Restaurant Karla Copenhagen – Danish Cuisine

This is the second post in the Cruise of Copenhagen and the Norwegian Fjords series. Other posts in this series include Greetings from Norway!

Hello Copenhagen!

We being a new series that covers the our 7-day cruise of Scandinavia on Royal Caribbean.

Our cruise began and ended in Copenhagen, stopping along several little towns lining the fjords of Norway. Many cruises start from Copenhagen and depart to all sorts of locations. Copenhagen is a popular starting point due to the city’s strategic location near both the Baltic Sea (hello Eastern Europe!) and the North Sea (Norwegian fjords!).

Though it may be tempting just to get on the ship, I highly recommend spending a few days in Copenhagen (which is exactly what we did). Especially if you are there during the summer, the city is absolutely a delight to visit.

I fell in love with the architecture, the bike-friendly streets, and the food.

Our time there was short, unfortunately – barely a weekend. On our first night, we asked the hotel concierge to recommend a good, casual restaurant that served traditional Danish food.

The concierge recommended Restaurant Karla, a cozy, friendly restaurant located just five minutes from Town Hall Square (and a short walk from our hotel, the Marriott in Copenhagen).

I must confess that I am woefully ignorant of Danish cuisine, so we trusted the restaurant to recommend dishes for us. The easiest (and arguably one of the most fun) plates we got was a sampler of traditional Danish favorites.

Our group of four (Bryan’s parents, Bryan, and me) really enjoyed trying all of the different plates in combination with all of the various pickles and sauces.

Below I’ve included a close-up photo of each item and a brief description.

Pickled herring (sild) with capers and tartar sauce, served with tomatoes, dill, red onions, and lettuce.

Soft washed rind cheese (sort of like brie) with blueberries and whole grain cracker.

Pickled beets.

Smoked salmon (laks) served with tomato, lemon, and some greens.

Smoked pork with orange slices.

Bacon and a creamy, flavorful mushroom sauce.

Breaded and deep fried white fish (rødspætte).

Roast pork with a side of boiled potatoes, pickles, and orange slices.

Veal cutlet with gravy, roasted potatoes, and peas.

All in all, Restaurant Karla was the perfect introduction to traditional Danish food. It felt authentic. The space was cozy, the staff was friendly, and the prices were quite reasonable. I highly recommend getting the sampler, which was probably the most fun part of the meal, especially for someone like me who knows virtually nothing about Danish cuisine.

Restaurant Karla Copenhagen
Dantes Plads 1, 1556
Copenhagen, Denmark

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