Eating My Way Through Scandinavia: Oliver's Black Circus, Copenhagen

Oliver’s Black Circus, Copenhagen

For a restaurant whose slogan is “let’s be weird together,” Oliver’s Black Circus did not disappoint. Carefully concocted dishes of myriad locally-sourced ingredients made for a menu which sounded more like a garden catalogue than anything searchable on Seamless. I’m certainly no culinary master, but I had no idea that so many types of “root” could even be cooked.  But it won me over, roots and all. 

The scene:

The façade has a deer silhouette, so obviously I like it immediately. 

I’d like to note that I’d perfected the used-wine-bottle-as-candlestick trick years before it became acceptable in hip restaurants. The foreground of this shot might as well have been my college apartment. The metal pendant lamps are similar to Copenhagen’s famous street lights, and sadly were absent from any college living experience of mine. 

First Course: Braised leek with truffle, cheese, brown butter and sprouts. 

Followed by catfish with shrimp and stock of chicken feet.

Or cured veal, blueberry, beetroot and mushroom. 

And then this coquelet (young chicken) with horseradish, watercress and the most thinly sliced parsnips. This was hands-down the most tender, juicy, perfectly cooked chicken I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. I appreciate this chicken for sacrificing himself at a young age so that my taste buds could experience his perfection. 

For dessert: Apple with meringue and milk curds, lingonberry glaze. 

Oh, and there was nightlife: 

Our waiter informed us that at the close of the restaurant, the waitstaff usually polished off any open bottles of wine before reopening Oliver’s as a nightclub, where this candlelit desk becomes the world’s classiest DJ booth.  Talk about job benefits…maybe this is why the Danes are so happy.