24 Mar Is Kismet worth the hype?
Looking for a place to drink an affordable cup of coffee?
Try Kismet.
Just a short walk from Kongens Nytorv, this small café is often busy, often recommended, and often mentioned when people talk about coffee in Copenhagen.
But popularity is one thing.
The real question is whether Kismet actually lives up to it.
- Adelgade 16 1304 Copenhagen
- kismet.dk
- 4 - 6 €
When you enter through the door, you feel welcome almost at once. You are met with a smiling staff and a relaxed atmosphere.
There is a large seating area with good spacing between the tables, which makes it easy to have conversations with friends, colleagues, and others.
The red bricks and the minimal, almost industrial decor give it a clean, simple look. It works well with the light coming in through the large windows that cover two sides of the café.
We sat down at a large red wooden table, and the first thing Alexander mentioned was that it would be a nice place to play a game of chess, and I agreed.
Kismet feels like the kind of café where you stay longer than just for a quick lunch or a cup of coffee. A place to sit, talk, work, or maybe play a game of chess.
We started by ordering a filter coffee for 3,5 € (25 DKK), which is quite cheap by Copenhagen standards.
The quality of the coffee was decent. It was a bit mild, but not too watery, and we both gave it a solid 7 out of 10.
It was lunchtime and we were quite hungry, so we decided to order their grilled cheese sandwich, priced at 16 € (120 DKK).
It was crunchy and savoury, and together with the pickled carrots and chilies, it had a nice all around balance of savoury, sour and umami.
We both enjoyed the grilled cheese, but the price felt a bit high. After all, it was just a grilled cheese sandwich, and there is a ceiling to that type of food.
We ended up giving it a 7 out of 10 as well.
When you are at a café in Copenhagen, it is a must to try their pastries. We asked the staff which ones they would recommend, and ended up with their canelé and cinnamon bun.
This was the part where we were most disappointed.
While both were relatively cheap, they did not quite meet the standard you expect in Copenhagen, which is known for its bakeries.
The canelé, while served elegantly, was a bit boring. It still had a strong flavour, but felt somewhat one sided.
Alexander gave it a 6 out of 10.
I gave it a 7 out of 10, mainly because its small size made it an okay sweet after lunch.
The cinnamon bun had almost the same story. We Danes love a well made cinnamon bun, but this one was not that different from something you might buy at a 7 Eleven. The best part was the dough, which was slightly more buttery than usual.
We both ended up rating it 6 out of 10.
Our verdict
The Café Kismet is an all right place to visit for a cup of coffee or a meeting. The biggest upsides are the welcoming staff and the great atmosphere that surrounds the café.
However, we both agreed that it does not quite live up to the hype it has received. If we were looking for lunch in that part of Copenhagen, Kismet would not be our first choice, but we would not mind going back either.
We would recommend it for meeting friends over coffee or having a meeting with a colleague.
Overall, we would rate it 7 out of 10.
Carl-Ditlev is a bartender and co-founder of EOW Magazine, dedicated to keeping cocktails simple with quality spirits, fresh juice, and homemade syrups.
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