Founded by Frederik Bille Brahe (who also owns Atelier September and Apollo Bar in Copenhagen), Kafeteria SMK is a café situated within the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first agenda on my itinerary after offloading my luggage at the hotel.
With extremely high ceilings and large glass windows on one side overlooking the lush greenery of the museum’s main entrance, the space is bright, wide and airy. The aesthetics matched that of the art museum and was indeed very Scandinavian.
After grabbing the window seat, I headed to the counter where I had a hard time choosing from the mains menu and especially from the display of pastries.
As per my prior research, their pancakes were seemingly popular so I went for the Buttermilk Pancakes with Mascarpone and Maple Syrup (135 DKK, SGD26). These were on the thick and denser side, well-accompanied with a generous layer of maple syrup at the base and mascarpone and jam at the top. It can however get too heavy halfway through.
From the selection of pastries, I had the Cardamom Bun (45 DKK, SGD8.7) which was fluffy and soft on the inside, and also the Chocolate Cake (45 DKK, SGD8.7) which was a tad dry but still gobbled up thanks to the smooth cream and nut butter on top.
To balance the heavy amount of carb and sugar, I also got some greens – the Green Asparagus with Stracciatella, Rye, Mustard and Ramson (145 DKK, SGD28). It was surprisingly very tasty – the crisps were nutty and enhanced the texture of the dish, while the stracciatella cheese and mustard added flavour to the asparagus without overpowering it. The quality of the rye bread was also great.
The café is accessible to all without the need for reservations or museum tickets, but I highly recommend exploring the museum before/after a meal at the café – as the largest art museum in Copenhagen, it houses a large collection of visual art from a time as old as the sixteenth century to modern times.
Please do not be alarmed by the prices – they are on par with the cost of living in Denmark.
Statens Museum for Kunst, 48-50, Sølvgade, 1350 København, Denmark
Tues to Sun 10am – 6pm

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