Restaurant Bror, Copenhagen

I really like restaurants whereby chefs take the time to come out to the dining room to serve, meet and chat with their customers. It somehow brings out a personal feel to eating out and of course I'm someone who gets excited when I meet chefs so I will always look forward to the experience! Opened by Noma's Alumni Sam Nutter and Victor Wagman in April this year, Restaurant Bror was just that! 

With owners and head chefs, Victor and Sam

Having started the restaurant with only their own investments, they have decided to first serve simple and good food made from the best seasonal produce of the region. Portions were really generous so yes, you won't definitely won't go away hungry! The dining area was simply decorated, casual, bright and comfortable.

Having perused the menu, we decided to go for the tasting menu (355ddk = approx £40) which consisted of 4 courses chosen by the kitchen). We somehow thought that the portions couldn't be too big so we also ordered the catfish cheek, considered a snack in the menu, again thinking it'll be small pieces of fish but boy, were we wrong! We were very surprised when the whole catfish head was served and it was huge! Sam brought us individual plates so that we could get stuck in and I think we did a pretty good job of eating practically everything except the bones! Fresh, succulent, meaty packed with collagen and swimming in its own delicious juices from when it was cooked, the meal started off very well indeed. We noticed that the table behind us only ate the fried pieces of cheek on the top and left behind all the good stuff! I certainly hope that the kitchen didn't think that we were too greedy! 

The tasting menu then started off with Pike, Cucumber in a light pine broth. It was light and refreshing, perfect after the slightly heavy snack we had before. The pine broth was really interesting with a mild bitter after-taste. 

This was followed by a big slice of flavourful pork terrine with radish salad made with the perfect combination of meat and fats. The waitress did say that there was black garlic in it but we couldn't taste or see it.

  Next up, we had a short rib of beef, ramson and cauliflower for the main course.

The very tender piece of beef, coated in a chicken gravy glaze went well with the broken down cauliflower. The ramson or wild garlic sauce added a touch a spring to the dish!

By now, we were so stuffed so I was glad that light desserts were served. First up was a buttermilk ice cream with blackberry sorbet and walnut milk. The balance of flavours were great in this dish as tartness of the sorbet was mellowed out by the walnut milk and ice cream. 

Their ability to balance flavours was again proven in the rhubarb and milk dessert.

It was on the whole a good meal, made more enjoyable with friendly yet non intrusive service and we got to speak to Sam quite a bit. It was an office day for Victor but we managed to get it out for a quick photo. That truly made my day!