Central Cafeen

Nørregade 6 Cuisines: French

About

When we first discovered this restaurant many years ago, we were put off by its name of "Central Café." Only after dining here did we discover that this is one of the finest restaurants along the east coast of Funen, set directly across the street from City Hall, in a house from 1787 that has contained some kind of restaurant since 1854. With a sense of local history and a deep-seated pride, it offers four separate, cozy dining rooms, each outfitted with sepia-toned photographs of four generations of Danish monarchs, plus a quirky collection of ladies' hats tucked museum-style in glass cases. The composition of the fixed-price menus changes every month to take advantage of seasonal produce. First-rate ingredients are used, often fresh shrimp and lobster. Begin, perhaps, with a bowl of the creamy lobster bisque, going on to the fried plaice with a lobster-and-shrimp sauce. Roasted salmon appears with fresh spinach, and meat eaters gravitate to the fried pork cutlets in a parsley sauce. The sumptuous desserts are made daily, and there is an impressive but pricey wine list to back up the cuisine.