A bit of Danish Denhygge in our hood

Possibly the first true blue Danish cafe in Klang Valley, DenHygge features classic Danish food, run by Danish native Niels and his Russian wife Olga. Hygge means cozy and comfortable –  a feeling of contentment and well-being, and stepping in the cafe really feels like you’ve entered their home, replete with a warm crackling ‘fireplace’. Clean lines and minimalist-style Scandinavian looks you in the eye.

A big part of the menu consists of Smorrebrod – open-faced sandwiches – dense dark rye bread topped with various toppings. I’ll say it upfront – the food is delicious – but takes getting used to if you like hot food. The Danish eat a lot of cold dishes, with the solitary hot dish or two like stews.

We tried the Marinated Herring on rye Bread with mildly sweet and spiced mayo, onions and crispy pork lard. The ensemble was really nice, mix of briny, sweet and tangy flavours. Portion was smallish; other proteins like the Roast beef were more sizeable with generous slices of meat enhanced with creamy remoulade, horseradish and fried onion. 

There’s also the Rullepølse, sliced pork belly seasoned with spices with onion and delicious aspic. So far, so good but the pork liver pate that came with pickled cucumber to cut any gamey taste and crisp-fried bacon pieces was probably the most worthwhile, given the generous pate. 

Wish there was more bread though. Seems customers would leave half uneaten as they weren’t used to the dense bread, so he halved the portion. Perhaps if you asked for a larger slice, Niels will comply. Prices for sandwiches range from RM20 to RM32. Makes a nice light lunch but if you’re a heavy eater, ask for the scrumptious 

Also enjoyed the crisp Stegt flæsk or Danish-style Fried Pork Belly (RM55) that came with potatoes on special that day, customary Christmas dish it seems. Tasty but the texture was on the hard side and can be dry. Other days they have stew which I hear packs a punch too. 

For dessert, we had typical Danish Apple Pie with stewed apple, macaron and vanilla cream with a topping of red currant jelly. Using a mix of red and green apples to get the sweet yet slight tartness, this was a nice ensemble though a bit too sweet for me, but then again, I’m not a dessert person so others might like this more.  

Drop by to drink in the Christmassy ambience – they’re got some specials for the season. Denhygge makes a stellar cup of coffee too so it’s a lovely place to just chill and take stock of life.  

Add: 1st floor, Heritage Lane, Empire Damansara, F113, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya. hp: 012-824 0020