In London over the past decade or so, the phenomena of brunch has spread from the US to pretty much every restaurant and cafe worth eating in, and even when making an indulgent breakfast at home in the late morning, it naturally becomes ‘brunch’ rather than ‘breakfast’. So it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise for me to find that it’s in most of the better Danish cafes too, at least in Copenhagen. [As an aside, it’s strange and a little annoying that hotels (seemingly anywhere) have yet to catch up, and even at weekends stick to their rigid breakfast opening hours which seem for the most part out of synch with people’s weekend habits. Well, mine anyway.]

For some reason I often feel compelled to take a photo if a good meal’s put in front of me, and when it comes to writing this post I’m glad I do because I can hopefully illustrate what I’m talking about.

The first photo above is of my brunch at the Laundromat Cafe on Gammel Kongevej (conveniently a few doors down from Sound Station!). This was a fine feast indeed, though what you see in that photo cost 230kr (about £25), so was by no means a bargain, even if it did include an always-expensive fruit smoothie. But I know this was a good one, because when I posted this photo on Facebook I got a much more passionate reaction than my postings there normally get.

Then below is brunch at Cafe Høegs, another local place for me in Vesterbro. We had this on my birthday, on their outside benches, and it was a very welcome humaniser after a few drinks the night before. Note the controversial inclusion of fries! I wasn’t complaining that morning.

And finally below, a cafe more centrally located – Cafe Katz. This one was a little more continental, with cheese and salad bits, possibly a nod to the more international clientele given the location in town. I can’t remember how much this was but I do remember being on top of the world that day – it was August 31st, the day before our wedding, and all our friends and family from the UK were beginning to arrive, so life was more than good when I enjoyed this brunch with one of my best men, Chris, and his girlfriend (now his fiancee!) Sophy. Could have lived without the lettuce for breakfast though.

What you might have noticed about all of these brunches is that they’re a fantastic mix of sweet and savoury, healthy and indulgent. A plate with virtually anything you might want for breakfast (sorry, brunch) comes out and is usually accompanied by an extra basket of bread to make your jam and nutella (often homemade by the cafe) go that bit further.

Ironically, this weekend Dorte and I are going back to London for a visit, just as I’ve really whet my, and perhaps your, appetite for Danish brunch. Maybe next weekend…