Communal dining is Copenhagen’s best-kept culinary secret

Eating out in Denmark can be costly, but a growing number of child-friendly community supper clubs in the capital offer affordable feasting with the locals

Copenhagen is a gastronome’s paradise. Stroll around the Danish capital’s elegant boulevards and before long you’re bound to stumble upon a hallowed, Michelin-starred temple of New Nordic cuisine. However, there’s a cheaper and more convivial side to the city’s culinary scene: its communal supper tables.

Leading the way is the community centre Absalon, a former church in the smart Vesterbro neighbourhood. On a Sunday evening in September, the air buzzes with conversation and the clatter of cutlery as about 200 people tuck into bowls of steaming tomato lentil soup and piles of fried potatoes in a creamy fennel and chive sauce. This is the nightly fællesspisning dinner (the Danish word loosely translates as communal dining), featuring long tables, shared by strangers. The menu changes daily to spotlight locally sourced ingredients made into affordable dishes that are served tableside by the guests themselves.