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DRINKING

Danish drinks

 

The høcker beer
In the warm summer months the cold høcker beer - the generic name for any beer bought in a shop and drunk outside - can't be beaten. In Denmark, drinking al fresco - on beaches, parks, or simply catching a ray of sun on a city bench - isn't frowned upon as a sign of homelessness and alcoholism, but rather seen as an appreciation of life and the great outdoors. So do what the locals do: stock up at a corner shop, find a spot you like and settle down with your own bag of supplies.


Bars with outdoor seating
Alléenberg : al fresco drinking in a tranquil garden in smart Frederiksberg.
Barbar Bar and Café Obelix : outdoor seating on cobbled Vesterbro Torv.
Base Camp : soak up the atmosphere by a peaceful and picturesque canal on the island of Holmen.
Café Den Blå Hund : sit outside on Axel Møllers Have - you may catch one of the jazz concerts which are sometimes held here.
Front Page : enjoy a view of the waters of Sortedams Sø lake with the city in the distance.
Hviid's Vinstue : traditional old vinstue which spills out onto busy Kongens Nytorv in good weather.
Nemoland : at the heart of the "free city" of Christiania and a good place to people-watch.
Park Café : rooftop seating looking out over Fælledparken and busy Østerbrogade.
Pussy Galore's Flying Circus and Sebastopol : right on trendy Skt Hans Torv square - the place to be seen


Indre by
Bo-Bi Bar Klareboderne 14. Bus #31, #42, #43 or Nørreport S-Tog. Mon-Sat noon-2am, Sun 2pm-2am. Home to Copenhagen's oldest bar counter - an idea first introduced to the city by a New York-returned sailor in 1917 - this small and cosy drinking hole is now patronized by inner-city professional types, students and artists.
Café Dan Turéll Store Regnegade 3. Bus #31, #42 or #43. Mon-Wed 10am-midnight, Thurs 10am-2am, Fri & Sat 10am-4am, Sun 11am-midnight. Named after the popular Danish author, this swanky café-bar, covered in steel and mirrors, sports Turéll book covers above the bar and an arty but sociable student crowd. During summer the large front opens out onto the street.
Café Floss Larsbjørnstræde 10. Bus #5, #14 or #16. Daily noon-2am. Small and lively café-bar which manages to be hip and homely at the same time. Guldøl (Tuborg's strong gold beer) and tequila are on special offer during happy hour between 10pm and 11pm.
Foley's Irish Pub Lille Kannikestræde 3. Nørreport S-Tog Daily 11am-4am. Dim lighting and a superabundance of candles give this place an almost ecclesiastical feel (an effect only slightly spoilt by Sky Sports above the bar). Often the final stop for local Irish after a night of pub-crawling. Decent food too.
Globe Irish Pub Nørregade 45. Bus #5. Mon, Tues & Sun 1pm-1am, Wed 1pm-2am, Thurs & Fri 1pm-3am, Sat noon-5am. Loud, flashy and spacious Irish pub, with lots of televised sports, although your fellow drinkers are more likely to be tourists or Danish theatre folk than expats from the Emerald Isle.
Hviids Vinstue Kongens Nytorv 19. Bus #1 or #6. Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-1am, Fri & Sat 10am-2am. Old-fashioned vinstue dating back to 1723 - Hans Christian Andersen may have been a regular, since he lived just around the corner - whose many crowded rooms are patrolled by uniformed and respectful waiters. Outdoor seating in summer.
Krasnapolsky Vestergade 10. Bus #5. Mon-Wed 10am-2am, Thurs-Sat 10am-5am, Sun 2pm-midnight. Hip and hi-tech, this trend setting establishment features Copenhagen's longest bar counter and Danish avant-garde art on the walls. Yuppies and techno freaks hang out here side by side with ritzy shoppers from nearby Strøget, while from Thursday to Saturday a DJ delivers techno and house in the back room dancing area. The bartenders can be difficult, but don't let this put you off.
Musen og Elefanten Vestergade 21. Bus #14 or #16. Mon-Thurs, Fri 3pm-5am, Sat & Sun 5pm-2am. Personable bar set up in homage to its owner's twin obsessions: Carlsberg Elephant Beer - one of the strongest in Denmark - and traditional rock music. Draught Elephant flows from a carved trunk into the glasses of the rock fiends who sit around having their ears blown off.
Nyhavn 17 Nyhavn 17. Bus #9, #10 or #29. Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-2am, Fri & Sat 10am-4am. Zships' figureheads, anchors and rudders scattered around the dimly lit interior - the gleaming brass bar fittings are the only bright feature. Popular among tourists and Danes alike, with moderately priced draught beers and ciders.
Sabines Cafeteria Teglgårdsstræde 4. Bus #14 or #16. Mon-Sat 10am-2am, Sun 2pm-2am. Small and easygoing café-bar where the city's young and good-looking begin their evening's drinking. During the day, a more sedate clientele comes here to drink coffee and read the newspapers.
Café Smash Skt Peders Stræde 24a. Bus #5, #14 or #16. Mon 10am-5pm, Tues & Wed 10am-11pm, Thurs 10am-midnight, Fri & Sat 10am-1am. Plush bar with Denmark's largest selection of cocktails. Tell the bartender your favourite colour and flavour and he'll mix you a delicious blend of rainbow liquors. A tad pricey, but good fun. The café also serves reasonable food.
Café Sommersko Kronprinsensgade 6. Bus #31, #42 or #43. Mon-Thurs 8am-midnight, Fri 8am-2am, Sat 9am-2am, Sun 10am-midnight. Popular and spacious French-style café on two levels with bright red plastic sofas and waiters with attitude. On summer Sunday afternoons, there's free live music to soothe away hangovers.
Stereo Bar Linnésgade 16a. Nørreport S-Tog. Wed-Sat 8pm-3am. Almost invisible from the road, but a few steps up from street level lead you into a dark, smoke-filled and usually overcrowded bar where music takes first priority, with DJs in the cellar playing jazz-oriented world music.


Tivoli and around
Bryggeriet Apollo Vesterbrogade 3. Bus #6, #8, #12 or #28. Mon-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri & Sat 1.30pm-2am, Sun 3pm-midnight. Freshly brewed on the premises, Bryggeriet 's organic beer is served up amidst gleaming vats, copper kettles and heavy wooden tables; food is available in the bright upstairs section. If you want you can have your beer served in a Belgian "Kwak", similar to a short-yard glass - if you're not careful, you end up pouring beer all over yourself. Not surprisingly, it's all a tad pricey, but worth it.
The Old English Pub Vesterbrogade 2b. Bus #6 or #28. Mon-Fri noon-3am, Sat & Sun 10am-5am. One of the fancy Anglophile drinking establishments outside the Scala entertainment complex, this English theme pub is so thoroughly and lavishly kitted out with British paraphernalia that it's impossible not to be impressed. Also boasts the widest selection of beers in Copenhagen, including a couple of British ales.


Christianshavn
Base Camp Halvtolv bygningen 148, Holmen. Bus #8. Mon-Wed & Sun 11am-1am, Thurs-Sat 11am-5am. Hip and happening, this gigantic naval shed, located in out-of-the-way Holmen, houses a combined restaurant, bar, concert hall and nightclub - an unusual venue for all-night drinking. There's bungee jumping by the canal and other outdoor activities like wall climbing during summer.
Eiffel Bar Wildersgade 58. Bus #2, #8, #9, #19, #28, #31 or #37. Daily 9am-2am. Next door to smart Café Wilder , though this traditional drinking den couldn't be more different. Rumours of its shifty past, featuring assorted sailors and can-can girls, add to the serious drinking atmosphere, while the old carved mirrors and the tricolour hanging outside takes you back to raucous Paris in the 1930s. Prices are very reasonable.
Nemoland Christiania. Bus #8. Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-2am, Fri & Sat 10am-3.30am. One of Christiania's two main watering holes, and among Copenhagen's most popular open-air bars during summer, when it's often packed with tourists and shoppers tasting their purchases from nearby Pusherstreet. It's quieter during winter, with regulars playing backgammon or billiards.
Rabes Have Langebrogade 8. Bus #5, #11 or #30. Daily noon-midnight. Supposedly the oldest bar in Copenhagen - it has a documented history dating back to 1632 - this bohemian venue offers everything a local pub should: beer at reasonable prices, a selection of traditional Danish food and the obligatory billiard table. Popular among the rich and famous.
Café Wilder Wildersgade 56. Bus #2, #8, #9, #19, #28, #31 or #37. Daily 9am-2am. Old-time favourite among trendy Christianshavners (Helena Christiansen supposedly comes here), this slightly run-down but always busy corner café sells good, though pricey, food and drink. Look out for Wilder 's trademark painting in the bar: an abandoned naked woman left with a pile of empty beer bottles.
Woodstock Pusherstreet, Christiania. Bus #8. Daily 9am-5am. Housed in a ramshackle former military barracks on Pusherstreet, easygoing Woodstock is the place to enjoy a laidback drink in an unpretentious bar kitted out with old garden furniture and full of 1960s spirit.


Vesterbro
Bang & Jensen Istegade 130. Bus #16. Mon-Fri 11am-2am, Sat & Sun 10am-2am. Vesterbro's newest in-place has high stucco ceilings and a mahogany counter left over from its former incarnation as a pharmacy. The classic old shop front has been maintained, along with the period wall decorations. It's usually packed with students, especially on Saturday nights.
Barbar Bar Vesterbrogade 51. Bus #6 or #28. Mon-Wed 10am-1am, Thurs-Sat 10am-2am, Sun 11am-6pm. Located on Vesterbro Torv near the City Museum, this unassuming place is a favourite of up-and-coming musicians and a relaxing spot for a quiet drink. There's al fresco service on the square during summer.
Hackenbusch Vesterbrogade 124. Bus #6. Mon-Thurs 10am-2am, Fri & Sat 10am-5am, Sun 10am-midnight. One of Vesterbro's older and more eccentric cafés, frequented by a mixed set. The popular and slightly pricey restaurant attracts wealthy trendsetters, while the crazy front bar, furnished with high steel-wire sofas and an ancient Portuguese table football, caters to more alternative types. The music selection, however, doesn't seem to have changed much since the place opened in the 1980s.
Keegans Bar Stenosgade 1. Bus #6 or #28. Daily 4pm-5am. A scuzzy but lively late-night/early-morning drinking den with an Anglophone clientele - beer is served in pints rather than half litres. A selection of stouts, such as Guinness and Kilkenny, is sold at very reasonable prices, and it's a cheap place for a late-night drink. There's also Sky Sports and late-night pool games.
Café Ludwigsen Sundesvedsgade 2. Bus #6. Mon, Tues & Sun noon-2am, Wed noon-3am, Thurs-Sat noon-5am. Outrageously popular late-night bar (despite the "café" in the name, there's no food) where the young, free and extremely desperate congregate en masse after hours.
Café Obelix Vesterbrogade 53. Bus #6 or #28. Daily 8.30am-2am. This winsome tribute to the large, menhir-wielding Breton pulls in Vesterbro's yuppies, who drink amongst themed decorations based on the Gaulish cartoon village. During summer, tables are moved outside and gas heaters make even cool nights bearable.
Pinden Reventlowsgade 4. Central Station. Daily 10am-2am. Across the road from Central Station, Pinden (The Stick) is a traditional, smoky drinking den where local old-timers hang out on worn-out furniture playing the odd game of dice - a much more entertaining meeting point than the station's cold platforms and shiny cafés.
Café Sorte Hest Vesterbrogade 135. Bus #6. Mon-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri 11am-1am, Sat 10am-1am, Sun 10am-9pm. Once a stronghold of BZ squatters during their battles with the police, Sorte Hest is now a swanky café where you can enjoy a quiet beer without fear of hurled cobblestones or tear gas - look out for the peculiar small glass-floor art exhibit. A pianist plays music from Chaplin movies every Sunday lunchtime and there are live bands one weekend a month.


Frederiksberg
90eren Gammel Kongevej 90. Bus #1 or #14. Mon-Wed 11am-1.30am, Thurs-Sat 11am-2am, Sun 1pm-1am. Famous for its painstakingly pulled draught beer, an operation which can take up to twelve minutes, 90eren is the only bar in Copenhagen serving uncarbonated beer (it's brewed at the nearby Carlsberg brewery). The strong hops flavour is reminiscent of English real ale and - supposedly - very similar to the original Carlsberg beer produced in the mid-nineteenth century.
Alléenberg Allégade 4. Bus #18. Mon-Sat 10pm-5am. Decorated with Danish theatre memorabilia, this lively bar is the preferred watering hole of the local Frederiksberg theatre crowd of wannabes and will-bes - they'll probably give you a tune on the piano at some point - and the last stop for the neighbourhood's high-school students after late nights on the town.
Café Den Blå Hund Godthåbsvej 28. Bus #2 or #11. Mon-Sat 10.30am-2am, Sun 11am-1am. By day, people come here to drink coffee, read newspapers and chat. After sunset, the draught beer begins to flow and, on a few nights a week, there's live jazz. During summer, the café spills out across busy Godthåbsvej to Axel Møllers Have, where covered seating is available, serviced by tray-balancing white-aproned waiters. Good food, too.
Café Svejk Smallegade 31. Bus #1 or #14. Mon-Thurs 3pm-2am, Fri & Sat noon-2am, Sun 1pm-8pm. Near Frederiksberg Have, Svejk's claim to fame is its Czech draught beer, Bohemia Regent, a refreshing change if you've had enough of Danish brands. There's also live jazz at weekends, and a 42-inch screen showing football matches at other times.


Nørrebro
Barcelona Fælledvej 21. Bus #3, #5 or #16. Mon-Thurs & Sun 11am-2am, Fri & Sat 11am-5am. Located close enough to Skt Hans Torv to be considered part of the hip Nørrebro café scene, this swanky, two-level hangout - restaurant upstairs, café-bar downstairs - is converted during weekends into the Bar'Cuda night club, when the back-room dance floor becomes a sweaty cavern of funk and soul. The restaurant serves well-prepared Danish and southern European dishes, and the tapas in the downstairs café are tasty accompaniments to a vast array of drinks.
Café Blågård's Apotek Blågårds Plads 20. Bus #5 or #16. Daily 3pm-2am, in summer open from noon. Homely bar, still patronized by some of the left-wing activists who used to clash on this square with the police during the 1970s. They're now joined by a less committed crowd who come to sample the bar's many wines and Urquell draught beer. Gets jam-packed during weekends, when there's also live jazz, blues or rock.
Front Page Sortedam Dossering 21. Bus #5 or #16. Mon-Wed & Sun 11am-1am, Thurs-Sat 11am-1am. Attractive lakeside café-bar, especially popular in summer, when tables are moved outdoors to the lakeside and you can contemplate the city from afar over a relaxing drink. In winter, service moves inside to a cosy cellar. There's good-value food in the Siden af Front Page restaurant next door.
Café Gokken & Kokken Nørrebrogade 114. Bus #5 or #16. Mon-Thurs 10am-midnight, Fri & Sat 10am-2am, Sun 10am-11pm. Close to Assistens Kirkegården, with a varied (if not exactly stylish) clientele, this thoroughly unpretentious bar offers solid entertainment at weekends, when the volume on the small sound system is turned up and everyone sings along, and cosy lazing around during the week. Reasonably priced food available too.
Mexibar Elmegade 27. Bus #3. Mon-Thurs 5pm-2am, Fri & Sat, Sun 6pm-1am. On the corner of Skt Hans Torv and Elmegade, this small and easily missed basement venue looks from the outside rather like an abandoned travel agency, with a dusty Mexican sombrero and a string of colourful Christmas lights in the window. Step inside, though, to find one of the best-value cocktail bars in town, with superb drinks and a lively mix of tourists and locals.
Pussy Galore's Flying Circus Skt Hans Torv 30. Bus #3. Mon-Fri 8am-2am, Sat & Sun 9am-2am. Named after the nubile heroine of the James Bond movie Goldfinger , you'll be stirred if not shaken by unusual cocktails like Cuban mojritos (rum, lemon and lime, mint and soda water), an extensive list of schnapps, tasty wok dishes and outdoor seating on one of Nørrebro's hippest squares - definitely a place to be seen.
Café Rust Guldbergsgade 8. Bus #3, #5, #16. Mon 6pm-midnight, Tues-Sat 6pm-5am. Crowded, multi-level dive named after Mathias Rust, who cheated advanced radar systems and sleeping Russian bureaucrats when landing his small Cessna plane on Moscow's Red Square in 1987. His adventure resulted in the pan-Scadinavian peace initiative, the Next Stop Sovjet, which was based in this building. Rust subsequently began to host live bands, and is still one of the city's most popular music venues. Features include a new dance floor, with stage and bar, a popular and laid-back minimalistic cocktail bar and, in the basement, one of Copenhagen's hippest DJ-ing venues.
Sebastopol Skt Hans Torv 2. Bus #3. Mon-Wed & Sun 9am-1am, Thurs-Sat 9am-2am. Classy Parisian-style café crowded at weekends with well-groomed professionals warming up for a night out. As the evening moves on, the outdoor drinking area on Skt Hans Torv gradually expands to include the cobblestones. The more budget-minded join the crowd with beer from the cornershop across the road.


Østerbro
Circus Rosenvængets Alle 7. Bus #1 or #6. Mon-Wed & Sun 11am-1am, Thurs-Sat 11am-2am. Formerly a butcher's - look out for the impressive frieze illustrating the life of a cow from green field to butcher's knife - Circus has recently been converted into an unusual combination of deli shop, hair dressing salon and bar-restaurant, all under one roof. Food here, predominantly Danish cuisine, is a tad pricey, but the bar is comfy.
Kruts Karport Øster Farimagsgade 12. Bus #14 or #40. Mon-Sat 11am-2am, Sun 12am-1am. Small Parisian-style neighbourhood café-bar which prides itself on having Denmark's largest whisky selection (mainly Scotch single malts) and on being the only bar in Copenhagen selling absinthe. Arranges whisky tastings and cigar evenings, with accompanying talks, during the winter.
Park Café Østerbrogade 71. Bus #4 or #16. Mon & Sun 11am-midnight, Tues & Wed 11am-2am, Thurs 11am-5am, Fri & Sat 11am-6am. One of Denmark's largest cafés, with a classical interior of high stucco ceilings, polished rotating doors, crystal chandeliers and marble pillars. Quiet in the day, it transforms by evening into a vibrant pick-up joint, while a drinks list as long as your arm, live music a couple of nights a week, and a disco from Thursday to Saturday all add to the party atmosphere - expect queues at weekends. There's a great view of Østerbro from the rooftop terrace.
Rytme Hans Østerbrogade 35. Bus #1 or #14. Mon-Wed 2pm-2am, Thurs 2pm-3am, Fri 2pm-4am, Sat 11am-4am, Sun 11am-2am. Small and cosy neighbourhood café-bar with cheap drinks, named after a music groupie who, in the 1970s, spent years following the popular Danish band Gnags around to all their gigs on a small moped.
Café Theodors Østerbrogade 106. Bus #6 or #14. Mon-Wed 11am-midnight, Thurs 11am-2am, Fri & Sat 11am-4am, Sun noon-7pm. Combined venue with a top-class, pricey French restaurant at the back and a cool, Art Deco-ish café-bar at the front. Quiet and sedate during the day, the clientele becomes younger and a lot louder at evenings and weekends, as it fills up with disillusioned swingers opting out of the hectic meat market across the road at Park .
 

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