How do you choose a restaurant in a city you’ve never been to before? Well, obviously, one way is to read a piece like this!
But just imagine you needed to write a review about one. Then you would probably, as I did, go out for a stroll down a long and winding door and trust your wandering eyes to lead you a door.
The closer you get, the more you would start relying on your other senses. Hearing: what’s the ambiance like? Smell: how pleasing are the aromas being released from the kitchen? Taste: probably the most important test of them all – did it pass? Touch: you enjoyed the meal, but hugging the waitress was probably a bit over the top.
Tapasfabrikken was a sense sensation from start to finish. I noticed it across the street from where I was attending a meeting and was immediately inspired. As I advanced, I was won over by its beautifully set tables at which people were enjoying delicious looking dishes. One word entered my head: perfection.
Visda, the owner, manager, sous-chef and occasional waitress, loves Paris! She visits the capital as much as she can, two to three times per year. That’s why the walls are filled with pictures from the capital of love, and despite the inclusion of ‘tapas’ in the restaurant’s name, the décor is completely French.
Visda has worked hard at designing the place, and the ceiling is particularly impressive, displaying a painting of the square in front of the restaurant along with the surrounding buildings.
As are the table arrangements, which are both tasteful and accomodating. As well as the obligatory bottle of water, there is some complimentary home-made bread and olive oil. Overall, the effect is a welcoming one.
If the décor is of no concern to you, you must be wondering by now what they serve here. Well, I cannot any longer contain myself from bragging about the dishes that my friend and I had, all meticulously picked by Visda, flawlessly prepared by her chef (who by the way, if you are a sucker for spicy details as I am, you will be glad to find out used to work for Tom Cruise), and elegantly served by Lucio, the charismatic story-telling waiter (who will not tell you that he comes from Sicily because it is a secret), who adds even more flavour to this international concoction.
We started with the Cremet jorskokkebisque, a very creamy Danish soup with dipped-in chips, followed by an olive-mix plate to prepare us for the next dish.
Røget hellefisk has more to do with Danish cuisine, being made from white fish from the Baltic Sea, which is made into rolls with a cream-cheese inside.
The Røget kalv og lammepølse’s star is the homemade sausage, which I think will resonate with everybody. It is the kind of sausage you can only find in rural areas where people still make their own food. And it is just as good or even better!
And the cheese plates – ost munster og manchego rugkiks med pære – also bore a distinctly home-made taste.
But nobody could have prepared us for the desserts: the specially tailored Tiramisu with extra mascarpone and the Pessionsfrugt ganach, which is a chocolate mousse cake built over a hazelnut and pop rock base, which literally makes your mouth pop and take you back to your childhood days.
Tapasfabrikken clearly takes pride in every dish it serves. It's unique!
Tapasfabrikken
Blågårdsgade 29A, Cph N;
3539 9606; mail@tapasfabrikken.dk
Open: Mon-Thu 17:00-21:30 & Fri-Sun 17:00-22:00
Cuisine: Tapas
Top Dish: Røget kalv og
lammepølse
Price Range: 250kr excl drinks www.tapasfabrikken.dk
