Burger | The Copenhagen Tales

Amazing burgers, simple as that: Tommi’s Burger Joint

Mar 25 Written by Laura

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know, otherwise I’m going to be frank with you right now: I love burgers. I mean, LOVE them. Hard. Could eat them every day and not even feel sorry for it. I’m on a constant quest to find great burgers in Copenhagen (here, here, and here), and I’m still far from having tried all the great burger places here.

One that has been on my must-eat-here-asap list for a really long time is Tommi’s Burger Joint in the Meatpacking District. If you ask around for the best burger place in the city, there are many people who would say this is. Founded in Iceland, Tommi’s now has burger places in London, Berlin, and Copenhagen as well. Located in the center of the trendy Kødbyen in Vesterbro, it was a perfect spot to eat lunch outside in the sun, even though it was still quite chilly.

In a delightful change of pace compared to other burger places such as Halifax, Haché, or Grillen Nørrebro, where you can customize you burger with different buns, beef, chicken or chickpea patties, and all sorts of exotic toppings, Tommi’s makes it plain and simple. Their menu: burgers. Their exotic toppings: cheese and bacon. Their sides: fries. Their drinks: milkshakes and sodas. It’s simple, and I love it!

Their burgers are not very large, but perfect for a lunch portion. And the price of DKK 89 for a burger, fries, and a soda is more than fair, especially compared to rest of the Copenhagen burger landscape!

The concept is very American diner-like, with burgers wrapped in paper and served in little baskets with the fries. Sodas are served in the can. It’s so unpretentious, so understatement, and so “back to the basics”, which is what makes it so great.

Not to mention the amazingness of their burgers, which excel in their simplicity. The buns are soft and a little bit sweet, almost brioche-like. The meat is cooked perfectly and well-seasoned. By default, they’ll cook your burger medium, but of course you can ask for it to be well done, which is what I prefer in my burgers. Otherwise, there’s some lettuce, a slice of tomato, and some pickles, and of course ketchup and mustard.

I mean, just look at this beauty! If I hadn’t written variations of the word “perfect” around 40 times already in this post, that would be what I would use to describe this burger!

The fries are thin and crispy, not too salty, and they remind me a lot of “Freibadpommes” – the fries we would get at the kiosk in the public pool as kids every summer. Oh, the memories!

Burgers in the sun? Anytime!!

Have you tried Tommi’s Burger Joint? What do you think? And where should I go next and eat delicious burgers? I’m looking forward to any recommendations!

Beef me up, Scotty: Five great burger places in Copenhagen

Dec 8 Written by Laura

I love burgers! Do you, too? If so, you’ve come to the right place! I’m on a constant exploring mission to find delicious burgers all around Copenhagen, and I have a couple more on my “to try” list. But for now, here are five of my favorite burger places! What are yours? Which ones did I miss or should I try next? Share in the comments below!

Halifax

What can I say, Halifax is my favorite burger place in Copenhagen. The variety they offer simply can’t be beat – build your own burger with a bun (classic or whole grain), patty (classic beef, chicken or a vegetarian option of either chickpea or green pea patties), style, sides and sauces. The possibilities are endless! My personal favorite is the Mexican style burger with guacamole and a spicy salsa, for which I like to choose the green pea patty. Another great combination is the Tokyo burger, topped with an Asian coleslaw and a spicy miso sauce – I recommend the chicken for this. Their homemade remoulade sauce is absolutely fantastic!

Four locations in the city (Trianglen Østerbro, Nørreport, Forum Frederiksberg, and city center) – burgers DKK 120-140 (incl. sides and dips) – takeaway and delivery – halifax.dk

Vesterbro’s Originale Burgerrestaurant

Located in an old sauna, this place on funky Istedgade is definitely worth a visit. Great burgers, I recommend the classic “Den Originale” with cheddar and bacon. Major plus in my book: they have curly fries! I don’t know why, but they just taste so much better than their boring, straight cousins. They also make their own ketchup, which is absolutely fantastic.

Istedgade 34-36, Vesterbro – burgers DKK 85-89, side orders DKK 15-35 – vb-burgers.dk

Haché Gourmet Burgers

With two restaurants in Copenhagen, Haché have definitely made a name for themselves and their tasty burgers. Their Nørreport restaurant has a sort of industrial, low-key charme, but the friendly staff makes up for what some might perceive as a lack of coziness. Their burgers are prime, with limousine beef patties and great homemade sauces. The barbecue burger is highly recommended. They are also famous for their deep-fried Mars bars, but I have to say, I’m not a fan. They have special lunch offers, too. (see my full review here)

Two locations (Nørreport, Valby) – burgers DKK 100, side orders DKK 35 – takeaway and delivery – hache.dk

Cocks & Cows

The – admittedly unusual – name of the two restaurants stands for cocktails and burgers, which is what they are known for. I’ve only been in the one on Gammel Strand, which I absolutely loved. I really liked the atmosphere – you’re seated either in American-style booths along the wall, or at one of the long massive wooden tables with benches. Their cocktails are delicious and quite strong, and the burgers are oh-so-nom! I highly recommend their Sweet American bread, which comes branded with their logo and adds a really nice flavor. They are really milking their name theme, from the cocktail names to the signs on the bathroom doors that say “cocks” and “cows”. I recommend that you book a table in advance.

Two locations (Gammel Strand, Rådhuspladsen) – burgers DKK 89-129, sides DKK 29, sauces DKK 12 – takeout and delivery – cocksandcows.dk

XO Burgers and Steaks

We tried this place out on a weeknight, as it’s conveniently located right across the street from Palads movie theater, where we had tickets for later that night. Online portals such as Yelp have some mixed reviews, but I think the place actually offers a very good burger experience! Their interior is very nice, American style with cozy leather booths and a nice color scheme. The staff was very friendly, and our food was served very quickly (but we ate early so it wasn’t very busy). I tried the English style burger with HP sauce and sunny side up egg, and it was very good. Very nice meat, cooked to perfection. Worth mentioning are the potato wedges – real, big, oven baked wedges, from real potato, nicely seasoned and going great with their chili mayo. Yum!

Axeltorv 3 (across the street from Palads) – DKK burgers 99-159, sides DKK 30, sauces DKK 10 – xoburgersandsteaks.dk

In search of Copenhagen’s best burger restaurant: Haché

Sep 24 Written by Laura

You know what I like? Burgers! I really don’t know what it is about them, but they are just so delicious. I love the variety that you can get – beef patty, chicken, maybe a veggie option, topped with all sorts of salad, vegetables, sauces and condiments, wrapped in a crispy bun. I love making my own burgers, for example my chicken burger with guacamole, but I also love going out to grab a bite. I’ve had some pretty good burgers, for example at Vesterbro’s Originale Burgerrestaurant or Von Fressen (not to mention all-time classic Halifax, but that warrants a separate post).

So last night, I met some friends for dinner at Haché near Nørreport station, across the street from Torvehallerne. They run a second restaurant by the same name in Valby.

I’d heard great things about the place, and when I started to browse their menu online, it looked very promising (and hunger-inducing!). Compared to Halifax, for example, Haché’s selection is much more traditional and you will find many classics there, like the BBQ Burger or the Bacon & Cheese. They do have some more extravagant ones, like a Greek style burger with ground lamb, or one with tons of blue cheese. There is a chicken burger as well, and I assume you could probably ask to have chicken instead of the beef patty on any of the other burgers, too, though I didn’t try and therefore can’t be sure. For the vegetarians, there’s a burger with a zucchini patty, or a Portobello burger.

As for the side orders, you can choose between rustic fries, onion rings and chili beans, or just go for a salad (note: you can also get all burgers as a “low carb” version without the bun and with extra salad). But who wants to eat low-carb when it’s about burgers?! I, for one, was in a classic mode yesterday, so I went for the BBQ burger, which comes with a smoky barbecue sauce, a spicy salsa and cheese. On the side, we split some fries with a delicious chili mayo, which wasn’t too spicy, but with just the right kick.

The BBQ Burger was served with some additional salsa on the side, which might have been the same one as on the burger, but I can’t tell for sure. What I can tell you for sure, though, is that the burger was fantastic! The ratio of bread-to-beef-to-other stuff was exactly right; I’m sure there are some people who would want extra beef, but for me it was perfect. The meat was nicely cooked, not dry at all and had a really good taste. The smoky barbecue sauce was really nicely complemented by the fresh, spicy salsa. The fries that came along were perfectly crispy on the outside and nice and potato-y on the inside. Not sure though why they are “rustic fries”, as they seemed pretty standard to me.

When we had managed to (more or less) finish our burgers, we waited in excitement for dessert. The guys had been freaking out already when they saw the item on the menu: deep-fried Mars bar! I’m pretty sure this is the only place in all of Denmark where you can get one of those, and expectations were high. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed, as the fried batter and the hot, melted Mars bar mixed together to form a very strange, super-sticky consistency that I wasn’t really a fan of. The taste was… well, it tasted like Mars, so no huge surprise there. I went with an Affogato, a scoop of vanilla ice cream with espresso, which was very nice. Not sure whether the ice cream was homemade, but it was of good quality at the least, and tasted very nice.

Overall, I will definitely come here again and try some other of their burgers. The atmosphere was very nice, too, though one of the waitresses was very eager to take our orders – she came to the table about four times before all guests had actually arrived. The price level is very fair, with 100 DKK for a burger and 35 DKK for the sides, it is on the same level as Halifax or Vesterbro’s. You absolutely receive quality for your money, so I think it’s well worth it. Recommended!