Bæst — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

Not all picks are winners, and so was the case with Bæst. Sure, the stats were strong, the odds were good, great even, but sometimes the best on paper fail to deliver. Delivery was where it all fell apart.

All of the ingredients were there: delicately shaved prosciutto, squeaky mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, fresh plums, silky straciatella. Sadly, our server was unable to meet the same quality bar. Distracted and inattentive, he attempted to upsell others while ignoring us for long stretches.

Our small courses came out quickly. Then, we waited. And waited. While an entire section filled. While a pizza was delivered to the neighboring table, then another across the way, and another two tables down. All seated after us. The couple just ahead of us in line enjoyed dessert and paid. We waited. I flagged the server who came by and grumbled, “You’re still waiting for your pizza.” He picked up my husband’s wine glass and wandered away. We thought he might return with a full glass.

The adjacent section cleared. I summoned the server again for water. He said our pizza would be right out. He eventually returned with two glasses and offered me a glass on the house for our wait. “Thank you, but no thank you.” He seemed surprised, but I’d already had a celebratory glass of bubbles at the start of the meal, and don’t tolerate alcohol well. This explanation shouldn’t be necessary. I’d just like our pizza.

Over two hours after we were seated, the pizza arrived. It was good. Not phenomenal. Not 50 Best. Good.

I’m eating my way through Denmark this week for my birthday, and not all picks can be winners. We all have off days. Maybe many someone elses had phenomenal pizza at Bæst for their birthdays. I did not. Ah, well.

If you do visit, I hope you get a server other than “Info” (his name on the ticket) when you visit. Maybe we’ll be back in CPH in another 5 years and try again. Probably not. Should you keep this one on your list? Eh. Cannot recommend. In a city full of elite chefs, pick an underdog who’s still hungry themselves. You just might...

Last Saturday, we went to Bæst for dinner. I have been several times and have always enjoyed the great pizzas and vibe there. This time we went to try out some of the other dishes. The house made salumi and cheeses were excellent. The bresaola in particular stood out with its subtle hints of juniper that differentiated it from any commercial bresaola I had ever had.

We then tried the roasted pulpo. This was a miss. The pulpo was basically burnt. When we were asked how the meal was, we expressed our concern that the pulpo was over roasted. The server ensured us it was correct and checked with the kitchen. On her return we were informed it was correct. When I indicated that when I ate the blackened tail that it dissolved into a powder into my mouth, I was told that that was how it was supposed to be. It was as if I had taken a bite into a lump of charcoal. The house n’duja sauce couldn’t save it because all one could taste was burnt food. When my wife indicated that we have had this dish many times in Spain and Italy and that we are well versed in how it should be prepared, the server raised her voice and provokingly stated “Well, we are not in Italy!”. Then there was an awkward silence. My wife and I looked at each other speechless. My feeling is that if you are going to charge 260 DKK for a small piece of octopus, it should be perfect. That’s fine though…so we didn’t like their preparation…I just would never order that again….I would follow my instinct and just stick with pizza there. But the most disappointing thing is this…I likely will not be back for the simple feeling that we didn’t feel welcome. I don’t want to drop over 1000 kronor for a dinner to be verbally berated. Service is the one thing you have the most control of when running any b2c business.

By the way - I just posted a review of my experience with this kind of dish at Caronte - it was excellent. Infinitely better execution and a...

I would say that pizza is nice, quite average if we are talking places with good pizza such as Dry in Milan (much much better than here) and some places in Paris.

The service however is questionable. This was my 5th, I think, visit to the place, and through all this time I saw people not finishing their pizza, and waiters were very kind to suggest every time (!) to pack it for a takeaway in a regular takeaway pizza box.

Even if you ate just one slice, it was fine and you can take it away if you want to.

However god forbid you ask for a take away straight away after having eaten two pizzas at the table.

We finished our two pizzas (one had two pieces left) and asked for the leftovers to be packed, and one more marinara to go. Because we: 1 Saw they had the boxes 2 The table near us just had their 5 slices packed

We were refused. We said that our friends were very hungry, we said that we have another pizza to go so it seems strange. It was 2-minute ride home after all. We were refused in quite arrogant manner, something about the "policy", how the waiter "agrees with it" and that they already make a sacrifice by packing people's unfinished pizza.

BUT that's not the end. We asked if we could have the pizza here, eat a couple of slices and then pack it. The waiter said no, "you didn't finish this pizza so I don't think it makes sense". So I can't order more if the waiter has an opinion about it?..

I don't believe in this nonsense of the policy; it's just pizza! Also either you pack AND you make it to go, or you don't have the boxes at all, or it all seems very hypocritical.

The very least you can do is to teach your waiters how to answer difficult questions. The simple "sorry guys, if we make pizzas to go the kitchen will be too busy" is much better than all the arrogant...