Madsen

For a restaurant just around the corner from the South Ken museums, Madsen isn't nearly as packed as you'd expect. Instead, it's a cool, calm corner of Scandinavia: all elegant wooden ply furniture and classic Louis Poulsen lights, with dishes as simple, fresh and elegantly presented as the decor. Interesting lunch deals include 'smushi' mini open sandwiches (smørrebrød) on rye, with traditional toppings such as thinly sliced pork with red cabbage (flæskesteg), Greenland prawns, or roast beef with pickled cucumber.

The set lunch delivered some big fat pork meatballs (frikadeller) and a summery apple and elderflower trifle. Both dishes were pleasant, rather than thrilling. What turned out to be the star is something you might dismiss as a cliché: the pickled herrings. These are marinated on site, in onion, creamy dill, and tomato versions, combining freshness, sweetness, sourness and meatiness all on the same plate.

Considering Denmark's brewing prowess, it's a shame there were only two beers on our visit - though who could resist the amusingly named Swedish bestseller 'God Lager'? Blankets (IKEA, of course) provided for alfresco diners are a nice touch - a northern European custom we'd do well to adopt here.