02/03/2024: Regularly visits 1761, and got the most delicious hake today - perfectly cooked. The waiter was (as always) knowledgeable, and with good timing at the table. Thanks
07/01/2024: This review will appear quite undeserved in relation to what I can really feel the place really has ambitions to be. My ratings for all reviews are based on the expectations I have formed before arrival. This time my expectations had started with a word of mouth recommendation, where my father had invited us to a nice dinner.
The place could very easily have gotten 5 stars if the dinner had stopped around the appetizer. Bread and the browned butter turned in malt for the starter was really wonderful. Even though the bread was presented as foccacia bread (which it wasn't) it was incredibly delicious. I am a real tartar lover and of course ordered it. The balances were not quite what I love, but their interpretation was also very delicious. Perhaps a little less artichoke chips, as they quickly gained the effect of roasted onions in combination with the other garnishes of the dish. My other 5 table companions got wood pigeon breast and oysters or waited for the main course.
Unfortunately, the wait for the main course was on the long side. Too bad for those who had skipped the starter (including my dad). About an hour after the appetizer was cleared, the main course was then served. Fortunately, we had enjoyed each other very well in the meantime. Acoustics and atmosphere in the restaurant were exactly as they should be. Half got a delicious cod, while the rest of us chose the classic beer-braised coil leg, which we sometimes serve ourselves at our own restaurant in Copenhagen. I quickly noticed that the bone did not come away from the meat, which made me nervous about the tenderness of the braised meat. Unfortunately, a test revealed that the meat was still frozen in the middle.
Why the kitchen freezes braised meat at all, I can't understand, unless it was a holdover from a previous menu. The chef should also have been able to assess that the frozen meat would never be able to be prepared with reasonable respect during service. Really wished the waiter had said it was sold out - no matter what time of the evening they discovered they had thawed too few coil legs for tonight's serving.
Discreetly called the waiter to the table and asked if they couldn't quickly find something else. How I felt sorry for the waiter, who was clearly very affected by the situation. A few minutes later, as expected, I was served beef tenderloin tournedos. Not because I was expecting an upgrade, but because from looking at the restaurant's other tables, I could see they were preparing the tenderloin in a way that would allow it to be served more quickly. However, if the kitchen had had a little more patience to heat it up a little more, it would have been a really nice alternative to the pork.
Something I pay a lot of attention to in fine dining restaurants are the sauces. I could clearly taste that the sauces for both pork and beef had a really good base. Unfortunately, this evening they had overdone it with the cornstarch, so that the umami had almost disappeared.
Although I felt so sorry for the wait staff, we opted to skip dessert. I could tell by my father that he was sorry to have invited us to this restaurant when he had heard so much about it. We convinced him that it was just a collection of human errors. Behind the scenes, we know very well that the mistakes on the evening could easily have been avoided.
Would actually have no problem revisiting the place again another time we visit Sønderborg. We all clearly felt that the place's ambitions and competences could easily meet our expectations. The atmosphere was nice and the wait staff did an excellent job. Would have got an extra plus in the hat if the menu or the food had been presented by the waiter before or during dinner, but I know it's a personal preference.
As I said, Brasserie 1761 could easily have received 4-5 stars in the evening, had there been no mistakes. Delicious with a small menu, nice selection of wines and good skills in the staff. However, a 5 star review would have required a better balanced sauce for the dishes with more focus on umami than stretching it with starch
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