Café Dyrehaven — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

FYI: This review is primarily for the brunch (with a small blurb at the end for the evening entertainment).

I have, for many moons now, been preaching the gospel of brunch at Manfreds and Vin, and how it's simply the best in Copenhagen. And then I went to Dyrehaven for brunch. And I've officially been converted (though Manfreds still holds a very dear place in my heart, and I will go back repeatedly for their homemade sausages and perfectly poached eggs).

First of all, find me a restaurant that kills it with eggs benedict, and you have found me a restaurant that kills it generally. Okay, so Dyrehaven is hardly a restaurant (I'd say more of a café or brasserie), but listen, they KILL IT with their eggs benedict. Unlike Heidi S., I believe the use of homemade rugbrød in thick, toasted slices instead of an english muffin was the perfect added Scandinavian touch to their own version of eggs benedict. Ultimately, the most important part of an eggs benedict is not what sort of bread you use (for example, in Seattle most Northwest style eggs benedicts come on a croissant and have cream cheese and lox instead of canadian bacon or spinach, and it's still freaking awesome), but rather, the quality of the hollandaise sauce. And Dyrehaven has perfected that.

What makes the brunch better is when you order the full package (Morgenmadstallerken) and get another thick and toasted slice of homemade rugbrød with smashed avocado (with a hint of lime) and sliced hazelnuts on top. And then a bowl of skyr with müesli and berries. You may or may not feel like you're going to explode afterward, but add in a 10kr shot of ginger and I'm pretty sure your hangover just disappeared AND you won't have to eat again for the rest of the day. WIN.

Breakfast Pro-Tip: Brunch starts at 10 and ends at 12 and you can't reserve. On a sunny day, people show up well before 10am to claim spots at the benches out front, which happen to be in direct sunlight all morning. Come early or miss out.

Blurb on the nightlife: it has been my experience that the most concentrated amount of hipster beards can be found at Dyrehaven on a Friday night. It's also nearly impossible to find a place to sit, let alone stand, if you get there after about 10pm. Cramped? Yes. Popular? Yes. Not uncommon to engage in a game of limbo out front with complete strangers at 3am? Yes. Consider...

This place needs more staff. The place was half full when we arrived, a big contrast to the mad & kaffe just one block away with a queue of 15 people waiting. We were surprised at how not busy it seemed from the outside with such an appealing and affordable menu. The selection is limited but has good options and the prices very competitive. Plenty of outdoor seating outside and in. However. When I went in to collect our drinks I could only see one chef in the kitchen cooking the food, it was obvious that they needed to get someone else in. I think it was fair enough that the food was a bit slow, but the rest of the staff were awful. They made it really obvious that they did not want to be there. The barista was clearly undertrained, the coffee average and tea leaves everywhere but the tea strainer. They took one of our orders wrong, but instead of apologizing, they insisted that’s what we ordered, and if we wanted a replacement, the kitchen was busy so it’s going to be at least 30 minutes. In the end we said no worries not a big deal. The waitress did come back and offer a coffee on the house about 20 minutes later. It’s a shame because there’s a lot about this place that really works. The location, chef, and menu. He is being let down by the other staff, and the low low...

We trusted the reviews but were wondering why this was the only Café with ony a few guests on a Saturday morning. The tables outside were dirty, no sign which said that we need to order inside - and pay directly - and remember your table-number. There were at least three waitresses, not really friendly or welcoming or helpful. When they spotted an empty table with used dishes outside they ignored it for about 20 minutes - and didn't anything to clean the table from stains. If you order coffee you're asked to take it out on your own. In a can were the spoons are I spotted an obviously completely dirty one. How is that possible? One review said that the eggs were cold. Ours were only slightly warm as well. The food was ok but not much and we felt not welcome during our whole stay. Not even a question if the food was OK when they took our empty plates. If it's intended to offer such a non-existent service I wonder why they don't put automatic order-machines there where the customers don't expect a human...