Vietnamese restaurant adapts dishes for Danish palates
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Đỗ Đức Huy opened Vietnamese Table in Copenhagen, Denmark, after a decade of planning, to share Vietnamese cuisine with locals.
Huy, who moved to Denmark at age 15, serves traditional dishes like pho alongside adaptations using Nordic ingredients. He replaces Vietnamese shrimp in his bánh xèo (savory crepe) with North Sea prawns, and pairs Danish oysters with chili salt.
Huy hopes to see pho become as common a meal in Denmark as pasta is, and he adjusts his cooking to encourage Danes to recreate Vietnamese dishes at home. He serves spring rolls with salmon and mango, ingredients readily available in Danish supermarkets, and presents them with a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce. He also cooks two different styles of pho, one from Southern Vietnam and one from the North, to showcase the dish’s regional variations.
Beyond the food, Huy aims to recreate the feeling of a Vietnamese family meal. He spends hours preparing his pho, believing that dedicating time to cooking expresses love and care. He decorated the restaurant with imagery of traditional Vietnamese foods and circular patterns to evoke a sense of togetherness, connecting it to the Danish concept of hygge, a focus on warmth and connection. He also credits the Vietnamese community in Denmark with a reputation for hard work and integration.
