Verandah is an Indian restaurant based in Copenhagen which is co-owned by the Sethi family (of Trishna and Gymkhana fame) and a chap called Claus Meyer who’s the co-founder of Noma. To be honest, I was slightly relieved when I received an invitation to dine there during our holiday, as berries and leaves were starting to grow a little tiresome.
The restaurant is based in The Standard, which is home to three restaurants in total (one of those has a Michelin star) and it’s right by the water’s edge – meaning it has lovely views both from the terrace and inside. The dining room was a bright and airy affair with lots of green foliage and the slowly spinning fans overhead gave the feeling of being somewhere exotic.
The lunch menu consisted of individual dishes priced at 150 DKK each (around £15). The Verandah spiced fish and chips were a delicious blend of crispy breadcrumbed pollock and thin strips of deep fried shredded potato which were incredibly moreish. I could have done without the quenelle of crushed peas though.
The lobster naan roll was a jam packed tandoori bread studded with chunks of garlic and filled with Goan spiced lobster – the blend of spices were magnificent. The accompanying dollop of mint chutney and the little pile of refreshing kachumber were great with it.
The tandoor lemon chicken with South Indian pressed rice, chicken leg chaat and peanut chutney also featured well balanced spicing. The leg meat mixed with the rice was a a particular highlight.
We opted for both the Tandoori and Meat tasting platter which was probably enough food to feed half the population of Copenhagen but as it was so tasty we couldn’t help but eat it all. Duck seekh kebab, achari prawn, chicken tikka , paneer tikka, quail pepper fry, South India lamb, duck keema naan; all were perfectly cooked and tasted ruddy lovely.
By this point I was looking more than a little rotund so we skipped pud yet were presented with a mini chai latte and a gooey, chewy ball of sesame seeds which was heavenly and the perfect end to a mammoth lunch.
There’s not very many Indian restaurants in Copenhagen, and the very few we did see looked like naff tourist traps. Verandah seems the perfect antidote to this – it serves really tasty and exquisitely spiced food in a beautiful location right by the river. If the foraged twenty course tasting menus start getting you down – pop along here for a bit of flavour.
8/10
I dined as a guest of the restaurant