Mortens Kro
Mølleå 4
9000 Aalborg
Denmark
Tel.: +45 98 12 48 60
Overall rating: 6-6.5/10
Date of visit: June 2012
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Mortens Kro has been considered the best restaurant in Aalborg for a long time, but after having lived in Aalborg for 4 years and 20 km south of the city for 21 years before that, I have to say there’s never been much competition. I do hear that Mortens Kro was better in its old premises.
The restaurant offers both a la carte dishes and menus. We chose four courses from the “gourmet summer menu” priced at 598 kroner (€80).
First we had a small appetiser of egg cream, fresh peas, a pea sprout, a parmesan crisp and two slices of truffle. As such this was okay but not really anything special. I know from experience that parmesan crisps should preferably be made just before serving to avoid them being chewy. This one was chewy. The truffles were nothing extraordinary either.
Then we had the following four courses:
Cured trout marinated in elderflower, new potatoes, potato cream, dill cream and a bit of lettuce. I don’t see trout and elderflower as a great combination, as the discreet elderflower taste is easily overpowered (and the trout overpowered it). I saw the same problem at Kokkeriet in Copenhagen, where a buttermilk sorbet overpowered a elderflower jelly. The potato cream didn’t have much flavour, but then potatoes aren’t that flavourful to begin with, but they could have added some herbs. We really have wonderful potatoes in Denmark (try the Southern European ones – they’re horrible), and these were also great and well-cooked. But is a potato in a restaurant like this enough? All in all it was a very reasonable combination (6.5/10)
Rooster breast, crispy skin, carrots, pea purée with parsley, pea sprouts and chicken stock. This dish was easily my favourite. The breast had been cooked at 72 degrees for an hour, and it was very tender and full of flavour. Carrots rarely do much for me, but these carrots were bursting with flavour and had the pleasant flavour of the soil in a forest that some vegetables have. The stock was a good match too. I could fault them on two things though: The crispy skin was way too salty, and there was simply too much parsley in the pea purée, which overpowered the flavour of the peas (8/10).
Buck, honey glazed rhubarbs, burnt spring onions, new potatoes with parsley and a pepper sauce. The sauce didn’t do much for this dish although it was pleasant enough. The buck was a tad dry, but I would think this had more to do with the animal rather than the cooking (e.g. roe deer is drier than red deer as it’s a leaner animal). I’m very fond of rhubarbs but they need a lot of sugar to not be sour which makes them difficult to cook. The honey was unfortunately not enough, but luckily the onions were really nice and full of flavour and without the pungent onion taste that can easily be too much (7/10).
Strawberry sorbet, a fresh strawberry, dried fennel, liquorice meringue, rhubarb compote and liquorice cream. Next to this dish we were served a crème brûlée on top of a gooseberry compote. I don’t know what the fennel was doing here. It was dry and superfluous, but the sorbet was really nice and really showcased the flavour of strawberries (without sourness) at its peak. Very memorable. The rhubarb was better than for the main course, and liquorice, rhubarb and strawberry worked quite well together. The gooseberries were quite good, but the cream itself had a very strange texture – more like mayonnaise than the firm texture you usually see. The sorbet was easily the best part of this dish. A decent dessert which, after all, didn’t reach astronomical levels (7/10).
Then there was the service and the atmosphere:
Although not terribly talkative our waiter was friendly, and I particularly liked that he let me try the two different white wines he had suggested after I had expressed some doubt about which one he recommended me. Nevertheless, the service was not what it could have been: The person who cleared our plates didn’t say a single word until she took our dessert plates, where she asked for our opinions about the dessert. When we were seated at the table the waiter didn’t tell anything about the food, the restaurant or anything else, and he gave us the menus without saying a word. The worst thing was the wait though (I’ve since then heard this from several other sources too). A long time passed before we were given a menu, a long time passed before they took our orders, and way too much time passed between each course. After two hours we were still only at the second course. After each course the dirty plates were sitting on our table for up to half an hour. The restaurant was partly full, but it didn’t seem like a particularly busy service. I have heard that other people waited for just as long – or even longer just to get a menu or to have their orders taken.
My impression of the chef Morten Nielsen is unfortunately that he’s a wannabe celebrity who wants to run a restaurant that’s also a night club for the rich and famous. I have never talked to him, so I don’t know if this is correct or not, but my impression unfortunately didn’t change during this visit. This impression hasn’t impacted this review, and I didn’t go to this restaurant to criticise it either (who wants to spend this much money for such a reason?) but to have a great meal – I had after all heard that it was supposed to be the best restaurant in town.
The chef was standing in the restaurant (as opposed to the kitchen) most of the time, but I only saw him serve for one table and speak to two other tables. He didn’t come to our table or any others. I don’t necessarily expect this from all top restaurants, but if he was standing in the restaurant for this much time anyway, and it wasn’t a busy service anyway, it would have been obvious to say hello to all the guests. This would definitely have improved the atmosphere – especially since the décor was a bit cold and overly slick with white/beige leather couches, blue neon lights and a disco ball hanging over the bar. On the wall there was a painting of a naked woman in a couch offering up her crutch. I like naked women just as much as any other man but this painting seemed very inappropriate here.
Four courses: 596 kroner (€80) each. A glass of wine: 112 kroner (€15). 50 centilitre San Pelegrino sparkling water: 36 kroner (€4.80). 33 centilitre beer: 50 kroner (€6.70). It’s not exactly a cheap restaurant, and although the food was tasty and well-cooked it was hardly very creative when comparing to some of the other places I’ve been to. As you can see from this website, I often go to Michelin starred restaurants. If you’re used to going to places like that it would probably be best to keep to places like that. If you’re not used to these places you might like Mortens Kro better than I did. I would however still recommend spending 100-200 kroner (€13-€26) more and go to a Michelin starred restaurant in Copenhagen if possible. I agree with another reviewer who said that there’s some way from Mortens Kro to the 10-15 best restaurants in Copenhagen. At Kokkeriet in Copenhagen I paid 700 kroner (€93) for seven courses two years earlier, and the food (both the flavours and the creativity), the service, the wine and the value for money were all so much better there. Kokkeriet has since raised their prices, but they now offer four courses for 650 kroner (€87) or six courses for 800 kroner (€107). Mortens Kro charge 798 kroner (€106.40) for six dishes, so the prices are almost identical for both four and six courses.
Even though the rooster dish was clearly my favourite the biggest problem with the food was that there were simply no really dazzling dishes.
My dad felt that Rold Storkro makes just as nice food. I liked Mortens Kro better than my last meal at Rold Storkro (which is the only one I remember), but it is true that they have a similar style. Mortens Kro is a bit more posh and modern, but…
The food alone was 7/10, but due to the service, the waiting, the somewhat poor value for money, etc., I have dragged the score a bit down.
Dansk anmeldelse
Mortens Kro
Mølleå 4
9000 Aalborg
Denmark
Tel.: +45 98 12 48 60
Sammenlagt vurdering: 6-6.5/10
Besøgets dato: Juni 2012
Mortens Kro har længe haft ry for at være Aalborgs bedste restaurant, men efter at have boet i Aalborg i fire år og 20 km syd for Aalborg i 21 år før det, må jeg sige, at der heller ikke har været så meget konkurrence. Jeg hører dog også, at Mortens Kro var bedre, da den lå i de gamle lokaler.
Restauranten tilbyder både a la carte retter og menuer. Vi valgte fire retter fra “gourmetsommermenuen”, hvilket kostede 598 kr per person.
Først fik vi en lille appetitvækker af æggecreme, friske ærter, et ærteskud, en parmesanchip og to skiver trøffel. I sig selv var den skam okay, men intet videre. Jeg ved af erfaring, at parmesanchips gerne skal laves, lige før de servers for at undgå, at de bliver seje. Det var den her ikke. Trøflerne var heller intet videre.
Vi fik følgende fire retter:
Hyldeblomstmarineret gravad ørred, nye kartofler, kartoffelcreme, dildcreme og lidt salat. Gravad ørred og hyldeblomst ser jeg ikke som den bedste kombination, da den milde hyldeblomstsmag nemt kan blive overdøvet (og ørreden overdøvede den). Det samme problem så jeg også på Kokkeriet i København, hvor en kærnemælkssorbet overdøvede en hyldeblomstgele. Kartoffelcremen smagte ikke af så meget, men kartofler er jo ikke ligefrem særlig kraftige, men de kunne dog have tilføjet f.eks. en krydderurt. Danmark har virkelig nogle pragtfulde kartofler (prøv de sydeuropæiske – de er frygtelige), og de her var også rigtige gode og veltilberedte. Men er en kartoffel nok i sådan en restaurant her? Alt i alt var det dog en ganske okay sammensætning (6,5/10).
Unghanebryst, sprødstegt skind, gulerødder, ærtemos med persille, ærteskud og hønsebouillon. Den her ret var min klare favorit. Brystet var kogt ved 72 grader i en time, og det var meget mørt og meget smagsfuldt. Gulerødder siger mig ikke så meget, men de her gulerødder havde meget smag, og de havde den behagelige “skovbundssmag”, som visse grøntsager kan have. Bouillonen var også et godt match. Der var dog to små fejl: Det sprødstegte skind var for salt, og der var for meget persille i ærtemosen, hvilket overdøvede ærterne (8/10).
Sommerbuk, honningglaserede rabarber, brændte forårsløg, nye kartofler med persille og en pebersauce. Saucen gjorde ikke meget væsen af sig, men var som sådan velsmagende nok. Sommerbukken var en anelse tør, men jeg tror, at det havde mere at gøre med selve kødet end med tilberedningen (f.eks. er rådyr langt mere tørt end kronhjort, da det er et mere magert dyr). Jeg er rigtig glad for rabarber, men de kræver meget sukker for at undgå surhed, hvilket gør dem svære at tilberede. Her var honningen desværre ikke nok, men til gengæld var løgene rigtig gode, smagsfulde og uden den skarpe løgsmag, som nemt kan blive for meget (7/10).
Jordbærsorbet, et frisk jordbær, tørret fennikel, lakridsmarengs, rabarberkompot og lakridscreme. Ved siden af var der en crème Brûlée med stikkelsbærkompot i bunden. Jeg ved ikke rigtig, hvad fenniklen lavede på tallerkenen. Den var tør og ligegyldig, men sorbeten var til gengæld rigtig god og indfangede smagen af jordbær (uden surhed), når den er bedst. Rabarberen var bedre end til hovedretten, og lakrids, rabarber og jordbær fungerede ganske godt sammen. Stikkelsbærrene var ganske gode, men selve cremen havde en underlig konsistens – mere som mayonnaise end den faste buddingagtige konsistens, man plejer at se. Sorbeten var dog klart det bedste ved denne ret. En hæderlig dessert, der dog, trods alt, ikke nåede op på et fænomenalt plan (7/10).
Så var der betjeningen og atmosfæren:
Omend ikke voldsomt snakkesalig var vores tjener flink og rar, og jeg kunne især godt lide, at han lod mig smage de to forskellige hvidvine, han havde nævnt, efter jeg havde udtrykt lidt tvivl om, hvilken en han anbefalede mig. Alligevel var betjeningen ikke så god, som den kunne have været pga. flere ting:
Personen, der ryddede af, sagde først et ord, da hun tog tallerkenerne fra vores dessert, hvor hun spurgte, hvad vi syntes om desserten. Da vi satte os ved bordet, fortalte tjenerne intet om maden, restauranten eller andet, og menukortet blev afleveret uden et muk. Det værste var dog ventetiden (hvilket jeg sidenhen også har hørt fra adskillige andre). Der gik lang tid, før vi fik en menu, lang tid, før de tog imod vores bestilling, og alt, alt for lang tid mellem hver ret. Efter vi havde siddet der i to timer, var vi kun kommet til anden ret. Efter hver ret blev de beskidte tallerkener stående på bordet i op mod en halv time. Restauranten var nogenlunde fyldt, men det lod ikke til at være en videre travl dag.
Mit indtryk af Morten Kok er desværre, at han er lidt en wannabe-kendis, der vil have en restaurant, der samtidig er et smart diskotek for de rige og berømte. Jeg har aldrig snakket med ham, så jeg ved ikke, om det er et forkert indtryk, men mit indtryk af ham blev desværre ikke ændret under besøget. Det indtryk har ikke spillet ind på min anmeldelse, og jeg tog da heller ikke på restauranten for at kunne kritisere den (hvem gider at bruge alle de penge på det?), men for at få et godt måltid – jeg havde jo hørt, at den skulle være byens bedste.
Morten stod i restauranten (i stedet for i køkkenet) langt størstedelen af tiden, men jeg så ham kun servere for ét bord og tale med to andre. Han kom ikke hen til vores eller andre. Jeg forventer ikke nødvendigvis den slags på alle gode restauranter, men når han alligevel stod i restauranten så længe, og det som nævnt ovenfor ikke ligefrem virkede, som om de havde frygteligt travlt, var det da oplagt, at han gik rundt og hilste på alle gæsterne. Det ville helt klart have gjort det mere hyggeligt – især nu indretningen var lidt kold og oversmart i det med hvide/beige lædersofaer, blåt neonlys i loftet og en diskokugle over baren. På væggen hang der et maleri med en nøgen kvinde, der lå i en sofa og tilbød sit fødedygtige skræv. Jeg er lige så glad for nøgne kvinder som alle andre mænd, men det virkede meget malplaceret.
Fire retter mad: 598 kr per person (syv retter: 898 kr). Et glas vin: 112 kr. 50 cl San Pelegrino danskvand: 36 kr. 33 cl øl: 50 kr. Det er ikke just en billig restaurant, og selvom maden er velsmagende og godt lavet, var det ikke frygteligt opfindsomt, når jeg ser på nogle af de andre steder, jeg har været gennem tiden. Jeg skal dog skynde mig at sige, at jeg tit er på restauranter med Michelin-stjerner. Hvis man er vant til den slags, bør man nok holde sig til det. Hvis man ikke er, vil man måske synes bedre om Mortens Kro, end jeg gjorde. Jeg vil dog stadig anbefale at smide 100-200 kr mere i puljen og så tage på en Michelin-restaurant i København i stedet, hvis man har muligheden. Jeg er enig med en anmelder, der sagde, at der er et godt stykke op til de 10-15 bedste restauranter i København. På Kokkeriet i København gav jeg to år før 700 kr for syv retter, og maden (både smagen og opfindsomheden), betjeningen, vinen og valutaen var alle væsentligt bedre. Prisen på Kokkeriet er sidenhen steget, men nu tilbyder de fire retter for 650 kr eller seks retter for 800 kr. Mortens Kro tager 798 kr for seks retter, altså næsten samme pris for både fire og seks retter.
Selvom unghanebrystet klart var min favorit, var det største problem med maden generelt, at der manglede retter, som virkelig slog benene væk under mig.
Min far syntes, at Rold Storkro laver mindst lige så god mad. Jeg kunne bedre lide Morens Kro end mit sidste måltid på Rold Storkro (som er det eneste, jeg husker), men stilen minder da rigtig nok meget om hinanden. Mortens Kro er dog mere moderne og fin, men…
Maden alene var 7/10, men betjening, ventetid, lidt dårlig valuta for pengene, m.m. trækker den samlede vurdering ned.
