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I’m guessing that the Danes enjoy their smørrebrød in a stationary setting; try packing these open-faced guys to-go. Not a good idea. But if necessary, regular sandwiches are available as are soups and a what-are-you-doing-here menu item: a Chinese chicken salad. Breakfast is headlined by Danish pancakes with lingonberry jam while dinner can be, among many choices, a burger, pasta or hearty f
rikadeller (Danish meatballs in gravy with boiled potatoes and red cabbage).
No matter what time of day, save room for dessert and spend a minute perusing the overwhelming selection of nearly 50 types of cookies, breads, pastries, and more. I’d suggest you start with the apricot hamentashen, follow with the pain au chocolat-evoking chocolate chip coffee cake and finish with the Danish favorite glazed marzipan cookie,
kransekage.
Copenhagen itself, is a large, somewhat hectic operation spread over three rooms with the bakery, a soda fountain for ice cream (nobody was there on my rainy day visit this week) and the café where you order at the counter and food is brought to your table. The design is much more homey and rustic countryside in atmosphere than a sleek, spare-style often thought of as Scandinavian. You expect to see cows out the window instead of downtown Burlingame’s squeaky clean re-modeled main strip (Burlingame Avenue also has a lot fewer bikes than there would be on a main Copenhagen street).
The smørrebrod though at Burlingame’s Copenhagen would be right at home in the real Copenhagen. Now you’ll always want your sandwiches served open-faced and will be willing to give liverpaste a chance.
1216 Burlingame Ave., Burlingame; (650) 342-1357
