Fiskebaren - Copenhagen

Set back in Copenhagen's meatpacking district, Fiskebaren specializes in exceedingly-fresh seafood, executed precisely but simply. It gave my friend Steve and I a great opportunity to sample pristine local seafood. The atmosphere of the restaurant is slightly cold, fitting in with the aesthetic of the neighboring meat and fishpacking houses. A giant columnar fishtank with a small, single jellyfish sums it up.

Danish oysters

Lemon and mignonette would have done a disservice to these - clean, crisp, and needing no gussying up.

Razor clams

I far prefer clams to oysters and really enjoyed these. The green sauce is a ransom cream, and the salad was composed of shaved fennel, baby greens and herbs.

Trout tartare

Bound with a bit of mustard cream and topped with pea shoots, fried capers and crunchy-fried spelt seeds. I don't think I've had trout prepared as tartare before, and found the rich, fatty flavor just perfect for this preparation.

Smoked haddock fish and chips

Cold-smoked haddock was battered and fried - sheer genius. Hot, crunchy, fried, fatty, smoky - awesome.

Whitefish

Recommended highly by the table next to us, the whitefish was cooked sous vide and served with black trumpet mushroom puree.

The seafood here really was incredible and was put front-and-center. I wasn't a huge fan of the space, service, or beer list, but would definitely go back for the food.

Fiskebaren
Flæsketorvet 100
1711 København, Denmark
3215 5656

-Dan

Great reports thus far from your trip, though this one really has me staring at the screen. The seafood looks fantastic and with the pictures being as good as they are I can almost taste that smoked fish and chips. Fiskebaren is at the top of my list should I ever follow the Botwin's (and Doug) to Copenhagen.