Restaurants

Madsen
Danish cooking in west London
© Joanna Henderson
By Jenni Muir
Danes could be forgiven for feeling frustrated that this chic, serene and very friendly café-cum-restaurant does not reflect the current excitement surrounding Copenhagen’s food scene. Despite ambition and appearances, the main thrust of the menu is fairly straightforward home cooking.

Our simple chicken breast fillet with horseradish cream sauce and a mixture of roast root vegetables could easily have sat under the ‘Traditional Nordic Dishes’ section of the menu along with stegt rødspætte (pan-fried plaice with melted butter and carrots). In stegt flæsk med persille, an overly bland parsley bechamel sauce helped salve several thickish slices of salty bacon. This made pickled beetroot served on the side all the more welcome, but as with the chicken, the bacon dish suffered from not being served hot.

Madsen’s staff are utterly lovely, so it’s embarrassing having to call them to account on such a basic point. We expect much better things from the kitchen at lunchtime, as founder Charlotte Kruse Madsen trained at Copenhagen’s Ida Davidsen, which is famous for its smørrebrød (rather less temperature-sensitive open sandwiches).

Skip the brief, international wine list, and the bottles of Carlsberg in favour of the wonderful speciality Danish beers from Ærø (£5.50 per 500ml bottle). The IPA is full-bodied and fragrantly fruity while the stronger walnut variety (brewed with walnut essence and served slightly chilled) is a terrific winter warmer with true nut flavour. Make sure you order it if you’re sitting at the pavement tables – there are no patio heaters, though they are providing customers with Scandinavian blankets.
Time Out London Issue 1996: November 20-26

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Scandinavian London

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Posted by M Moore on 12 Dec 2008 14:32
I just came back from a meal at Madsen. I had a great time and I love the authentic decor with PH lamps. We used to live in Sweden so we know this kind of food. We really enjoyed the high quality of the Gravlax and the mushrooms soup for starters. For mains we both had the beef burger with onions and gravy that was amazing. The food is fresh, well cooked and very reasonably priced. We will be back for more.

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Posted by pamela moore reyna on 07 Dec 2008 20:06
Bland, uneventful food. The atmosphere is cliche. I dined with 8 people all of whom struggled with the insipid options; there were no compliments at the end of the evening: they were my invited guests. I wish my valuation were more favorable, however, I was dissapointed as were my guest. Unfortunate for all, particularly the Madsen.

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Posted by Peter B on 20 Nov 2008 09:36
The combination of excellent food (my scallops, chicken were both delightful), vibrant atmosphere, charming, personal service and decent value is extremely unusual in London. We travelled from North London for dinner and it was definitely worth the journey - we will be back!

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Posted by T. Kirschner on 19 Nov 2008 22:33
Madsen is a great restaurant, with a relaxing and warm but stylish atmosphere and the most lovely (and skilled) service I have received at any London restaurant - and I have been to many! Just what I’d expect from a Danish place.

The food is delicious, I have had the chicken and also the bacon at my second visit (the above reviewer speaks about those both), and both dishes were utterly delicious and HOT. I can’t see how anyone, Danish, Nordic or from any other part of the world that values Nordic food and atmosphere would be disappointed in Madsen.
It is The Place to eat in London, don’t miss out - get your table booked soon, otherwise you may have to wait until next year!

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