The D'Angleterre (established 1755) is an icon and historical landmark in Copenhagen.
Recently refurbished, the grand and prestigious palace is celebrated for its elegance, luxury and style. What’s more, as of March 2014, it features a Michelin-starred restaurant: the impeccable Marchal.
A breakfast high
Though rooms and suites go for between 2,750 and 11,500 kroner, they might be worth it, seeing as the walls are covered with fairy-tales of passionate love, lavish banquets and unparalleled grandeur.
I haven’t stayed the night so, with respect to that, I plead ignorance. But I do know one way of recommending the D’Angleterre emphatically – without having to try hard or assume you want to spend a fortune.
I am talking about the hotel’s stunning morning meal, which caused a breakfast ‘high’ I wouldn’t have thought possible.
It’s a buffet well worth writing home about – or, I daresay, leaving your country for. Arranged with millimetre precision on several sizeable white-tablecloth tables was a fresh and sparkling feast.
What’s best is that this expertly chosen, presented and organised cornucopia of wholesome breakfast items can be accessed by non-residents with 285 kroner to burn.
An egg-cellent spread
I almost couldn’t focus on the egg card informing guests of the different omelettes on offer (they were all included in the price) and various other egg dishes (110-120kr).
While waiting for a masterpiece of an omelette, I counted eight different juices in beautiful pitchers, including water melon, beet root, grapefruit and a terrific smoothie of mango, banana, oranges, vanilla and yoghurt.
Coffee and tea were served by the gentlest corps of waiters, but the Champagne – a Mandois Origine Brut – you had to pour yourself.
A few other tell-tale signs of classiness: the hash browns were tiny, unsliced, tasty and probably locally grown potatoes; the trays of meat and fish were repeatedly refreshed and tended to; and everything from milk and yoghurt to bread and cereals were available in more varieties than at your best supermarket.
In short, the breakfast at D’Angleterre breaks the rating scale.
Michelin-worthy Marchal
Marchal also offers wonderful opportunities for lunch and supper guests.
When I had dinner there in 2013, Marchal was still passed over by the Michelin committee – unfairly, it seemed, and I’m glad they revised their decision.
Without going into detail, the restaurant – not forgetting the adjacent bar – displays a more than satisfying degree of expertise and style, among the chefs as well as waiters.
The wine list is impressive, and I shall never tire of the Pol Roger Brut from Epernay or the Sauterne (a 2009 Castelnau de Suduiraut), both of which Marchal rightly champions.
Bubbles of both varieties
Then, next to a legendary swimming pool, there’s the spa, Amazing Space, which was completely renovated last year and now offers a uniquely tranquil environment for mind, body and soul, including a lounge for relaxation and a fully equipped fitness studio.
And of course there’s Balthazar, Denmark’s first champagne bar.
Like the restaurant, it can be accessed from the street and boasts an extensive selection of champagnes from more than 42 different makers, as well as various sophisticated snacks, such as caviar and oysters.
Don’t think of D’Angleterre as another hyped exercise in ‘how to spend it’. As far as value for money goes, I’d recommend it over Cabinn any day.
Hotel D'Angleterre
Kongens Nytorv 34, Cph K
Breakfast 285 kroner
3312 0095, info@dangleterre.com, dangleterre.com
