Danish food as you like it at DenHygge

Classic Danish food, as you would get it in Copenhagen in Denmark is now served at DenHygge at Empire Damansara, Petaling Jaya. The two-month-old Danish restaurant exudes warmth, with a mock fireplace, a “timber log” wall, flooring and wooden tables and chairs. This is in keeping with the Danish concept of “hygge”, which means a cosy and comfortable lifestyle, enjoying the good things in life with good people.

The Danish are also known for their Smorrebrod or single bread-based open sandwiches. Hard to resist was the Egg and Shrimps served on toasted white bread with mayo, caviar and lemon. Their overall clean flavours served us well.

We had Roast Beef on Rye Bread with remoulade, horseradish and fried onion. It’s an attractive open sandwich, something I would enjoy as a light lunch. The thinly sliced beef, tangy remoulade, horseradish and cucumber pickles all came together deliciously, so much so that the rye bread at the bottom was hardly noticeable.

This is deliberate, I was told later. The protein matters, then the topping before the special rye bread. I like the clean, uncomplicated flavours of Danish food, as delivered in the Smorrebrod.

On my first visit there, I enjoyed the potatoes, served whole or mashed, first with Breaded Meatball, then with the Crispy Fried Pollock Fillet on rye bread. I liked the fish fillet too, paired with boiled potatoes drenched with remoulade, a pungent, tangy creamy sauce with mayonnaise and finely chopped pickled vegetables.

The Breaded Meatball, which was sliced in two, to be shared, was served with a whole boiled potato smothered with a delicious, buttery brown sauce. Potatoes are a huge part of the daily meals of the Danish.

Paprika Pork Tenderloin Stew with cocktail sausages and bacon in a creamy sauce, served on mashed potato, was the special for the day. It was a flavourful stew with tender cubes of pork, sausages and mushrooms, ladled over creamy and smooth mashed potato. The meat and sauce were a little tingly from the paprika and tasted so good with the mash.

We couldn’t resist the Pork Liver Pate on rye bread with pickled cucumber and beetroot, and fried bacon. This was a thick rich pate, two slices of which sat on the bread, with the pickles and crispy fried bacon to crunch on. Altogether it was a delightful combination.

We would have got to the Rullepolse too, on rye bread with onion and aspic but decided that this should be a takeaway. Rullepolse is pork belly seasoned with spices, rolled up and thinly sliced. I made a really good sandwich with this recently. On another visit I got to taste the Rullepolse in a nicely assembled open sandwich topped with lovely aspic at DenHygge.

I also took home roast beef slices (for other sandwiches later), and a Smoky Chicken Salad topped with bacon.

Dessert was Danish Apple Pie with stewed apple, macaron and vanilla cream with a topping of red currant jelly. The apple was lightly sweet and sour, a perfect match with the fine vanilla cream and red currant jelly.

The food is reasonably priced at DenHygge, run by Niels, who’s Danish and his wife Olga, who’s Russian. The open sandwiches are from RM18 to 22. The paprika pork stew was RM50, which was a huge portion, part of which I took home. The chicken salad is RM15, and 100g each of the Rullepolse and roast beef is just RM15.

DenHygge is at F113, First floor, Heritage Lane, Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, tel: 012 824 0020.

Check out what’s available:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091251495568&mibextid=LQQJ4d