DANISH FOOD.
The words don’t exactly set your gastro-juices flowing, rather the
reaction is “open sandwiches, 27 ways of preparing herrings and salmon.
Oh
dear” and “I wonder whether I can still pronounce Rodgroed mit floede”,
a native dessert consisting of redcurrants and raspberries set in a
light semolina jelly served with cream – that’s the ‘floede’ bit.
There
is a premise in Old Brompton Road which used to be called
“Chanterelle”, to which I went because chanterelles are just about my
all-time favourite funghi. One day I went and the waiter said
“chanterelles are off” probably meaning unavailable, though possibly
“turned into that light brown sludge that mushrooms become after a
while at the wrong temperature” and then it re-opened under the name
“Lundums”, which sounds like going down on a condom. It took me a while
to check it out.
Mistake, that.
It is really good, with
handsomely cooked, interesting dishes – albeit in small portions at
proper prices – that would make customers return and food critics tell
each other to go.
Drive west from South Kensington station and it
is about half a mile on your left, on the corner. Large, light,
welcoming with real Danish staff.
There is a two-course menu at
an attractive price, but the a la carte dishes have about them a
promise of quality; you would go for that.
We had a boeuf
stroganoff for £21.85 (and there is a 13.5 per cent service charge)
which was very well made, but could – should – have been larger and I
ate a piece of cod which was excellent: nicely cooked, fresh, with
broad beans and potatoes for £18.50. Then a rice pudding with a sauce
of soured cherries that could not be faulted unless you wanted to
nit-pick and say there was not enough.
It was full; customers
were content, our waitress tried to explain where in Denmark she came
from: everywhere I mentioned, like most Danish towns I had been to,
were three hours away from her home.
They stay open quite late…
as we left at 10.30pm there were still people coming in and the bill
arrived quickly; they found our coats without giving us cloakroom
tickets, which I always somehow lose.
Try the Danish
specialities; they are the ones you can’t pronounce. The wine list is
massive, wines from everywhere in the world, this and the next, though
if there is a bottle under £20, I missed it.
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