When we are in Copenhagen, we dine at Host….

We first came here with friends at the start of a Baltic cruise. Ellis had asked locally for suggestions and we were glad to be invited to join him and Mary for what became a memorable evening. Today, here we were at the same hotel overnight, missing their company but looking forward to another interesting evening!

The restaurant is in an unassuming location, on a street corner and somewhere we’d never have stumbled upon. We chose to take a taxi there tonight, staying in an hotel just a wee bit further away than the last time we were here.

The menu is still sufficiently interesting to simply “go for it”. We chose the five course tasting menu with wine pairing. Our waiter, Jacob, was friendly and professional, always able and willing to offer further explanation of what we were eating or drinking.

He quickly brought the first amuse bouche which was a crisp pastry tart case with salmon.

There was another amuse bouche in the form of a hollow sphere with a cream cheesy dip to accompany it. Doesn’t sound so interesting but believe me, it was yummy! Served hot, crisply fried on a bed of straw and herbs.

The cheesy herby dip was served separately with its own little blanket of herbs. It was interesting in its own right…but that hot fried sphere provided the perfect vehicle with which to eat it.

Then came the first course ‘proper’; scallops with a light horseradish sauce. I’m not too fond of horseradish, but this was delicious. As every other dish here, it was fresh and fragrant.

Next came a small treat in the form of crisp waffles, flavoured with miso and brown sugar. They came with a delicious shrimp and tomato combination and we were advised that they’d be good heaped on top of the waffle or eaten alongside it. My Hero went for the heaping on top method, whilst I ate it alongside, saving some of the waffle until last!

We’d remembered the next dish very well indeed, for it was our favourite one when we were here with Jan and Dave last year. This time it was slightly different, for the soup was a fishy bisque, incredibly tasty and just as special if rather different this time. We could still have drunk a bucketful….though would probably have needed a second straw.

It was interesting, for in common with many tasting menus we’ve enjoyed, we’d eaten quite a lot but hadn’t really get got into the meal proper, so to speak. The next course was a bit more substantial, being courgette based, with truffle and cream cheese. Tasty, light and rather good though the gooseberry sauce was as sharp as you’d imagine gooseberry sauce to be!

All the time we were ejoying these dishes, Jacob was fillling our glasses with interesting wines. Mostly unusual varieties from places we’’d not have thought to look.

We were now at the main course…at least, that’s how we regarded the roasted hake. Hidden beneath a blanket of watercress, it was served in a cream sauce with crispy chicken skin and cherries. It was a great combination.

And then, we were over the hill into the sweet side. A small dish of blackcurrants and liquorice custard with a brulee top heralded the downward slope towards the conclusion of our dinner.

And with a glass of sparkling red “Birbet” wine - delicious! - Jacob brought our dessert. Rhubarb, a frozen raspberry and beetroot topping with blue cornflowers served over a creamy sauce….but by that time, we were beginning to falter!

Just as before, the creative combinations and the delightfully fresh flavours served in such an attractive format won us over. The interesting and unusual wines simply assisted our enjoyment of the evening.

We very much enjoyed another evening here, consider it our “Whenever we’re in Copenhagen” place to dine and hope that, by the time we come again, the road works in the street immediately outside will be complete!

Though for now, we were grateful for the wooden bench outside on which to sit and await our taxi back to the hotel after another grand evening here!