Reffen Food Market

Our time was brief in Copenhagen, but there was one spot I kept reading about that was a must-visit: Reffen, an organic street food market.

More on Reffen . . . It's the Nordic region's largest street food venue. All the 50+ stalls have to follow the sustainable principles "Reduce and Reuse". That means the businesse commit to using compostable food service, reducing food waste, and using organic/free-range/local ingredients wherever possible. They also have to sort their waste so it can be reused as far as possible. The variety of world cuisines represented is top notch. Totally up our alley!

Committed

On our final night in Copenhagen we found ourselves a bit conflicted. We really wanted to hit up Reffen, but were struggling to reconcile our desire with the reality of a 30+ minute public transport journey (including two different bus lines) and a relatively short window of evening time to play with (before a super early AM wake-up for our flight to Portugal). In the end, our desire to experience a cool, unique spot and enjoy good food won out (as it usually does!). To the public bus stop we go!

We ultimately arrived in a former industrial district that has become one of Copenhagen's hippest areas and a hub for creativity/urban development. Reffen was a short walk from the bus stop. We hustled along, chased by ominous dark clouds behind us.

Amazing Food with a side of Rain

It's worth first noting what an incredibly cool, creative, industrial space Reffen is, smack on the Copenhagen waterfront. Serious "wow" to the eyes and soul!

We did a lap around the market to check out the food stall options (most housed in old shipping containers) before committing to a cuisine. Naturally we all ended up wanting different things. Hence, the beauty of a food market; everyone's happy! Just as we were dividing & conquering to purchase our food (one parent + one kiddo), the dark skies started dumping rain. No light sprinkling; a massive downpour of rain! Thankfully we came prepared with our rain jackets.

We leapt over puddles to reach our desired food stands and huddled in a seating area with an overhang. All good! We ended up with a smorgasbord of tasty food. Everything from homemade spinach ravioli (Sadie), Indian (Paige), delicious North African stew (me & Doug) and a Thai gyro of sorts (me & Doug). Everything was delicious.

Sour Beer Nightcap

By the time we finished dinner the rain had stopped. The sun even made a brief appearance, but then returned to its hiding spot behind the dark clouds. A short walk down the waterfront was the Mikkeller Brewery. Doug & the girls would have been happy to walk on by, but I was keen for us to pop in after reading about it in several Copenhagen travel posts. They had a few sour beers on tap, so it was an easy choice to stay :) We had the joint practically to ourselves. We enjoyed a pint each by candlelight and the girls did their giggly, indepedent thing.