Grød
Sweet dreams are made of these. Steel-cut oats, warm and nutty, with just a hint of salt. Flanked by sweet, crisp apple, roasted almonds, and a big ole dab of dulce de leche. Welcome to Grød.
I am a vocal opponent of porridge as a whole. The lumpy, wallpaper paste muck people so often eat for breakfast by and large offends me. What is there to like about it? It’s bland, the texture is horrid, and almost everyone just buries it in brown sugar anyway. But Grød is different. The people behind this trendy porridge bar in in Copenhagen set out to reinvent this overlooked food, starting with steel-cut oats and adding inspired combinations of ingredients to elevate it into the delightful.
I visited Grød in Jægersborggade on a grey, cold autumn day. The space is cosy and warm, with white-washed brick and Aztec upholstered benches running along the walls. Though it was eight in the morning, tiny candles were lit at each table, emanating a warm, yellow glow. This is hygge. The menu is a simple one. In the mornings you have a choice of oat or gluten-free grain porridge (consisting of gluten-free oats, quinoa and chia seeds) paired with the likes of apple compote, granola and skyr (an Icelandic yoghurt) or chopped apples, almonds and caramel sauce. There’s also the option of designing your own porridge and an ‘all in’ option where you can add all the ingredients the kitchen has in its arsenal (and that’s 16 in total).
Come lunch and dinner time the menu shifts gear towards porridge like dishes such as chicken congee, daal, and risotto. For a distinctly Danish flavour, you can choose the risengroød, a traditional Danish rice porridge served with butter and either tarragon sugar or cinnamon sugar. Most of the dishes go for DKK 40-55 in the mornings and DKK 40-80 the rest of the day, making Groød an affordable meal out.
I ordered the caramel sauce and apple number, which was a simple stroke of genius. My entire world view on porridge was changed. The silky caramel sauce added a nice bit of sweetness, whilst the chopped apple lent freshness and tang, and the almonds a warming bit of crunch. Though it takes longer to make steel-cut oats, the end result is worth the wait.
The Bridge Street Kitchen / Broens Gadekøkken
Strandgade 95
1401 Copenhagen K
Vesterbrogade
Vesterbrogade 105b
1620 København V
Grød
Jægersborggade 50, kld. tv
2200 København N
Other locations:
Torvehallerne
Hal 2, Stade 8A, Linnésgade 17
1362 København K