Pieces of Copenhagen in Redwood City

By Mai Truong

I have a soft spot. If I like someone’s movies, I have to try their food too. Take Korean for example, I saw the actors eating bibimbap and ddeokbokki with so much joy I had to find and like them myself. Many months ago my friend Rashmi posted a link of this adorable short movie The Danish Poet, and now I’ve finally found Copenhagen. A Danish restaurant that I will frequent.

Most of the menu is above twenty, which doesn’t seem to bother the elderly ladies and gentlemen dining here. They sip their white wine, take small bites, talk with their backs straight and eyes observant. I always have to watch my pitch in this kind of casual expensive place. Thankfully, the food is plentiful.

A choice of soups or salads precedes every entree. I like how they top my spinach salad with boiled eggs and bacon bits and very little vinaigrette. Split pea soup seems more popular than potato and leek soup and cream of mushroom soup, but as the staff said, they’re all good. I’m not crazy about mushy soups, but a small nutty cup paired with crusty baguette makes a warm entrance for din-din.

Two thin, Moselle style batter-fried red snapper fillets come out crisp hot, unfortunately topped with a rather cold batch of sauteed shrimps and mushroom. The shrimps felt a little watered-down and sea-ish, if that makes any sense. That aside, kudos for the grape halves, whose sweet juice complements the fried fish quite well. I also love the nutty buttery boiled potato and the overcooked mustard greens (cai be xanh) on the side.

The Danish style roasted pork loin also comes with overcooked mustard greens and carrots, both overwhelmed by the red cabbage sauerkraut. The lonely prune is good for nothing. Deep drowned in gravy, those soft slices of paper white lean pork go exceedingly well with apple sauce – once again, the sweet-savory duet triumphs.

For completeness, we get dessert, which turns out a tad boring. The Danish rice pudding is a sad cup of white rice in some thick milky sauce, a few sparse raisins, topped with strawberry jelly and whipped cream. It’s like chè, but is too monotonic. That’s ok, it is cheap, only $3.75. Next time we’ll be happy with chocolate cake.