A Sandwich and a soup – Vietnamese food in Copenhagen
Copenhagen Food Crawl – Vietnamese Food in Copenhagen
On another food fueled adventure through the streets of Copenhagen, my stomach steared me towards the more exotic culinary offerings this city has. I had my heart set on dim sum, or some spicy sichuan-style food – so something from China or there abouts to be more exact. But the shitty weather pushed me in search of soup instead, bygoing China completely and ending in Vietnam. This wasn’t just any soup I was on the hunt for. No, no is was Pho. The vietnamese national dish. The soup of legends. A soup that can cure hangovers and has enough medicinal qualities to give you the virility of ten men. Or so they say (“they” being people that sell pho).
Pho Hanoi
As always I had done most of the legwork in advance. A little bit of googleling, a little yelp help and I ended up at Pho Hanoi close to the Copenhagen central station. Pho Hanoi is an unassuming little place, done in a very asian style with simple chairs and tables. You come here for the food, not for the interior. You know, that kind of place. Still it felt authentic. Even more so when the guy at the table next to me, who had been slurping his soup very energeticly, started burping very loudly. I looked around and nobody seemed to notice. So I guess either they were regulars, or based on the ethnicity of 90 % of the customers, they were used to it. Like I said – authentic acustics.
I was there for the Pho – pronounced “Fuh” by the way. A good piping hot bowl of soup to take my mind of the rain that was pouring down outside. It was my first ever taste of Pho and as a devoted Ramen fan I thourght a vietnamese noodle soup instead of a japanese one, wouldn’t be that far of a stretch. It wasn’t. But let me make this perfectly clear – Pho and Ramen are two completely different things. Classic Pho is a beef based soup, with beef in it. The spices are vastly dfferent and the fresh greens that you add to your Pho, gives it a very different flavour profile than Ramen, thats usually pork or chicken based.
Before the soup ended up on the table, the greens came out of a smal plate. Luckilly I had seen a tv-show or two about people eating vietnamese stuff, so I knew what to do. But it came delivered to my table with no explanation.
Fresh mint, koriander and thai basil. Bean sprouts and of course some lime. A few minutes later my soup arrived. Not only did it look amazing, the smell was incredible. Like with Ramen, you always have to taste the clear soup broth before you start adding stuff to it and so I did. Boy, did it hit on all the right notes. Extremely flavourful, spicy and with a hint of liqourice flavour, from the fennel and staranis spices that were added. Already at my first taste I knew I was in for something special and something that seriously could rival my Ramen obsession. Adding the fresh greens, sprouts and lime juice and a little bit of hoisin and sriracha to the mix, just added to the dining experience and thats not even counting the thin slices of beef and the perfecly cooked rice noodles. A sensation of freshness from the herbs, that rich smooth clear broth and a little kick from the spices. Hands down one of the best soups I’ve ever had.
Pho Hanoi is not a Pho only joint. They have plenty of other vietnamese specialities on the menu and I will be back next time to try something else – too! Because no way in hell am I gonna miss out on the elixir of the gods – commonly know as Pho.
Pho Hanoi
Vester Farimagsgade 6, 1606 København
Price: Bowl of Pho Bo = 99 DKK
District Tonkin
I braved the cold and the rain and took a brisk walk across the center of the city to help the soup settle in my stomach and leave room for more food.
The end goal was District Tonkin. Another small place serving vietnamese specialities. Here geared more towards street food. They too have Pho on the menu, but only as a dinner option. I will have to come back and try that. I was there for a vietnamese sandwich – the Banh Mi.
District Tonkin has two locations and I was at their location on Dronningens Tværgade. A small basement in typical asian café style – maybe a little more cosy and welcoming than Pho Hanoi. But still it felt very asian.
While Pho Hanoi was packed – Tonking was relatively quiet. So I found a little table in the corner overlooking the entire place and ordered the Banh Mi. They have different variations – but I ordered the classic. A french style baguette filled with paté, vietnamese sausage, pork, pickled veggies, tons of fresh herbs including a greenhouse worth of fresh koriander, fresh chilies and a few sauces. Of course the omnipresent fishsauce. This sandwich is result of the french influence on Vietnam – and thank god for that. The marriage between those two cuisines in a match made in sandwich heaven.
It was a beast of sandwich and pretty good value for the price. If your not into fresh koriander, you might wanna look elsewhere for your banh mi fix. I love me some fresh koriander, but even I have my limits. Still the sandwich was top notch. Superb bread, fresh, fresh, fresh greens, great tasting meats, juicy, spicy, salty and sour. The sandwich to end alle sandwiches. This wasn’t my first ever banh mi. I’ve even done a variation of the beloved sandwich for myself – in my home kitchen. But this was up there in the top – that’s for sure.
I washed the deliciously perfumed taste of the fresh koriander down with a the last sips of my equally wonderful mango drink – and with a belly full of noodles, beef, pork, bread, fresh chiliies and a deep love for all things vietnamese – I stumbled aimlessly, yet content into the streets once again already contemplating my next vietnamese food move in Copenhagen – after a nap of course.
District Tonkin
Dronningens Tværgade 12, 1302 København K
Price: Banh Mi Traditional = 62 DKK