GERANIUM
Per Henrik Lings Allé 4
2100 København
Denmark
Overall rating: 7.5-8/10
Date of visit: July 2012
Jump to Danish review – Gå til dansk anmeldelse.
Before I say anything else: If you go to Geranium, choose the juice menu!
Geranium is run by 2011 Bocuse D’or winner Rasmus Kofoed, who earlier had won both bronze and silver in the competition. The restaurant previously had a very small premise in Kongens Have (the King’s garden) next to Rosenborg in Copenhagen, but closed down when Kofoed and the new owner couldn’t agree on the visions of the restaurant. After a hiatus, the restaurant opened again in the unlikely settings of the national football stadium, although Kofoed did say that he hadn’t imagined he would want to run a restaurant in a place mostly associated with football, hot dogs and beer in plastic cups. Kofoed had previously been the chef in the restaurant of Denmark’s most prestigious hotel, D’angleterre, but was fired for refusing to cook among other things a dish that translates to “shooting star” (a piece of toast with mayonnaise, lettuce, a filet of fish, prawns and fish eggs).
Since winning Bocuse D’or, it has been very difficult to book a table at Kofoed’s restaurant for dinner, but my wife at the time and I managed to get a table for lunch with relative ease. The restaurant itself is really beautiful and classy, and definitely one of the most beautiful restaurants I have been too. It suited the cooking very well. The entire kitchen was visible from the restaurant if you were sitting in the right place.
The restaurant had two lunch options: A short and a long menu. We chose the long one for 998 kroner (€134). The menu actually didn’t show the courses but just listed some of the ingredients that was part of the menu. We also chose the juice menu at 498 kroner (€67) – and good thing that we did. More about that later. Water was free, and this was actually a first in a top restaurant in Copenhagen (I don’t remember if we just asked for tap water, and there therefore were no charge as opposed to bottled water).
First we had several small snacks: Puffed potato crisps with sea weed with just the right amount of sea weed and a sphere filled with sea buck thorn on the side. The sphere was one of my then-wife’s favourite things about the meal. Next we had cheese sticks with a bit of soft cheese with leaves on top for dipping. Then a spiral of crispy Jerusalem artichokes was served with a cream of walnut oil, which I found quite tasteless. On the side were razor clams that was cleverly made to look like they were still inside their shell, but the crispy shell was actually edible. I don’t like clams or mussels (including razor clams), but this was actually quite refreshing, although not spectacular in taste (although visually it was definitely spectacular). The star of the appetizers was a small soup of cep mushrooms with a few chopped ceps. Nothing short of astonishing, and one of the absolute highlights of the meal. On the side we had a really lovely pine lemonade, although that didn’t seem to be part of the juice menu.
The first real course was a jellied ham and tomato “soup” (in separate layers) with small balls of radishes with thyme on top. A beautiful looking dish with pleasant flavours, but still on the mild side. Admittedly, I find radishes to be quite plain, and here they didn’t do anything for the dish at all. The ham and tomato combination seemed to be a wink to southern Europe, so melon instead of radishes could have been a better and more tasteful option (7/10).
“The perfect scallop” served in a scallop shell was for me a disc containing grains due to a misunderstanding between me and the waiter (more on that later), whereas my wife at the time had the scallop itself. I only had a small bite of hers, so I can’t really comment too much on that, but it did seem less cooked than I prefer. I found my grains to be quite plain, as there, if I’m not mistaken simply wasn’t added anything to the grains – no herbs or anything. I find it quite limiting how much flavour you can extract simply from whole grains. The sauce of celeriac, browned butter and elderberries was magnificent though, and might have been the best element in the entire meal. (9 or 10/10 for the sauce, but 5/10 for the grains)
Hake was raw and slightly smoked and covered with a bit of skyr (a Scandinavian diary product). In the centre of the plate was a horseradish sauce as well as stems of seaweed. When hake is at its best, it can be magnificent, but I do prefer it pan-fried. The amount of smoke was perfect though. The sauce was nicely balanced with just the right amount of horseradish, but I didn’t care too much for the seaweed. By this time I had had enough of seaweed/algae flavours – especially since the accompanying juice was made of apples, cucumber and, once again, algae. That juice, however, was well-balanced. The skyr also seemed to vanish a bit when combined with the smoked fish. As such there was nothing wrong with this dish, but there wasn’t much excitement about it (6/10).
Red onions came with water cress, crumbles of rye bread that was fried crisp and a sauce made from Danish hay cheese. The onions were good but nowhere close to the astonishing ones at Noma the next day. The real star of the show was, once again, the sauce. Perfectly balanced and just the right intensity in flavour. The rye bread was however in so small pieces that it had become hard rather than crisp (overall 7.5/10, but more for the sauce).
Neither of us were particularly fond of the next dish which was oyster (which I had asked to be removed) with a salad with fish eggs on top. Again, the sauce that was poured on at the table was the best element. Granted, if you really like oysters, clams, fish eggs and everything else with those types of flavours this was probably a great dish, but as it simply was to neither our liking it’s difficult to score it higher. Technically, it did also seem to be less impressive than the rest. The leaves were soggy, and the combination of flavours was quite limited. (5/10)
Next, however, was one of my favourites of the meal. Again, the misunderstanding with the waiter caused us to have two different dishes. I had a white asparagus, whereas my wife at the time had a langoustine cooked with hay. They were brought in on a tray and then arranged on a rectangular plate at the table. The asparagus seemed woody and tasteless, but luckily we shared 50-50. My then-wife seemed to like the asparagus better than the langoustine, and I enjoyed the langoustine more. The langoustine was probably the least cooked langoustine I’ve ever had, so the texture was a bit soft and “slimy”. Nevertheless, the flavour was magnificent, the hay flavour being a great combination with the sweet langoustine. I believe the sauce was made with verbena (9/10 for the langoustine).
The main course was slightly smoked deer covered with a sheet made from cherry vinegar served with beetroot in various forms and a berry sauce. The deer itself was spectacular, but I simply missed variety in the other elements, as everything except for the sauce and the sheet was beetroot. One beetroot looked like a vanilla pod. I’m not sure how they made it, but it was a strange sensation – dry and a bit “dark” in flavour. Although there were some acidic sorrel leaves on there, I could have used something light and refreshing in this dish, for instance peas (overall 8/10, but more for the deer itself).
A pre-dessert was a very fluffy elderberry foam with crunchy elderberries at the bottom. Especially the texture was worth mentioning, as the airy lightness worked really well with the refreshing flavour (7.5-8/10).
We both agreed that the first dessert might have been the best dish overall in the entire meal. A thin layer of white chocolate panacotta was covered by another layer of green sorrel panacotta. On top was fresh sorrel leaves that hid granulated frozen white chocolate. At the table, the waitress poured on similar granulated frozen sorrel. The only tiny complaint about this was that it was just a tiny bit too acidic, but nevertheless it was a marvellously refreshing dessert, and the combination of white chocolate and sorrel worked astonishingly well. (9/10). The accompanying glass of juice was, maybe a bit too obviously, sorrel juice. Had they added something more to the juice it would have improved the combination between juice and food a bit.
The last dessert was a beautiful looking rhubarb compote with edible flowers, with cream being poured on at the table. As opposed to at Noma the rhubarb, was sweet and clearly the best element in this dish for me. Although I liked the flowers, I find edible flowers to be a bit too perfumed, and here there were too many to my liking. The cream was just cream, and the flavour vanished a bit with this combination. They could have added something to the cream – vanilla, lemon zest, anything. Or maybe a foamy buttermilk instead would have worked well. My wife at the time did like this dish a lot more than me (7/10).
After this we had a few petit fours. It was served while I was in the toilet, so I didn’t know what it was. One was a leaf, and I simply couldn’t place the flavour. So, although it looked nice, the taste obviously didn’t hit the mark. It was carrot. The other was a chocolate egg with a ginger filling if I’m not mistaken. That was definitely much better.
Then there’s the juice menu. Like I said in my review of Noma, some people couldn’t dream of going to a restaurant like this and not have wine with the food. What I can say is that a good sommelier will be able to find a wine that suits each course well, but he’ll never be able to find something that suits it as well as a drink that the restaurant has made especially for that dish. We both agreed that the juice menu here made the meal even better, and both here and at Noma the juices matched the food extremely well. When I go to high end restaurants I usually have 2-3 glasses of wine with the food, but I have never before had a meal where the food and the beverages were such a great match as it was at Geranium and Noma. We had these juices:
* Algae, cucumber & apple
* Holsteiner cox apple juice
* Ingrid marie apple juice & tarragon
* Bodil Neergaard apple juice
* Grape & juniper berries
* Woodsorrel juice
* Rhubarb juice.
Although the apple juices were all great, and they really showcased the spectacular quality that Danish apples truly have, I was nevertheless a bit disappointed that there were no fewer than three apples juices in a row (four if you count the first juice as well). The rhubarb was a bit overpowered by the content of rose water (which was still light), and it simply was a bit too sour and lacked the sweet flavour of rhubarb (which they had brought out quite well in the dessert that accompanied the juice). That is really my only criticism of the juices. Especially the apple juice with tarragon was a delight.
The service was mostly capable and certainly better than what I for instance had at Mortens Kro in Aalborg, but I felt there was a somewhat chilly detachment from the staff. We were served by a male waiter and a female waitress, and initially I felt they had a bit of an icy distance, but it got better over time, and the male waiter did loosen up and became more talkative. It seemed he had also helped make some of the dishes, so he could answer all our questions about the food.
I overheard our waitress tell the table next to us that she was an intern. We all have to start somewhere, so I can of course forgive her for mixing things up and not being able to answer all our questions. I for instance asked: “Does this juice contain lemon balm?”, and she responded “I really have no idea”.
The waitress started to take a glass of my then-wife’s juice away (she wasn’t going to finish it), and when I said “I can finish that” the waitress looked devastated. The same thing happened at Quique Dacosta in Spain, but before I even got the chance to say I would like to finish it, the waitress asked me.
Maybe the waitress at Geranium saw us as difficult customers. Fair enough – I don’t hold a grudge against her for that. We went to Noma the next day, and after just half an hour there we already felt happier and more welcome. Herman in Copenhagen is also very “posh”, but the service there was more relaxed and down to earth. At heart, the waitress at Geranium did seem sweet, but I think she might just have felt a bit lost and unprepared.
All the guests at Geranium, or at least most of them, were asked if they wanted to see the kitchen. We weren’t asked. We did see the kitchen though, as my wife at the time asked for it. We did also get to meet the chef, and take a picture with him, as he arrived shortly before we left.
The pace of the meal was perfect. No waiting and no rushing. They managed this with only three (or was it four?) waiters.
I told the male waiter that I didn’t like oysters and clams/mussels. We were then served a scallop, but I had grains instead. I then told him that I do like scallops. His response was: “Oh? It’s just, you said you didn’t like oysters and clams”. Okay, apparently I hadn’t been very clear on this, but instead of clearing the issue up, he just walked away. So, when we were served a langoustine, which I also like, I was served a white asparagus instead. But okay, this did mean we had the chance to try more different things.
For the salad, they had just removed the oysters from my dish, but the waitress had swapped our dishes, so I, and not my then-wife, had the one with oysters.
Lastly, we asked for one juice menu to share, and the waitress came back to clear up if we just wanted one menu in one glass. I said “yes, just one, so we just pay 498 kroner. If you want to serve it in two glasses that’s fine too, but just one menu to share”. When we asked to share a juice menu next day at Noma it was no problem at all. At Geranium they served it in two glasses, and when we had the bill it said two juice menus. I asked the male waiter about this and said that if we had drunk two juice menus we would of course pay for two (apparently we did get two full juice menus). He, however, insisted he would make a new bill with just one juice menu if that was what we had asked for, so the service did end on a very positive note, and better than I would have expected of many restaurants.
After the meal, I asked if I could have the recipe for the cep soup, and the cook who had it said he would e-mail it. A month and a half later I still hadn’t received it, so I wrote the restaurant an e-mail about it. They never responded.
So, to conclude, there were some definite highlights, but when we left the restaurant I nevertheless felt there had been something missing. Coincidentally, I spoke to a cook from Kødbyens Fiskebar the next day, and a friend of his had also been to both Geranium and Noma and had said the exact same thing: “Somewhat similar food, but you simply forgot more quickly what you have eaten at Geranium”.
It’s of course not fair to judge Geranium by comparison to Noma rather than in its own right. We agreed that it was a nice meal, but not one of the most memorable one’s we’ve had. All I can say is that Geranium simply wasn’t as memorable as Noma was, and Geranium wasn’t as memorable as for instance Quique Dacosta, Sant Pau, Sangonereta and Gordon Ramsay (in Chelsea, London) were either.
All dishes at Geranium looked great, and all exuded elegance, visions (most of the time), and high quality ingredients. Especially the amount of smoke was extremely well-balanced. Many people (especially the ones who smoke salmon or mackerel) could learn something here.
Technically, I couldn’t fault anything except for the soggy leaves in the salad dish, the asparagus, and the hard rye bread. Clearly, the staff in the kitchen is very talented. It’s of course a matter of taste if you prefer elegance to intensity. I say “live fast and die young” so to speak. I simply prefer food where you really remember the depth of flavour. Nevertheless, Sant Pau in Spain serve elegant food as well, and that was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
It seems that Geranium wants to do light and elegant food, and I often lacked some depth of flavour – so the memory of the meal quickly started to fade. I did also feel that for instance the hake was simply not used to its full potential, the amount of sea weed/algae and smoked ingredients were maybe just a tad too much, and at times there was simply a slight lack of complexity, flavour or imagination in some of the ingredients (the walnut cream from the appetizers, the grains, the entire salad dish, the asparagus, the beetroots, the cream for the rhubarb dessert, the carrot petit four).
Another problem was that if you asked for something to be changed on the menu, the replacements frankly weren’t particularly interesting (the grains and the asparagus).
Even though the service was far from bad it did mar our visit, and it has dragged down the overall score.
Nevertheless, the place and the food radiated luxury. If you prefer elegant and mild food, then Geranium is definitely one of the best places in Copenhagen.
It is worth noting the quantity of food you get for the price. 998 kroner/€134 is not cheap in any way, but if you know the price levels in Copenhagen, and Denmark in general, it doesn’t seem expensive at all. It’s around 100 kroner per actual dish (not counting snacks). Cofoco, which is also very good, but not really at this level, charges 85 kroner per dish. In Copenhagen it’s very difficult to find a good quality three course meal for less than 300 kroner (€40). A sirloin steak with béarnaise sauce at the dreadful chain Jensens Bøfhus is 200 kroner (€26) – and that’s just one dish.
Dansk anmeldelse
GERANIUM
Per Henrik Lings Allé 4
2100 København
Denmark
Sammenlagt vurdering: 7.5-8/10
Besøgets dato: Juli 2012
Før jeg siger andet: Vælg juicemenuen, hvis I tager på Geranium!
Geranium bliver drevet af Rasmus Kofoed, som vandt Bocuse D’or 2011 (også kendt som verdensmesterskaberne for kokke), og han har tidligere vundet både bronze og sølv i konkurrencen. Geranium lå tidligere i et meget lille lokale i Kongens Have ved siden af Rosenborg, hvor de modtog en Michelin-stjerne. Stedet lukkede, da Kofoed og den nye ejer ikke kunne blive enige om, hvad restauranten skulle være for en størrelse. Efter en pause genåbnede restauranten et lidt usædvanligt sted, nemlig i et af Parkens tårne, selvom Kofoed sagde, at han ikke havde forventet, at han ville have en restaurant et sted, man oftest forbinder med fodbold, hotdogs og fadøl. Kofoed havde tidligere været chefkok på Hotel D’angleterre, men blev fyret, fordi han nægtede at servere stjerneskud.
Om aftenen var der én menu til 1.298 kroner, hvis jeg ikke husker forkert. Restauranten tilbyder to frokostmenuer: En kort og en lang. Vi valgte den lange, som kostede 998 kroner. Så vidt jeg forstod, var den eneste forskel på den lange frokostmenu og aftenmenuen, at aftenmenuen indeholdt flere snacks. Selve menuen oplyste faktisk ikke de egentlige retter, men oplyste kun nogle af hovedingredienserne i menuen. Vi valgte også en juicemenu til 498 kroner – og godt, at vi gjorde det! Mere om den senere. Vand var gratis, hvilket var første gang, jeg oplevede det på en af Københavns toprestauranter (jeg kan ikke huske, om vi bare bad om postevand, så vi derfor ikke betalte for flaskevand).
I marts 2013 modtog Geranium endnu en Michelinstjerne, og priserne er sidenhen steget. Jeg har dog også læst, at aftenmenuen i skrivende stund (april 2013) består af 26 retter.
En aftenmenu koster nu 1.450 kroner, en lang frokostmenu 1.100 kroner, og en kort frokostmenu 800 kroner. En vinmenu om aftenen koster 1.300 kroner, og en juicemenu om aftenen koster 600 kroner. En juicemenu til frokost koster 500 kroner for den lange og 300 kroner for den korte. Om aftenen kan man også få den helt store tur med menu, aperitif, vinmenu, vand og kaffe for 3.000 kroner. Det er ikke just nogen billig restaurant, og prisen for menuen bliver da også kun overgået af Noma (med 50 kroner for at være helt præcis).
Siden Kofoed vandt Bocuse D’or har det været rigtig svært at få et bord på restauranten om aftenen, men min hustru og jeg fik forholdsvis let et bord til frokost. Selve restauranten er rigtig flot og stilfuld, og den er helt klart blandt de flotteste restauranter, jeg har set. Interiøret passede rigtig godt til maden. Hele køkkenet var synligt fra restauranten, hvis man sad det rigtige sted.
Vi startede ud med adskillige små snacks: Puffede kartoffelchips med en perfekt proportioneret mængde tang og en sfære med havtorn ved siden af. Sfæren ved en af min hustrus favoritter i måltidet. Derefter fik vi ostestænger med lidt smøreost med urter på toppen som dip. Derefter en spiral af sprøde jordskokker, som blev serveret med en creme af valnøddeolie, som dog ikke smagte af noget. Ved siden af lå der knivmuslinger, som på snedig vis var lavet, så de så ud til stadig at være inde i deres skal, men den sprøde skal kunne faktisk spises. Jeg bryder mig ikke om muslinger (heller ikke knivmuslinger), men de her var faktisk ret forfriskende, selvom de dog ikke havde nogen spektakulær smag (selvom det dog rent visuelt var ret så spektakulært). Højdepunktet blandt appetitvækkerne var en lille suppe af karljohansvampe med lidt hakkede karljohansvampe i. Suppen var intet mindre end fænomenal og noget af det bedste ved hele måltidet. Sammen med det blev der serveret en dejlig fyrrenålelimonade, men den var vist ikke en del af juicemenuen.
Den første egentlige ret var geleret skinke og tomat”suppe” (i hver deres lag) med små radisekugler og timian. Det var en flot anretning, der smagte behageligt, men den var stadig i den lidt for milde ende. Jeg må indrømme, at jeg generelt ser radiser som ret smagløse, og her tilføjede de ikke retten noget. Kombinationen med skinke og tomat lignede en reference til Sydeuropa, så melon i stedet for radiser kunne have været en bedre og mere smagfuld sammensætning (7/10).
“Den perfekte kammusling”, som blev serveret i en kammuslingeskal, var for mit vedkommende en flad cylinder med korn pga. en misforståelse mellem tjeneren og jeg, hvorimod min hustru fik kammuslingen. Jeg fik kun en lille bid af hendes, så jeg kan ikke udtale mig om den, men den lod til at være tilberedt mindre, end jeg foretrækker. Kornene var ret så ligegyldige, og hvis jeg ikke tager fejl, var der ikke tilsat noget til grynene – ingen krydderurter eller lignende (jeg kunne i hvert fald ikke smage noget). Det er ret begrænset, hvor meget smag man kan få ud af intet andet end hele korn. Saucen af knoldselleri, brunet smør og hyldebær var dog intet mindre end fænomenal, og den var måske det bedste element i hele måltidet (9 eller 10/10 for saucen, men 5/10 for kornene).
Kulmule blev serveret rå og letrøget og var dækket af et lag skyr. Midt på tallerkenen var der en peberrodssauce samt tang. Når kulmule er bedst, kan det være intet mindre end pragtfuldt, men jeg foretrækker den stegt. Mængden af røg var dog perfekt. Saucen var velafstemt med præcis den rette mængde peberrod, men tangen gjorde ikke underværker. På det her tidspunkt havde jeg fået nok af tang/alger – især da juicen var lavet af æbler, agurker og, igen, alger. Juicen var dog velafstemt. Skyren forsvandt dog i sammensætningen med den røgede fisk. Som sådan var der ikke noget i vejen med den her ret, men den var ganske enkelt ikke særlig spændende (6/10).
Rødløg blev serveret med brøndkarse og sprødstegte rugbrødskrummer og en sauce af høost. Løgene var gode, men på ingen måde på samme niveau som de afsindigt gode løg, vi fik næste dag på Noma. Højdepunktet i retten var, igen, saucen. Den var perfekt afstemt og havde præcis den rette mængde smagsintensitet. Rugbrødskrummerne var dog så små, at det var blevet stegt hårde frem for sprøde (i alt 7.5/10, men mere for saucen).
Ingen af os brød os videre om den næste ret, som var østers (som jeg havde bedt om at få fjernet) med en salat med rogn på toppen. Igen var saucen det bedste element. Hvis man er pjattet med østers, muslinger, rogn og alt andet i den dur, var det sikkert en pragtfuld ret, men da ingen af os brød os om den, er det svært at give en højere karakter. Teknisk set imponerede den også mindre end resten. Salatbladene var slatne, og der var ikke den store kombination af smagsnuancer her (5/10).
Men bagefter kom en af mine yndlingsretter. Pga. misforståelsen med tjeneren fik vi igen to forskellige retter. Jeg fik en hvid asparges, mens min hustru fik en jomfruhummer tilberedt med hø. De blev bragt ind på et fad og blev så anrettet ved bordet. Aspargesen var træet og smagløs, men vi delte heldigvis retterne. Min hustru brød sig mere om aspargesen og vice versa. Jomfruhummeren var nok den mindst tilberedte jomfruhummer, jeg nogensinde har fået, så konsistensen var ret blød og “slimet”. Ikke desto mindre var smagen pragtfuld, og smagen af hø var en glimrende kombination med den søde jomfruhummer. Saucen var vist lavet med jernurt/citronverbena (9/10 for jomfruhummeren).
Hovedretten var letrøget sommerbuk dækket af et tyndt ark lavet af kirsebæreddike, og det blev serveret med forskellige slags rødbeder og en bærsauce. Selve kødet var spektakulært, men jeg savnede ganske enkelt lidt afveksling i garnituren. På nær saucen og arket var alt lavet af rødbeder. En af dem lignede lidt en vaniljestang. Jeg er ikke sikker på, hvordan de havde lavet det, men det var en underlig oplevelse – tør og lidt “mørk” i smagen. Selvom der var et par syrlige syreblade på tallerkenen, savnede jeg noget let og friskt ved retten – f.eks. ærter (i alt 8/10, men mere for bukken).
En prædessert var en luftig hyldeblomstskum med sprøde hyldebær på bunden. Det er især værd at nævne konsistensen, da luftigheden fungerede godt sammen med den forfriskende smag (7.5-8/10).
Vi var begge enige om, at den første dessert måske var den bedste ret i hele måltidet. Et tyndt lag grønt havesyrepanacotta dækkede et andet lag panacotta med hvid chokolade. Ovenpå lå friske havesyreblade, som skjulte granuleret frossent hvid chokolade. Tjeneren hældte lignende frossent granuleret skovsyre på ved bordet. Det eneste, jeg kan klage en lillebitte smule over, er, at retten var en tand for syrlig, men ikke desto mindre var det en vidunderlig forfriskende dessert, og kombination af syre og hvid chokolade fungerede forbløffende godt sammen (9/10). Juicen til retten var måske lidt for indlysende et glas skovsyrejuice. Hvis de havde tilsat noget mere til juicen, kunne det have givet samspillet mellem mad og juice et løft.
Den sidste dessert var en flot anrettet rabarberkompot med letfrosne spiselige blomster på toppen, og fløde blev hældt på ved bordet. I modsætning til rabarberen på Noma var den her sød og klart det bedste element i retten. Selvom jeg godt kunne lide blomsterne, synes jeg, at spiselige blomster har en tendens til at blive for parfumerede, og her var der simpelthen for mange af dem. Fløden var bare fløde og forsvandt lidt i den her sammensætning. De kunne have tilsat noget til fløden – vanilje, citronskal, bare et eller andet. Eller måske kunne skummende kærnemælk have fungeret godt. Min hustru var mere imponeret af den her ret, end jeg var (7/10).
Til sidst fik vi et par petit fours. De blev serveret, mens jeg var på toilettet, så jeg vidste ikke, hvad det var. Et var et blad, som jeg ganske enkelt ikke kunne smage, hvad var. Så selvom det var flot udført, ramte smagen tydeligvis ikke plet. Det var gulerod. Den anden var et chokoladeæg med ingefærfyld, hvis jeg ikke tager fejl. Den var klart bedre.
Så var der juicemenuen. Som jeg sagde i min anmeldelse af Noma, er der visse mennesker, der ikke kunne drømme om at tage på en restaurant som den her og ikke drikke vin til maden. Det eneste, jeg kan sige, er, at en god sommelier kan finde vin, der passer godt til hver ret, men han vil aldrig kunne finde noget, der passer så godt som en drik, som restauranten selv har lavet til lige præcis den her ret. Vi var begge enige om, at juicemenuen gjorde måltidet endnu bedre, og på både Geranium og Noma passede juicen ekstremt godt til maden. Når jeg tager på fine restauranter, får jeg oftest to-tre glas vin til maden, men jeg har aldrig før fået et måltid, hvor maden og drikkevarerne passede så godt sammen, som de gjorde på Geranium og Noma.
Vi fik følgende juice:
* Alge-, agurk- og æblejuice
* Holsteiner cox-æblejuice
* Ingrid Marie-æblejuice med estragon
* Bodil Neergaard-æblejuice
* Drue- og enebærjuice
* Skovsyrejuice
* Rabarberjuice.
Selvom alle æblejuicerne var gode, og de virkelig alle viste, hvor spektakulære danske æbler i virkeligheden er, var jeg dog lidt skuffet over, at der ikke var færre end tre æblejuice i træk (fire, hvis man tæller den første juice med). Rabarberen blev lidt overdøvet af rosenvandet deri (selvom det dog stadig var let), og den var ganske enkelt for sur og manglede den søde rabarbersmag (som de ellers havde fået ret godt frem i den tilhørende dessert). Det er min eneste kritik af juicerne. Især æblejuicen med estragon var en fornøjelse at drikke.
Betjeningen var for det meste kompetent og klart bedre end f.eks. den, jeg fik på Mortens Kro i Aalborg, men tjenerne virkede dog alligevel lidt kolde. Vi blev betjent af en mandlig og en kvindelig tjener, og i starten virkede de lidt som isdronninger, men det blev klart bedre med tiden, og den mandlige tjener løsnede lidt op og blev mere snakkesalig. Han havde vist også hjulpet til med at lave nogle af retterne, så han kunne svare på alle vores spørgsmål om maden.
Jeg hørte den kvindelige tjener siger til nabobordet, at hun kun var praktikant. Vi skal alle starte et sted, så jeg kan selvfølgelig godt tilgive hende for forvekslinger og for ikke at kunne svare på alt. Jeg spurgte f.eks.: “Var der citronmelisse i den juice?”, hvortil hun svarede: “Det aner jeg virkelig ikke”.
Hun begyndte at fjerne min hustrus glas juice (hun ville ikke have resten), og da jeg så sagde, at jeg kunne drikke resten, så hun knust ud. Vi var ude for samme scenarie på Quique Dacosta i Spanien, men før jeg overhovedet fik chancen for at bede om glasset, tilbød tjeneren mig det.
Måske så den kvindelige tjener på Geranium os som meget besværlige. Fair nok – det er jeg ikke sur over. Vi var på Noma dagen efter, og efter blot en halv time følte vi os langt bedre tilfredse og mere velkomne. Restaurant Herman var også “fin”, men betjeningen var mere afslappet og nede på jorden end Geranium. Jeg tror, at den kvindelige tjener på Geranium inderst inde var en sød person, men hun følte sig nok lidt overrumplet og uforberedt.
Alle gæsterne på Geranium, eller i hvert fald de fleste, blev tilbudt at se køkkenet. Vi blev ikke spurgt. Vi så dog køkkenet, da min hustru bad om det. Vi mødte også Rasmus Kofoed og fik et billede med ham, da han ankom, kort før vi gik.
Tempoet på måltidet var intet mindre end perfekt. Der var ikke for meget ventetid, men der blev heller ikke skyndet på os. Det formåede de med kun tre (eller var det fire?) tjenere.
Jeg sagde til den mandlige tjener, at jeg ikke brød mig om muslinger og østers. Jeg sagde det dog på engelsk (mussels, clams, oysters), da dialogen foregik på engelsk, fordi min hustru ikke taler dansk. Vi fik så serveret en kammusling (som hedder scallop på engelsk), men jeg fik korn i stedet for. Jeg fortalte ham, at jeg godt kan lide kammuslinger. Hans respons var (på engelsk): “Nå? Men det var bare fordi, du sagde jo, at du ikke kunne lide muslinger”. Jeg havde åbenbart ikke været så tydelig, men i stedet for at opklare det, gik han bare. Så da vi fik jomfruhummer, som jeg også godt kan lide, fik jeg en hvid asparges i stedet. Men okay, så fik vi da muligheden for at prøve flere forskellige ting.
Til salaten havde de bare fjernet østersene fra min tallerken, men den kvindelige tjener havde byttet om på vores tallerkener, så jeg fik den med østers.
Sidst, men ikke mindst, havde vi bedt om én juicemenu til deling, og den kvindelige tjener kom tilbage for at høre, om vi bare ville have én menu i ét glas. Jeg sagde: “Ja, bare én menu, så vi kun betaler 498 kroner. I må selvfølgelig gerne servere det i to glas, bare vi kun får én menu til deling”. Da vi også bad om at dele en juicemenu på Noma næste dag, var det intet problem. På Geranium serverede de den i to glas, og da vi fik regningen, stod der to juicemenuer derpå. Jeg spurgte den mandlige tjener om det og sagde, at hvis vi havde drukket to juicemenuer, ville vi selvfølgelig betale for det (vi havde åbenbart fået to hele juicemenuer). Han insisterede dog på at lave en ny regning med kun én juicemenu, hvis det var, hvad vi havde bedt om, så betjeningen sluttede godt og bedre, end hvad jeg kunne forvente af mange andre restauranter.
Efter måltidet spurgte jeg, om jeg kunne få opskriften på karljohansuppen, og kokken, der havde den, sagde, at han ville e-maile den. Halvanden måned senere havde jeg stadig ikke modtaget den, så jeg skrev en e-mail til restauranten. De svarede aldrig.
Så alt i alt var der nogle klare højdepunkter, men bagefter følte jeg alligevel, at der havde manglet noget. Sjovt nok talte jeg næste dag med en kok fra Kødbyens Fiskebar, hvis ven også havde været på både Geranium og Noma, og han havde sagt nøjagtig det samme: “Nogenlunde ens slags mad, men man glemmer simpelthen hurtigere, hvad man har spist på Geranium”.
Det er selvfølgelig ikke fair at bedømme Geranium ud fra en sammenligning med Noma. Vi var enige om, at det var et godt måltid, men ikke et af de mest mindeværdige, vi har haft. Det eneste, jeg kan sige, er, at Geranium sammenlagt ganske enkelt ikke var så mindeværdigt som Noma og heller ikke så mindeværdigt som f.eks. Quique Dacosta, Sant Pau, Sangonereta og Gordon Ramsay.
Alle retterne på Geranium var flot anrettet, og de strålede alle af elegance, visioner (for det meste) og ingredienser af højeste kvalitet. Især mængden af røg var særdeles velafstemt. Mange folk (især dem, der røger laks og makrel) kunne lære noget her.
Teknisk set kunne jeg ikke sætte en finger på noget på nær de slatne salatblade, aspargesen og det hårde rugbrød. Kokkene er uden tvivl rigtig dygtige. Det er selvfølgelig en smagssag, om man foretrækker elegance eller smagsintensitet. “Lev stærkt og dø” er så at sige mit motto. Jeg foretrækker ganske enkelt mad, hvor man virkelig husker, hvor meget det smagte af. Ikke desto mindre serverer Sant Pau i Spanien også elegant mad, og det er en af de bedste restauranter, jeg nogensinde har været på.
Det lader til, at Geranium vil lave let og elegant mad, og jeg savnede af og til lidt dybde i smagen – så jeg begyndte hurtigt at glemme, hvad jeg havde spist. Jeg syntes dog også, at kulmulen ganske enkel ikke blev udnyttet fuldt ud, mængden af tang/alger og røgede ingredienser var måske en smule for meget, og af og til manglede der ganske enkelt lidt kompleksitet, smag eller kreativitet i nogle af tingene (valnøddecremen til snackene, kornene, hele salaten, aspargesen, rødbederne, fløden til rabarberdesserten og gulerodssnacken til sidst).
Et andet problem var, at hvis man bad om at få noget ændret i menuen, var erstatningerne ganske enkelt ikke særlig ophidsende (kornene og aspargesen).
Selvom betjeningen ikke var dårlig, var den trods alt også et skår i glæden, og den har trukket den samlede vurdering ned.
Trods alt osede stedet og maden af luksus. Hvis man foretrækker elegant og mild mad, er Geranium klart et af det bedste steder i København.
Det er også værd at bemærke, hvor meget mad vi fik for pengene. 998 kroner er på ingen måde billigt, men hvis man kender prisniveauet i Danmark, virker det faktisk ikke dyrt. Det er omkring 100 kroner per ret (uden snacks). Cofoco, som også er rigtigt godt, men alligevel ikke helt på det her niveau, tager 85 kroner per ret. I København (eller resten af Danmark for den sags skyld) er det svært at finde tre retter af ordentlig kvalitet for under 300 kroner. En tarvelig mørbradbøf med bearnaisesauce på det rædselsfulde Jensens Bøfhus koster 200 kroner – og det er kun for én ret.
