COFOCO
Abel Cathrines Gade 7
1654 København
Denmark
Tel.: +45 33 13 60 60
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Date of visit: August 2011
Jump to Danish review – Gå til dansk anmeldelse
I have been to Cofoco twice, and both times I was quite happy with the food.
Their concept is fairly simple, but can still cause a bit of frustrations: Choose four dishes from a list for a fixed price, or chose as many dishes as you like a la carte and pay one price per dish (all dishes are the same price). Of course, this is a business, so they usually don’t include all the dishes I want in the four dish menu.
Both times, there were a few misses (for instance the first time the celeriac was extremely salty, and next time the apples and pears in the dessert had no flavour. ), but overall I was very happy with the food – especially considering the price: You pay either 85 kroner per dish or 295 kroner for four dishes from their list. Anybody who have been to top restaurants in Copenhagen know the price level here (usually minimum around €100 + wine for a Michelin star dinner). Due to portion size, three to four dishes seems appropriate. The food is a mix between traditional Danish and modern French, and it’s both creative, elegant, flavourful, well-cooked and nicely presented.
I particularly remember veal with pears being terribly good, and the cod was simply perfectly cooked.
Although the food is not up to the standards of Kokkeriet, AOC, and Herman, it’s definitely a place I would come back to, and I like Cofoco better than the Michelin restaurants Era Ora and Grønbech & Churchill (my reviews are also on here). I was also at the Michelin restaurant Relæ shortly after they opened (around a year and a half before they received their star, so maybe it’s completely different now), and I liked Cofoco a hell of a lot more than Relæ (which was only interesting – not good). Although Cofoco is not quite Michelin star level to me, they deserve a Bib Gourmand.
Third visit (February 2014):
This was my third visit to Cofoco. Third time’s the charm, right? Well, they kept the standard from previous visits.
The price was now reduced to 75 Danish Kroner per dish (€10), and they recommend three to four dishes each. I went for four but on a good day might have been able to eat five.
I went for a glass of white wine and my wife at the time went for a red wine. When we stated our preferences, the waitress was easily able to give us recommendations. The white was 80 Kroner (€10.67) for a glass, the red wine 50 Kroner (€6.70), which both seemed very reasonable. A cup of coffee was 35 Kroner (€4.67).
We were also served a bit of bread with some dipping.
My first dish was grilled chicory lettuce with cured ham, pickled onions, garlic and a grated Danish cheese on top. It was with some trepidation that I ordered this dish, as I usually find chicory overly bitter. So what a lovely surprise, and how well this dish worked despite being so simple!
My then-wife had salt-and-sugar-cured salmon with red cabbage, smoked malto, rye bread crumble, and cress. This seemed a very typical dish for the current Nordic food trend.
Next up I had turbot with pickled mushrooms, mushroom puree, crispy sago, and shiso. Beautiful fish and beautiful dish. Although the ingredients and the combination had been done before, then it was excellently executed – especially the fish. Along with my dessert, this was the highlight of the meal.
My then-wife had entrecote of Australian beef, which had a supplement charge, making it 125 Kroner (€16.67). It was served with baked Jerusalem artichokes, pickled red onions and a truffle sauce. When I tried this, I understand why the restaurant had opted for Australian beef, and not Danish, as it was very tender. Currently, most Danish beef is very chewy, unless you go for either the rump or the sirloin (the filet is chewy as well). The truffle sauce didn’t taste like much though – as usual, I’m tempted to say, as I’ve only had truly excellent truffles once (in Azurmendi). Nevertheless, a very nice dish as well.
With an overall score of 7.5/10 I do feel there’s room for error, which came with the next dish, which was pork belly, root vegetable puree, vadouvan sauce, crispy pork rinds and watercress. The pork was a bit chewy, and it’s not until I wrote this review two months later and looked at my picture of the menu that I found out what those “caterpillars” were. The dish was served while I was in the toilet, so I received no explanation, but I assume it must have been the pork rinds. I couldn’t taste what it was, as it simply had no flavour. This dish wasn’t bad, but simply not successful either.
This disappointment was quickly erased from my memory, when I had my dessert: A sorbet made from browned butter, served with burned and crispy white chocolate, pickled blackberries and a butter milk soup. Lovely, lovely, lovely! Along with the turbot it was easily the highlight of the meal, and one of the best dishes that I’ve had in any of my three visits here. This dessert could easily have been served in a Michelin star restaurant.
My then-wife’s dessert wasn’t quite in the same league – as it wasn’t quite as imaginative: Coconut sorbet, toasted coconut flakes, chocolate mousse, crushed cocoa beans, and Bounty bar. At least that’s what it said in the menu. Maybe they didn’t use actual Bounty bars but just made a coconut cream similar to the filling in a Bounty bar (hopefully the latter). Anyway, what was on the plate was well executed, but it seemed a bit plain to just have coconut and chocolate (basically a deconstructed Bounty bar), when I had such an imaginative dessert.
The service was very friendly and down to earth. Although this wasn’t a Michelin starred place, I felt more at ease here than at the Michelin starred place Kadeau, where we went a month later.
Despite the small bumps along the way, this was a very successful meal. And priced at 300 Kroner (€40) for four small dishes, it’s hard to compete with food of this quality. The reason I have been here three times is simply that it’s very difficult to find such good food for this price in Copenhagen. Although I haven’t been to many restaurants there yet, I have still yet to find a place in Copenhagen that surpasses Cofoco when it comes to value for money. As I’ve said before, they truly deserve a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide.
Fourth visit (September 2014):
Just a short update this time, as we (four people) just had a short meal, so I’ll just show you some pictures:
Fried carrots, lardo, pickled carrots, roasted almonds, sorrel and carrot sauce with smoked marrow:
Sweetbreads, cep bearnaise sauce, pickled mushrooms and croutons:
Chicken nuggets with sliced and baked potatoes:
Pork cheeks, celeriac compote, pickled corn and kale:
Apple sorbet (you could really taste the apples – it was like eating an apple), reduced cream with white chocolate, apple compote, crumble and warm caramel:
Mango, mango foam, vanilla ice cream, lime and meringue:
Dansk anmeldelse
COFOCO
Abel Cathrines Gade 7
1654 København
Tel.: 33 13 60 60
Samlet vurdering: 7.5/10
Besøgets dato: August 2011
Jeg har været på Cofoco to gange, og begge gange var jeg godt tilfreds med maden.
Konceptet er rimelig enkelt, men kan dog volde lidt frustrationer: Man kan vælge fire retter fra en liste til en fast pris, eller man kan vælge så mange retter, som man vil, a la carte og betale per ret (alle retter koster det samme). Restauranten er selvfølgelig en forretning, så de retter, jeg helst ville have, var selvfølgelig ikke alle sammen med i menuen på fire retter.
Begge gange var der et par retter eller elementer i en ret, der var lidt mislykkede (f.eks. var knoldsellerien den første gang umanerlig salt, og anden gang havde pærerne og æblerne i desserten ingen smag overhovedet. Det var ikke sæson for de danske af slagsen, så de burde have lavet en hel anden ret), men overordnet var jeg rigtig godt tilfreds med maden – især når man ser på prisen: Man betaler enten 85 kroner per ret eller 295 kroner for fire retter fra en liste. Alle, der har været på Københavns toprestauranter, kender prisniveauet her (oftest minimum ca. 700-800 kroner + vin for en Michelin-middag). Når man ser på portionsstørrelsen, er tre til fire retter passende. Maden er en blanding af traditionel dansk mad og moderne fransk, og maden er både kreativ, elegant, smagsfuld, vellavet og flot anrettet.
Jeg husker især, at kalvemørbrad med pærer var frygteligt godt, og at torsken var intet mindre end perfekt tilberedt.
Selvom maden ikke er på niveau med Kokkeriet, AOC og Herman, vil jeg helt sikkert gerne spise på Cofoco igen, og jeg kan bedre lide Cofoco end Michelin-restauranterne Era Ora og Grønbech & Churchill (mine anmeldelser er også herpå). Jeg var også på Michelin-restauranten Relæ, kort efter de åbnede (omkring halvandet år før de fik deres stjerne, så måske er maden helt anderledes derinde nu), og jeg syntes, at Cofoco var væsentligt bedre end Relæ (som var mere interessant end godt). Selvom Cofoco ikke helt er på Michelinstjerne-niveau for mig, fortjener de helt klart en Bib Gourmand.
Tredje besøg (Februar 2014):
Dette var tredje gang, jeg var på Cofoco. Tredje gang er lykkens gang, ikke sandt? De holdt i hvert standarden fra de to tidligere måltider.
Prisen var nu sat ned til 75 kroner per ret, og de anbefalede tre til fire retter. Jeg valgte fire, men kunne måske godt have spist fem, hvis jeg havde været endnu mere sulten.
Jeg fik et glas hvidvin, og min hustru et glas rødvin. Da vi nævnte vores præferencer, kom tjeneren hurtigt med anbefalinger. Hvidvinen kostede 80 kroner for et glas, og rødvinen 50, hvilket virkede helt rimeligt. En kop kaffe kostede 35 kroner.
Vi fik også lidt brød med dip til.
Min første ret var grillet julesalat med skagenskinke, syltede løg, hvidløg og revet vesterhavsost. Det var lidt et sats for mig at bestille denne ret, da julesalat altid er alt for bitter til min smag, så retten var en positiv overraskelse og en meget vellykket ret, på trods af at den var så enkel.
Min hustru fik rimmet laks med rødkål, røget malto, rugbrødskrummer og brøndkarse, som virkede meget typisk for den nuværende ny nordisk mad-tendens.
Min næste ret var stegt pighvar med syltede svampe, svampepuré, sprød sago og shiso. Pragtfuld fisk og pragtfuld ret. Selvom ingredienserne og kombinationen var set før, var det glimrende udført – især fisken. Denne ret var sammen med min dessert måltidets højdepunkt.
Min hustru fik entrecote af australsk oksekød, som kostede 125 kroner. Det blev serveret med bagte jordskokker, syltede rødløg og en trøffelsauce. Da jeg smagte på kødet, forstod jeg godt, at restauranten havde valgt australsk oksekød i stedet for dansk, da det var meget mørt. Dansk oksekød virker for tiden så frygtelig sejt, medmindre man vælger culotte eller mørbrad (selv fileten er sej). Trøffelsaucen smagte dog ikke af meget – “som sædvanlig” fristes jeg til at sige, da jeg kun har smagt virkelig gode trøfler en enkelt gang (på Azurmendi). Ikke desto mindre var det også en rigtig vellykket ret.
Nu den samlede vurdering er 7,5/10, er der også plads til fejl, hvilket kom med den næste ret, som var svinebryst, rodfrugtepuré, vadouvansauce, flæskesvær og brøndkarse. Svinekødet var noget sejt, og det var faktisk først, da jeg skrev den her anmeldelse og kiggede på mit billede af menuen, at jeg fandt ud af, hvad de “kålorme” på tallerkenen var. Retten blev serveret, mens jeg var på toilettet, så jeg fik ikke at vide, hvad der var på tallerkenen, men det må have været flæskesværene. Jeg kunne ikke smage mig frem til det, da det simpelthen ikke smagte af noget. Det var ikke nogen dårlig ret, men ganske enkelt heller ikke nogen vellykket ret.
Jeg kom mig dog hurtigt over skuffelsen, da jeg fik desserten: En sorbet af brunet smør med brændt og sprød hvid chokolade, syltede brombær og en kærnemælkssuppe. Herligt, herligt, herligt! Sammen med pighvarren var det klart måltidets bedste ret og en af de bedste retter, jeg har fået på Cofoco overhovedet. Denne dessert hørte virkelig hjemme på en Michelin-stjernerestaurant.
Min hustrus dessert var ikke helt på samme niveau – til dels da den ikke var helt så opfindsom: Kokossorbet, ristede kokosflager, chokolademousse, knuste kakaobønner og Bountybar. Der stod i hvert fald “Bounty” på menuen, men jeg ved ikke, om de brugte rigtige Bountybarrer, eller om de blot lavede en kokoscreme a la fyldet i en Bountybar (man kan håbe på det sidste). Uanset hvad var retten vellavet, men det virkede en smule kedeligt blot at få kokos og chokolade (i realiteten en dekonstrueret Bountybar), når jeg havde fået en så opfindsom dessert.
Betjeningen var meget venlig og imødekommende. Selvom Cofoco ikke har en Michelin-stjerne, følte jeg mig mere tilpas her end på den stjernebesatte Kadeau, hvor vi var en måned senere.
Trods småfejlene var det endnu et rigtig godt måltid. Med en pris på 300 kroner for fire små retter bliver det meget svært at finde en bedre restaurant til den pris i København. Grunden til, at jeg nu har været på Cofoco tre gange, er ganske enkelt, at det er svært at finde mad på det her niveau til den pris i København. Selvom jeg ikke har været på så frygtelig mange restauranter i København endnu, har jeg endnu ikke fundet et sted i København, hvor man får mere for pengene end på Cofoco. Som jeg har sagt før, så fortjener de virkelig en Bib Gourmand i Michelinguiden.
Fjerde besøg (September 2014):
Blot en hurtig opdatering med billeder, da vi (fire mennesker) kun fik et kort måltid:
Grillet gulerod, lardo, syltede gulerødder, ristede mandler, gulerodssauce med røget marv og rød syre:
Brisler, karl johan-bearnaise, syltede svampe og croutoner:
Svinekæber, sellerikompot, syltede majs og grønkål:
Æblesorbet, reduceret fløde med hvid chokolade, æblekompot, crumble og lun karamel:
Mango, vaniljeis, mangocreme, lime og marengs:
