| There are plenty of ways to eat affordably and healthily in Denmark,
and with plenty of variety, too. Much the same applies to drink: the
only Scandinavian country free of social drinking taboos, Denmark is an
imbiber's delight - both for its choice of tipples and the number of
places they can be sampled
Food
Traditional Danish food centres on meat and fish, served with potatoes
and another, usually boiled, vegetable. Breakfast ( morgenmad ) can be
the tastiest Danish meal, and almost all hotels offer a sumptuous
breakfast as a matter of course, as do youth hostels: a table laden with
cereals, bread, cheese, boiled eggs, fruit juice, milk, coffee and tea
for around 40kr. Breakfast elsewhere is less substantial, although
brunch , served from 11am until early afternoon, is a filling option for
late starters consisting of variations of American, English, French or
Australian breakfasts for 40-70kr. Later in the day, a tight budget may
leave you dependent on self-catering. As for snacks , you can buy
smørrebrød - open sandwiches heaped with meat, fish or cheese, and
assorted trimmings - for 15-45kr from special shops, at least one of
which will be open until 10pm. There are also fast-food stands (
pølsevogn ) in all main streets and at train stations, serving various
hot sausages ( pølser ), toasted sandwiches ( parisertoast ) and chips (
pommes frites ). If you just want a cup of coffee or tea, cafés serve
both; help it down with a Danish pastry ( wienerbrød ), tastier and much
less sweet than the imitations sold elsewhere.
You can find an excellent-value lunch ( frokost ) simply by walking
around at lunchtime and choosing from the signs chalked up outside a
café, restaurant or bodega (a bar which sells no-frills food). You'll
often see the word tilbud , which refers to the "special" priced dish,
or dagens ret , "dish of the day" - a plate of chilli con carne or
lasagne for around 50kr. A three-course set lunch will cost you about
80-100kr and open buffets where you can help yourself to as much as you
like will set you back 60-80kr. You can also usually get a choice of
three or four smørrebrød for about 75kr. Elsewhere, the American burger
franchises are commonplace, as are pizzerias, many of which offer
special deals such as all-you-can-eat-salad with a basic pizza for 50kr.
You can also get a filling but ordinary self-service meat, fish or
omelette lunch in a supermarket cafeteria for 50-90kr.
Dinner ( aftensmad ) presents as much choice as does lunch, but the cost
is likely to be much higher, although many youth hostels serve filling
evening meals for 50-60kr. For 70-90kr you can fill up in an ethnic
restaurant , most commonly Chinese and Middle Eastern, many of which,
besides à la carte dishes, have a help-yourself table. Sadly, the same
Danish restaurants that are promising for lunch turn into expense-account
affairs at night although many still will have good-value buffets. If
you plan to save money by eating in, head for Netto supermarkets, where
the food and drink is cheap and of excellent quality.
Drink
Although you can buy booze much more cheaply from supermarkets, the most
sociable places to drink are pubs and cafés, where the emphasis is on
beer. There are also bars and bodegas, in which, as a very general rule,
the mood tends to favour wines and spirits and the customers are a bit
older. The cheapest beer is draught beer ( Fadøl ), half a litre of
which costs 30-45kr. Draught is a touch weaker than bottled beer, which
costs 20-30kr for a third of a litre, and is a great deal less potent
than the export beers ( Guldøl or Eksport-Øl ) costing 25-35kr a bottle.
The most common brands are Carlsberg and Tuborg; Lys Pilsner is a very
low alcohol lager, more like a soft drink. Most international wines and
spirits are widely available, a shot of the hard stuff costing 20-30kr
in a bar, a glass of wine upwards of 20kr. You should also investigate
the many varieties of the schnapps-like Akvavit, which Danes consume as
eagerly as beer; a tasty relative is the hot and strong Gammel Dansk
Bitter Dram - Akvavit-based but made with bitters and drunk occasionally
at breakfast time.
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