when a bottle at the shop cost 235 kroner, so taking the high taxes in Denmark into consideration that seemed like a reasonable mark up (to compare: Era Ora charged 150 kroner for a glass from a bottle that cost 180 kroner – actually, I bought an entire bottle for 100 kroner at a special offer).
Dansk anmeldelse
AOC
Dronningens Tværgade 2 •
1302 København K •
Tel.: +45 33 11 11 45
Samlet vurdering: 9/10
Besøgets dato: Oktober 2009
Jeg var på AOC sidst i oktober 2009, kort før de fik deres Michelin-stjerne, hvilken de har beholdt siden da. På det tidspunkt var prisen noget lavere. Hvis jeg ikke tager fejl, var prisen 650 eller 750 kroner for seks retter + drikkevarer.
Selvom jeg skrev denne anmeldelse lang tid senere, husker jeg stadig måltidet ret godt, da det var et af de bedste måltider, jeg har nogensinde har haft. Min daværende kæreste havde også været med mig på Gordon Ramsays trestjernede restaurant i Chelsea i London, og hun kunne bedre lide AOC, da maden var mere “overraskende/kreativ”, som hun sagde.
Maden på AOC lignede en del den på Herman, selvom mit indtryk af Herman var, at konceptet oprindeligt var at lave moderne og fine nyfortolkninger af traditionel sønderjysk mad med lidt fransk inspiration. Men da jeg var på Herman i efteråret 2011, var stilen meget fransk. Maden på AOC virkede mere dansk i stilen, men også med bl.a. fransk inspiration.
Der var adskillige appetitvækkere: Rødbedekys serveret i en slikpose, sprødt kyllingeskind med persillecreme, makrel med lun mayonnaise og vagtelæg serveret i en konservesdåse og en citruscocktail.
De egentlige retter var:
1. Rødgrød med fløde. Retten var lavet om til en forret med friske bær, fløde, gelé, limfjordsrejer og frysetørrede bær.
2. Kammusling med en babygulerod, havtorn og en smørsauce.
3: “Efterår”: Jordskokker med æbler, hasselnødder og brunet smør.
4: “Oksekød som trækul”. Det lille stykke oksekød lignede virkelig et stykke kul. Med markchampignoner, nogle syrlige bær, lidt krydderurter og en sauce.
5: Majsis med popcorn, ananasgranité og anisolie.
6: Vaniljeis (perfekt formet som et æg), ristet brødkrummer, karamel, hvid chokoladepulver og voks til håret serveret i en Dax Wax-beholder. Det var i virkeligheden hvid chokolade og passionsfrugt.
Selvom jeg ikke kan huske alle elementerne i detaljer, da jeg skrev den her anmeldelse 2½ år senere, husker jeg, at jeg var virkelig tilfreds, da jeg forlod restauranten, og siden det her måltid (og det hos Gordon Ramsay) har der kun været et par få måltider, der har imponeret mig lige så meget. Jeg skal dog skynde mig at sige, at AOC var en af de første fine restauranter, jeg var på, så jeg ville måske ikke synes det samme om maden, hvis jeg fik nøjagtig det samme måltid for første gang i dag.
Jeg husker også betjeningen som frygtelig god. Min kæreste brød sig ikke om den ene af tjenerne, da han aldrig smilte, men det var ikke noget, jeg havde bidt mærke i. Kun lige før oksekødsretten var ventetiden en anelse for lang.
Jeg bestilte kun et enkelt glas vin, en italiensk hvidvin, hvilket var en af de bedste vine, jeg nogensinde har fået. Vintjeneren gav mig endda navnet på vinen og en forretning, hvor jeg kunne købe den. Prisen var 100 kroner per glas, hvilket i sådan en restaurant i København ikke er nogen vanvittig pris, når flasken kostede 235 i butikken. Når man tager de danske skatter med i betragtning, er det en rimelig merpris (til sammenligning: Era Ora tog 150 kroner for et glas hvidvin fra en flaske, der kostede 180 kroner – og faktisk købte jeg en hel flaske på tilbud til 100 kroner).
