Kodbyens Fiskebar Pop-Up at Ekte Nordic Kitchen

Acclaimed Copenhagen chef Jamie Lee to host a pop-up at Ekte Nordic Kitchen in Bloomberg Arcade – it was an invite I simply couldn’t refuse. I first visited Ekte at the beginning of 2019 (loved it of course) and having been to Copenhagen a few times over the past couple of years, I’ve certainly heard of Kodbyens Fiskebar – one of the cities liveliest and most talked about restaurants.

The team from Copenhagen – including Kødbyens Fiskebar founder Anders Selmer and head pastry chef Søren Scheel all came over to London for one day to create a special Nordic multi-course tasting menu, featuring several of Fiskebar’s signature dishes. But before we got to enjoy any of that, we tucked into a rather special Nordic Old Fashioned. A negroni has always been my cocktail of choice to start a meal, but as I get older, my tastes towards whisky are slowly evolving and so are my cocktail choices. Something about an old-fashioned is really agreeing with me right now.

The bread here was astonishing. It was quite honestly one of the best breads I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating and tables all around us were asking for seconds (including us). Moist, light, fluffy, crunchy. It was everything a bread should be and more. Imagine a crumpet crossed with a loaf of bread and you’re somewhere in the right direction. I’m calling it a brumpet (in a Norwegian accent of course) from here on in. The seaweed butter it came with was lovely too, with just the right amount of that ocean flavour coming through, without overpowering the toasty bread flavours.

My favourite dish here was this brill with smoked mussel, seaweed, burnt onion and rye. The brill was so beautifully prepared, but the accompaniments only made it even better. Lots of dill was marbled through the fish which I loved a lot and the burnt onion and rye flavours added a richness to the dish and texture. This felt like Michelin starred cooking to me as not only was it a great plate of food, but it did what excellent cooking should do – it got us talking.

I couldn’t resist including a second photo of the delicious brill into this article, because who knew in the kitchens meticulous plating they would be creating a poodle! It give us a little laugh at the table and it was certainly the most flamboyant poodle I’ve ever come across.

Perhaps one of the most controversial dishes from listening to fellow diners was the north sea squid, which looked like a bowl of pasta. Perhaps it was the texture for some, but this marmite dish was actually one of my favourites. I can sometimes be a little picky about squid, but I thought the cooking of it, texture and freshness was just stunning. The tarragon and kohlrabi came through nicely and the chicken wing dashi gave it all a lovely depth which I mopped up after with some of that leftover bread.

One thing I enjoyed about the cooking here and especially this dish was that they let the ingredients speak for themselves. This piece of cod was testament to that. It was simple, pure, fresh and perfectly cooked. Accompanying the fish was leeks, lovage and the one thing I didn’t expect to like and did – ling liver porridge. It was strangely addictive.

Dessert was great too, mixing sweet with savoury. Together, salsify, citrus and hempseed made for a very salivating few mouthfuls and one I’d love to eat again. The citrus element in the dish was very strong, but I liked it that way and if anything it only complimented everything else it was with. I also absolutely loved the petit fours of liquorice tea cakes. They were utter heaven and as light as a cloud inside that delicate chocolate casing.

I really enjoyed this pop-up and it was great to not only great to return to Ekte, but to a get a taste of Copenhagen as I really do miss it and when I return, I’ll most certainly be paying a visit to Kodbyens Fiskebar. Unfortunately the pop-up has now ended, but Ekte will be hosting other events in the near future so keep a close eye on their What’s On page HERE – including Ekte’s brand new Supper Club on the 8th February 2020!

NB: My meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.