SQ A350 Y to Copenhagen: Bicycles, The Little Mermaid, and Lunch at Noma

[yflyer]

The next dish was a gelatinous preparation of garlic and onion...it was all about texture and mouthfeel...



The next wine was a Muscat from Alsace...an amazing wine which had a heavenly sweet, honeyed aroma, but actually tasted quite dry...



A note on the wine portions served here...our servers were happy to top up our wine glasss if they saw you were enjoying the wine, or needed more to go with the course at hand...this flexibility to drink more or less what you felt like to go with the food really contributed to the pleasure of dining here...

The next dish was a very Instagram-worthy dish of radish pie...



Regulars on SQTalk will know that I am not a vegetarian. I have to admit when I first booked my meal, I was a little apprehensive about the fact that this was Vegetable Season. Let me just say that I did not feel anything was missing from this meal in terms of flavour or experience, from the exclusion of meat. the Vegetable Season menu works, even for non-vegetarians and meat eaters!



I picked it up and took a bite...it simply tasted delicious...

[yflyer]

Much of the cuisine at Noma was quite experimental...

The next course was a Scoby "steak". Scoby was a term I was not familiar with, though my fellow diners knew what it was: It stood for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, a process and ingredient now commonly known, as it is used for the making of kombucha.

In any case, the next dish was unlike anything I had ever seen (or tasted before)...



It tasted delicate and jelly-like...with deep flavour...



The next wine was Al di la del Fiume 2020 Birichen, an unfiltered, biodynamic sparkling wine from Emilia-Romagna in Italy.



This was a perfect match for the next dish, a Marigold flower tempura, with cured egg yolk and whisky sauce!



For this course, only the super crisp and delicate Marigold flower tempura was eaten, after dipping it into the sauce, which had an amazing richness of flavour...



The next course was a fresh egg, cooked with beets and ramson (A type of wild garlic)...



This also hit the spot...with the yolk inside still runny...



Next was a potato dish: potato wrapped in sea lettuce...



This was just delicate beyond belief...

By then I was losing track of the number of courses, and how many glasses of wine I had...

Our friendly server poured me a glass of Viré-Clessé from Burgundy...

[yflyer]

More flowers...

This time an artichoke flower...




At Noma, it was really important to listen closely to the staff when they talked about the dish, and follow the instructions from the staff carefully, which part of what was on the plate to eat, and how to eat it...

You just ate the artichoke flower on top (not the pink petals)...

Incredibly delicious!

And finally the "main course" of lion's mane mushroom roasted with wild roses...



...which was a satisfyingly "meaty" dish...paired with the only red wine of the meal, Abreuver Yes Sillons, a natural red wine made with the Gamay grape, from the Rhone region of France.



"Finally, a red wine!" I remarked to our server.

"Sometimes we don't even have space for a red wine pairing on our menus!" he replied.

[yflyer]

It was time for dessert...

The pairing for our desserts would be Rosé d'un Jour, a biodynamic wine from the Loire Valley...



The first dessert was a chocolate salad! What nice symmetry with our first course, which was a summer salad. Who would have thought a salad drizzled with chocolate would taste so good?



After that, what looked like a tart or cupcake of oatmeal and honey, perched atop a sunflower...



This cream-filled creation was so light and delicious...



And finally, a wild honeycomb...



...which you put whole in your mouth, then chewed and sucked, spitting out the hard honeycomb into the little pot of green provided.

[yflyer]

And that was that. What a profound dining experience that took us all on a 3 hour journey through a whole new world of food.



After lunch, we asked if we could take a picture with René Redzepi but he was not available, as he was deep into planning for the upcoming Forest and Game season.

But the staff did bring us around for a tour of the restaurant and facilities, including a wall where each brick had the names and signatures of past staff members were put up.

"Is your name on the wall?" I asked?

"No, if you are lucky, you will get your name on the wall on your last day at the restaurant!"

My fellow diners and I took photos together outside the Noma Kitchen. We had only just met for lunch, but it somehow felt like we had been through a lot together.

A would be heading back home on a plane the next day, while S and V would be continuing on their vacation in Europe for several more weeks.

"I would like nothing better than for the four of us to dine together, again, for the Wild Game and Forest season!" I said as we went our separate ways.

What an amazing meal. An afternoon to remember.

[yflyer]

After lunch, I took a bus back to the Marriott.



Apart from being fully satiated from the meal, I was also thoroughly inebriated from the accompanying wines. I headed up to my room and took a short nap.

After Noma, dinner at any other restaurant would have been an anti-climax, so rather than head out that evening, I decided just to head downstairs to the Marriott Executive Lounge for a light meal before turning in for the night.

The lounge was fairly busy when I entered at 7pm that evening. From the overheard conversations and accents around me, it seemed that many of the guests here were American, either here for work or holiday.

As Copenhagen was Carlsberg territory, with the original Carlsberg brewery located in the heart of the city, I decided to mark the end of my trip with a glass of Carlsberg beer.



I am not a beer connoisseur, and the finer points of beer appreciation escape me (Even after tasting all 9 beers at Anarkist bar earlier in the week), but I found my Carlsberg very refreshing and satisfying, especially when paired with Calamari fritters and little cups of “curry soup”.

Carlsberg was everywhere in Copenhagen. Although the Carlsberg Visitor Centre and Brewery Tours were currently under renovation and closed for tours, many of the historic buildings associated with the Carlsberg were still open.

Earlier in the week, I had work events that took place close to the old Carlsberg Brewery, with its iconic Elephant Gate, first built in 1901.



Not far way, was the Dipylon, or Double Gate, with it’s clock tower and portrait friezes of key figures who played a role in Carlsberg’s history, including Carl Jacobsen, whose father J C Jacobson founded the Carlsberg Brewery, and his wife Otillia. One of the old brewery buildings nearby has been converted to a luxury boutique hotel, Hotel Otillia, named in her honour.



The brewery tours were not operating during the time I was in Copenhagen, as renovations were in progress, but I was glad I got to see some of the history buildings that comprised the old brewery.

[yflyer]

Apart from beer, wine was also available in the Executive Lounge…

2 white wines…



…and two red…



Unlike Marriott Exec Lounges in Asia-Pacific properties, there was no free flow of liquor available, just wine and beer. But this was still better than the situation in many Marriott properties in the USA, where even the wine and beer was chargeable in the lounge.

There was a decent selection of appetisers available, including cheese and cold cuts…



Taleggio cheese with pickled nuts…



North Sea cheese with chutney…



Brasaola with artichokes…



Just two hot selections, calamari fritters…



…and a lukewarm “curry soup”, which I suspect many folks would find too mild and watered down…



As an evening Hors d’oeuvres spread this was probably ok…just a round of appetisers before a proper dinner elsewhere, but it could not really be compared to the spread at some other Marriott Exec Lounges (Again Marriott’s APAC properties come to mind…) where you could have a satisfyingly full dinner with what was available in the lounge…




Any other evening, I would probably have headed out in search of heartier food for dinner, but for today, after the massive lunch at Noma, I was happy just to sit in the lounge and nibble on these snacks, while sipping wine and beer.

[yflyer]

The next morning, I prepared to check out and head to the airport to catch SQ351 back home.

I stood by the window and admired the view from my room for one last time.



There were canoes on the water…



There were even folks swimming in the freezing waters of the harbour…



I had a quick breakfast in the Exec Lounge.



I wished I had a little soy sauce to go with the soft-boiled egg…but it was still very tasty without it…

[yflyer]

As I checked out, I asked the receptionist what the best way was to get to the airport utilising public transport i.e. by train or bus. He said the easiest way was just to walk to Central Station, which was 950m away – a 12 minute walk. As all I had was my computer backpack and rollerboard bag, this was quite doable.

It was a pleasant walk in beautiful weather to the train station.



Here is another pic of the station I took a few days earlier, which showcases the architecture and design of this building, built in 1911.



Inside, the first thing you saw was the beautiful wooden arched roof…



This was a fully integrated transport hub, with connections to the Metro, S-Train (Commuter trains) and regular train services. Signs indicated which platform served which train. I quickly found the one that served the train to the airport.



The airport train was leaving in just a few minutes…



The city transport pass on my iPhone app included trains to the airport. Easy! No additional purchase was needed.

I hopped onboard…



There were different cabin configurations, all with generously spaced seats. The trains ran fairly frequently, so I believe outside of peak periods, the trains seldom ran full.



This was a very comfortable train…



The train departed on time, and 15 minutes later, I was at CPH.

[yflyer]

This was a busy morning at CPH…



There were self-service check-in booths available…



…but as check-in queues were short, I opted to check-in at the counter instead.



Security queues were long but fairly fast moving. I was airside fairly quickly.

Lots of shopping options in CPH…

[yflyer]

Rather than shop, I headed straight to the SAS Lounge…



There were two parts to the lounge, the regular SAS Lounge downstairs, and the SAS Gold Lounge upstairs.



I turned right to the Gold Lounge.

The Gold Lounge had a small seating area downstairs…



…and a much larger section upstairs…



As I headed upstairs, I looked downstairs at the SAS Lounge section.



It seemed more crowded down there…



By contrast, the upper SAS Gold area felt open, spacious and airy…



A variety of seating options on the upper level…



…including plush sofas…



And table seating…



There was a separate business / work zone…


…with its own beverage/coffee station and bar counter seating, as well as meeting tables and work tops.

[yflyer]

There was a large dedicated dining area...



…with a self-service buffet station…



I was there in the late morning, which was perfect timing to sample breakfast, and then later observe the changeover to the midday lunch menu…



There were crisp loaves of fresh bread…



Yogurt, fruit and birchen muesli…



Cold cuts, boiled eggs and cheese…



An impressive block of Havarti cheese…



I was pleasantly surprised to see a selection of Asian condiments available, including soy sauce and Sriracha hot chilli sauce…



Coffee machine…



Ipad controlled juice dispenser…



…which I could not resist trying out…



Two red wines…



…and two whites…

[yflyer]

I was initially a little surprised to see that there was no liquor available, but it turns out that liquor is brought out after breakfast, at about 10.45am-11am, together with the changeover to lunch. There was a decent selection of liquor…



…including a local selection, Gammel Dansk…



I poured myself a shot to taste…wow…a bitter dram indeed!



With the changeover to lunch came two hot soup selections: cauliflower and tomato…



The tomato soup was very satisfying…



The other lunch selections included pasta and vegetables…



There was a rice dish, as well as cubed ham, and olives…



Other zones in the lounge included this relaxation zone…



…with curtained off loungers…



Overall, I thought this was quite a comfortable lounge to spend time before a flight.



I left the lounge just an hour prior to departure time, in order to allow time to clear international passport control, which was between the lounge/airside area and the international departure gates.

[yflyer]

Some pics on the way to the departure gate…

An SAS Bombardier CFJ-900, registration EI-FPP, and on the right in the distance, a Croatian Airlines Dash 8-Q400…



Our gate today was C29…



A fairly small holding room…

[yflyer]

SIA Airbus A350-900XWB, registration 9V-SMK, was taking us to Singapore today. This was coincidentally the same plane that I flew to CPH earlier in the week.



On time boarding…



Warm welcome at the door…



The J cabin looked even more inviting in the bright daylight than it did on the outbound night flight SQ352.



Always nice when cabin crew smile when you are taking a cabin shot…



It was going to be another fairly full flight to Singapore today…



Once again, my chosen seat was in the rear of the plane…



This time, I was in row 61D, in the 2nd last row, not the very last row.



I hoped that there might be a few empty seats in the back. On these long flights, an empty seat next to you would make a lot of difference, and if there were any empty seats at all, the odds were that it might be 61E, the one next to me. But no luck on this flight. It appeared to be completely full in Y.



We took off pretty much on time, but this was going to be a fairly long flight, around 12 hours and 11 minutes, which meant a slightly delayed arrival in Singapore. In fact, looking at the flight history of SQ351 in recent months, it has hardly ever arrived on time at 6.20am. It has usually been late by between 10-30 min, possibly because of the current air space routing, which avoids conflict zones etc.



I purchased internet for the full flight, at a flat fee of USD 15.99. Well worth it, as there were no data restrictions. There was also a complimentary 2 hour plan available for Krisflyer members.