Restaurant Review: Cocks and Cows

This is the first time at attempting a food review on my blog, so apologies for the pretty rubbish photos and ramblings from me. If I do another restaurant blog post I will be a bit more prepared next time. Anyway on to the review...

Let's first just get one thing straight. Eating out in Copenhagen is expensive. This is a fact. I don't think you can find many (if any) sit-down meals for under £10, which is currently around DKK 80-90. Take-out food you can find cheaper (e.g. pizza aroung DKK 60). I thought that London was expensive, but Copenhagen is more so i'm afraid. Because of this, I do not eat out much. However when I have guests visiting, it's nice to treat ourselves once in a while.

There are a few American style diners popping up around the city which tend to be on the cheaper scale. I came across Cocks & Cows on tripadvisor with good reviews so booked for a Valentines Day meal. When we arrived for our table, it was busy - and I mean super busy. There was a queue of people waiting outside of the door. We were told our table would be a few minutes late so were shown to the bar downstairs. Less people, comfy sofas and a 'hygge' atmosphere, we enjoyed a drink while waiting. Our table was ready in 5 minutes and so time for the food!

Cheese and Smoke (L) and Pulled Pork (R)

We each ordered a burger, and then shared 3 sides (which is a deal they offer for DKK 80-90). W ordered the 'Cheese and Smoke' (bacon) and I ordered the 'Pulled Pork'. You can choose what bun you want, we both has 'American Sweet' which is similar to brioche and I also added jalapenos to mine (a personal favourite). Our sides consisted of curly fries, onion rings and BBQ ribs. Burgers we also cooked rare on request which was nice. A bit of a wait for the food, but considering the amount of people in the restaurant it wasn't an issue. All food was great and polished off in quick time, washed down with a bottle of Sol.

Our feast!

Somehow after all that food we still had room for dessert. I think this was the only slight let down. We ordered a brownie to share which was nice, but it wasn't really a brownie. More cake like in texture and covered in a layer of melted chocolate, like icing. Still enjoyable though.

W managing to look both impressed and unimpressed? (I assure you it was the former)

The bill was not cheap nor expensive for all that food, 2 beers and 2 glasses of cava. A definite recommendation if you are in the City centre!

 Also the toilet situations confused me, I'm still not sure whether I am a Cock or a Cow. I made a guess for the latter but there were men in both!

Byeee for now!

Gammel Strand 34, 1202 Kbh. K

From Copenhagen to Malmö

So in February, my friends and I decided to take the train over the Øresund Bridge to the small city of Malmö in Sweden. I thought I would share some photos of our trip. The weather was windy and overcast, but it was a nice to visit a new place since moving to Denmark. It's quite a quiet place, but was very pretty and reminded me of a smaller Copenhagen in lots of ways. For more information, please check the YouTube video I made about our day out (at the bottom of this post).

Byeee for now :)

Turning torso

Malmö Castle

This painting was quackers...(ouch)

Creepy looking statues..

Why study abroad and being a terrible blogger...

My apology comes with an explanation. I've become a terrible blogger. Since starting both blog and Youtube vlog, I seem to be finding it difficult to dedicate equal amounts of time to both. Previously I was terrible at vlogging but now I seem to have neglected this. So this week I promise a proper blog post. 

In the mean time I have a new video:

Byeee for now!

Language Problems

I'm terrible at languages. How many languages do you know?

How to survive a long-distance relationship

A blog and a vlog in the same day?! Who am I?!

We all have moments in our love lives and relationships where it will be put to the test. For me, the test is a 900 mile distance. Not the easiest situation but one i'm willing to work hard at. So these are some of my tips for anyone who sees themselves facing a similar situation the future.

Vi ses!

J-dag and Julebryg

It’s been almost 2 months since my last post – how neglectful of me! It’s been a pretty busy period work wise but no excuses. I’ve actually had this blog post lined up in my mind for some time but actually getting around to writing it was avoided.

At least Tivoli dressed up for Halloween

So typically around the end of October, the pumpkins appear in full force and I start to get excited for Halloween. I’m a sucker for fancy dress, especially the ghoulish kind. I know Halloween is seen as ‘Americanised’ but I’ve always enjoyed it and wish I was still at an age for trick or treating to be acceptable. Here in Denmark however, the fever of Halloween isn’t quite as strong. Decorations popped up here and there, along with some seasonal gifts in the shops and bakeries but it pretty much ends there. Back at home, we would be finding or organising a Halloween party. so on October 31^st, my neighbour (also a fellow Brit) and I were left a little home-halloween sick, and resorted to pumpkin carving and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (a must watch every year), so it turned out a good night.

Pumpkin time!

November 1^st however is a much bigger date in the Danish calendar, and something I’ve never experienced before. ‘J-dag’ (or J-day) in the day that Carlsberg, the most prominent beer producer in Denmark, release their Julebryg (Chistmas beer) for the season. I first heard of it when one of the Danes from my course sent us a video, stating ‘the snow would be falling at 8pm’:

Feeling a bit baffled, I went to do some research. The video is an advert that was first released about 30 years ago? (I may be a bit wrong with the timings) but seems to have stuck as a tradition to the Danish like the Coca-cola Christmas advert in my memories. What is meant by the snow falling at 8 would be that the beer would officially go on sale in bars, clubs and shops at this time. So I thought – lets go see what the hype is all about!

The beer has arrived!

We arrived around 7.30pm and ordered a pre-‘j-dag’ beer as we waited. Then just before 8, we spotted a blue and white spotted van pass the window and we followed it with a large crowd. It stopped at a bar just around the corner from us, where this happened:

This supposedly was happening at different bars are certain times in the night. Trucks were driving around and stopping at particular bars on a route, so we were very lucky to have been at one just by chance!  Into the bar they went, handing out some free julebryg’s and Santa hats. Numbers were limited, and it was first come first serve – but with numbers quadrupling the typical size of this bars clientele, you had to fight. I succeeded in a beer (not a hat) but we celebrated our gains. We returned to the first bar for a little while, before deciding to move elsewhere when suddenly the Blue Santa’s entered the bar we were in. Here, I gained a hat and another beer, along with a flashing stick thing (a useful prop for sword-fights as we discovered later).

Free beer!

I dressed for the occasion...

The beer itself is nice, darker and slightly stronger in percentage to typcal Tuborg/Carlsberg – but also tastes sweeter than the former. Being a brand, it’s not the cheapest drink, but there are plenty of ‘knock-off’ versions in supermarkets that don’t taste too dissimilar.

All in all, a fun night. I’ve heard they also release an Easter beer too but its not celebrated in quite the same way. Since that night, blue and white decorations have been popping up (even in the airport) and I still have my Santa hat to get me feeling festive. So see you next year, J-dag!

 Byeee for now!/Vi ses!

Skål!

Take a peek around my neighbourhood: Østerbro

Hello again!

Just a quickie to say i've started a new 'series' on my YouTube channel. I want to post some videos about the different areas of Copenhagen, what they are like and what you can find there (in brief). I thought I would start with my own neighbourhood Østerbro. I hope you enjoy :)

Byeee for now!