Left: Sundried tomatoes, home-baked bread, garlic dressing, red onion and pan-fried chicken breast with leek, rosemary and taleggio cheese – at Spisehuset Pagoden, a burger is not just a beef patty in a bun! Right: Pulled pork, Mexican beef, chicken, fillet of beef and an original range of homemade toppings make up Spisehuset Pagoden’s mouth-watering selection of burgers.
Restaurant of the Month, Denmark
A beefy attraction The small Danish town of Ølgod has in recent years become known for a rather unusual attraction – its traditional Danish ‘bøfsandwich’ (for the uninitiated, a bøfsandwich is much like a regular burger, only smothered in gravy). The creator of this specific bøfsandwich, which has been nominated as one of the five best bøfsandwiches in Denmark, is Thomas Møbjerg, chef and owner of Spisehuset Pagoden.
some of them are dedicated burger fans from the surrounding cities, including Viborg, Horsens and even Odense; I think it’s quite nice that they decide to make their way around to Ølgod to taste our burgers.”
By Signe Hansen | Photos: Spisehuset Pagoden
On TripAdvisor, Spisehuset Pagoden is the number one restaurant in Ølgod. Perhaps that is not surprising as it is just one of three restaurants in the town, which is located in Mid Jutland and has a population of less than 4,000 people. However, the diner has not just received rave reviews from local visitors, but also from the judges on Denmark’s Best Bøfsandwich competition. Indeed, despite being slightly off the beaten track, 100 | Issue 97 | February 2017
the diner, which was founded by Møbjerg in 2013, has become the town’s biggest attraction. When asked who his visitors are, the born and bred Ølgoder calmly replies: “Well, most of them are people who like burgers.” After a little grilling, he goes on to admit that some actually travel a considerable distance to sink their teeth into his famed meat mountains. “Yes,
The 33-year-old, who is a former butcher, is clearly not getting too carried away by the success. However, the fact is that Spisehuset Pagoden has, for the last three years, been featured in the search for Denmark’s best bøfsandwich, and awarded five stars every single time.
The best crispy onions in all of Denmark When taking a look through Spisehuset Pagoden’s extensive menu, it becomes