Cafe and restaurant in Danish
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Danish words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Danish phrases in this lesson
- Et bord til toet BOR til TOH
- A table for two
- Menuen, takmeh-NOO-en TAHK
- The menu, please
- Hvad kan du anbefale?va kan doo AN-beh-fah-leh
- What do you recommend?
- Jeg spiser ikke...yai SPEE-sah IK-eh
- I don't eat...
- Jeg er allergisk over for...yai air ah-LER-gisk OW-ah for
- I'm allergic to...
- Kødkurth
- Meat
- KyllingKEW-ling
- Chicken
- Fiskfisk
- Fish
- Det smager godtday SMAY-ah GOT
- It's delicious
- Skål!skawl
- Cheers
Copenhagen restaurants book out, reserve ahead for anywhere notable. Casual cafes seat themselves, just make eye contact with staff on the way in.
Most Copenhagen menus exist in English, and staff will hand you one on hearing your accent. Outside the capital, menus are shorter and pointing works.
Staff will usually point you to the dish of the day, "dagens ret" (DAY-ens RET).
"Jeg spiser ikke kød", I don't eat meat. Vegetarian is "vegetar" (veh-geh-TAR) and is well understood.
"Jeg er allergisk over for nødder", I'm allergic to nuts. Restaurants must be able to list allergens, so ask.
Danish food leans on pork: frikadeller (meatballs) and flæskesteg (roast pork with crackling) are the classics.
Herring, plaice and salmon dominate. On smørrebrød, fish always comes before meat.
Literally "it tastes good". The superlative is "det smager fantastisk". Danes under-compliment as a rule, so even this modest phrase lands warmly.
Raise the glass, make eye contact with everyone at the table, drink, then eye contact again before setting it down. Danes take skål eye contact seriously, especially at dinners with snaps.