Restaurant Puk — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

The gist of it: The service: Awful! Wrong food brought out. Talk back from the waiting staff when pointing out there were mistakes. Rude comments. The food: Mediocre.

Much more detailed version: We were a group of 8 people. I didn't feel like having snaps with my herring starter so I asked the waitress taking our drinks order if she could recommend one of their 'by the glass' sparkling wines. She looked at me very strangely and said that this was very strange. That it was traditional to have a snaps with herring. I explained that I knew that but thought a dry bubbly would maybe go well with herring in such a sweet dressing as I didn't feel like having snaps. She said she couldn't possibly recommend such a pairing. So I chose one of the dry bubblies myself and it came out very well with the herring, when the herring eventually came.

When the starters came out there was an extra shrimp cocktail and no herring. So I told the waiter who'd taken the food order what I had ordered and it hadn't come out, to which he replied angrily: "You didn't order any herring from me!" but he took the shrimp cocktail back and after a bit of a wait I got my herring.

One girl in our group ordered the brisket of Veal for the main course. Of course when the mains came out there was no Veal. Instead they brought her a Wiener Schnitzel. When she said that this wasn't correct they said that there wasn't any Veal on the menu and that she had definitely ordered the Schnitzel. She then pointed to the Veal on the menu to which our waiter replied: "Then you should have said you wanted the Brisket. You shouldn't have said Veal". How they misunderstood the word "Veal" for "Wiener Schnitzel" is beyond me. She however decided not to make a fuss and ate the Schnitzel.

There were 3 of us who ordered the plank steak. It comes with mashed potatoes that sort of frame the plank, reduced sauce and little piece of herb butter. The butter was really good and matched the steak and especially the potatoes well. The 3 of us finished our butter quite soon and asked for more. Got more (1 piece each). One of us wanted another portion of the butter and asked for just one more piece, to which the waiter replied very annoyed: "You've had 3 more pieces already. I just gave you more! Do you really want more?" He then came back with a plate full of more herb butter and flung it on the table in front of us with quite a bang.

We weren't even asked if we wanted desserts. Needless to say no one tipped.

The food itself wasn't as bad as the service. It was all cooked right. It is very traditional Danish food. Was it better than mediocre? I'm not sure. The unpleasant experience from the waiting staff made it impossible to really enjoy the food. I was flabbergasted at the talk-back and rude comments that were totally unwarranted.

I would suggest you get traditional danish food from somewhere else, if that's what you're in...

I wanted to try some traditional Danish fare while on my layover in Copenhagen and so I dropped by Restaurant Puk to try their famous smørrebrød - an open-faced sandwiches on rye bread.

Based on a recommendation from my charming waiter, I chose to try the Herrings from the Danish Island Christiansø smørrebrød (88NOK) and was not disappointed. The long-term matured herring was thick and meaty and covered with a sweet and sour sauce. The fish itself was served cold and uncooked... sort of like a smoked salmon but with a stronger taste. The diced red onions and capers had a real bite to it but it was tempered by the thick sour cream. The smørrebrød was then topped with a sliced hard boiled egg and garnish with a sprig of delicious fresh dill. It all culminated in a perfect explosion of flavors with each bite. The only thing I didn't like was the hard chewiness of the rye bread. It was so hard that I really had to struggle to cut through the bread at the bottom. I guess that's how the sandwich (which is actually quite heavy) is able to stay together.

Although the meal was a little on the pricy side (most food in Denmark is expensive), I would recommend it. The atmosphere sitting in the square watching the world go by is amazing. And the service was wonderful. Restaurant Puk is good place to people watch, relax, and have a good traditional...

Had dinner with my friend yesterday and wow, I was so impressed with the food from the start to the end. Firstly the service was excellent. I didn’t get the name of our waiters but they were very professional and attentive; making sure our water jug was refilled without having to ask at all. The seafood bisque was gorgeous and every mouthful of the liquid tasted amazing. Fresh shrimp provided a little bite and texture. We had to wipe the bowl clean with the accompanied bread.

My friend had the smoked salmon starter and he enjoyed it very much too!

The main event for both of us was the chateaubriand bearnaise which was cooked perfectly to medium rare, as per request. The steak was well-rested and tender. The hand-whipped bearnaise sauce….mmmm… definitely beats the store bought bearnaise anytime. The fries were delicious too but I was too full to eat them all. Everything paired well with a bottle of Pinot Noir to wash it down.

Ended up with one more drink for the road; G&T and Bailey’s coffee and we got ourselves a beautiful dinner for a Sunday evening. The restaurant was bustling with customers even for a Sunday evening! Cosy atmosphere with excellent service. I know now which restaurant to recommend to my friends who’s hungry for a good dinner experience in Copenhagen. I, for certain, would love to return and...