Barbie

What a wonderful little change of pace in the heart of Copenhagen. On a recent work trip to Denmark, I had my fill of classic Danish food and decided to change things up on my last night in town.
Here on Unilocal,there were several positive reviews so I decided to check it out. I’m glad I did.
The restaurant itself is down a spiral staircase from the main restaurant, which is a steakhouse near the Central Train Station. You feel like you are going the wrong way — is this the storage area for the Steakhouse food? Nay, it’s dark, candle-​lit dining room.
The place was reasonably full on a Thursday night. That’s a good sign. I sat down and was immediately attended to by a kind young man. As I said, the place is dark, so I needed my iPhone light to read the menu (eh, not worth going into it further). It’s typical barbecue fare; you either order a shareable combo, or choose from the individual pieces.
I chose the combo. It came out fast. Wonderful spicy sausage, brisket that is tender and juicy (I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had dried out brisket in the States), ribs that actually did fall off the bone.
The sides — coleslaw and red cabbage — were so-​so, but it’s all about the meat. The only other thing to complain about is the assortment of sauces on the table. I wasn’t a fan of their barbecue sauce or their mustard & vinegar, but the chipotle sauce was yummy. I only need one good sauce so this wasn’t a problem at all.
I left feeling like I was at a very good barbecue joint; and I’ve been to a few.
Most of all, Barbie gave me exactly what I was looking for. A taste of the States on the evening before I returned home. If this is what you are looking for as well, check it out. Man cannot live on Smørrebrød alone.

Excellent restaurant. We like to eat where the locals eat — this is it. Superb food. Nice taste of the pork that the Danish are famous for. And very reasonably priced. The wonderful servers helped us figure out the currency exchange. We were at the end of our trip and ran a little short. They happily put the small difference on our credit card. Highly recommend this restaurant. Walk in to the steakhouse and go downstairs. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m not a big meat eater, so I have always thought it’s slightly pointless to visit this place until a friend of mine decided to celebrate her birthday here.
If you are a meat lover, maybe this place is a mecca for you since they have all kinds of barbecued goodness that you ever wish for. Ribs, sausages, steak, you name it — they have also side dishes like coleslaw, mac and cheese and the likes.
Price wise is rather on the slightly expensive side, but my pork sausages were very good, so maybe it’s worth it — again, if you’re a serious carnivore, which I am not :(
One more thing, this place is very dark because it’s located in the basement and that they have only candles and very dim lighting. I have had my laser surgery and don’t see very good in the dark, so somehow this place is straining my eyes :/​… and we’d like to see the meat, please…

Woah, where am I? We were led through Retour Steak, down a spiral staircase, and plunged into darkness. As you can see by the mostly bad photos here, the lighting is very dim! Which makes me suspicious that they’re trying to hide something. but the smell of delicious grilled meats fogged my mind and we were seated at a long table. We were given menus and discussed what we would get and if we would share. About 10 minutes after we sat down, another group sat down next to us. Their group was only 2 people smaller than ours, but they had their order taken, were served, and finished their food before we even got ours! When a server did eventually come around it was awkward; he was hovering over my shoulder and marking down our orders right onto the menu in front of me. Ever heard of personal space and a clipboard, man?
However, the food was faultless. I got the beef short rib and it was tender with great flavour and I didn’t have to struggle to cut it from the bone. I also got to try some of my friend’s brisket, which I should have gotten. The fat was just barely holding the meat together, excellently executed. The side that I chose was mash and gravy and I tried a bite of mac and cheese, both of which were perfect. Even though the food here is great, I can’t give it more than 3 stars due to the service and ambiance. But now I know where to get great BBQ when I have the patience.

I tried Barbie last night with a group of friends. You basically enter through the steak house upstairs and climb down a winding staircase in the back, which creates the impression of a «secret back room» — kinda fun!
We had a reservation for 20:15, but I got there a bit early and waited at the bar with a pre-​dinner cocktail. When my friends arrived, we were told that our table was just paying, but we ended up waiting about 20min until we could finally be seated.
Service was quick, though, and we had ordered drinks and food in no time. As other reviewers have described, you can choose between «The Tray», with 4 meats and 3 sides, and «The Whole Shebang», which basically covers everything they have. Unfortunately, they don’t let you choose which meats/​sides you get for the tray, so I had to mix-​and-​match on my own, because I’m not the biggest meat eater in the world. Also, I really wanted the pulled pork sliders (that sadly aren’t part of the tray). So I went for the sliders, pork ribs, mac and cheese, and coleslaw.
Service was quick again — a benefit of having a limited menu! — and soon we were ready to dig into all of the meaty goodness!
What’s called pulled pork burger on the menu is really two small sliders. The deliciously smokey pulled pork is topped with shredded red cabbage and pickles. Very good, especially alongside the coleslaw.
The pork ribs were insane. The meat is so tender that it just falls off the bone, and they are marinated in an amazing sauce. Btw, their homemade sauces are pretty nice, too. I especially liked the barbecue sauce, which is decidedly more smokey and less sweet than some of the typical BBQ sauces you get other places.
But I have to say, my personal highlight was the mac and cheese! That was comfort food at its best — creamy, cheesy perfection, served in a tiny cast iron skillet. I might want to eat this every day!
While the food is pretty much impeccable, I’m not giving five stars, because I think there’s some room for improvement. It would be great to let people order their choice of meats and sides for the Tray. Their prices for drinks are a bit steep, and the service sometimes seemed a little uncoordinated. All in all, I warmly recommend this place to anyone who is a sucker for barbecue and likes to eat a loooot of meat!

Copenhagen is an amazing city — for an American on the road, this is a gem of a find. Amazing BBQ and steaks. Combine that with the gracious Danes that work there and it was a wonderful experience. I will be back ASAP — to both Copenhagen and to Barbie :)

When you walk in, you have to go downstairs to the basement (upstairs is another restaurant). The pork belly and brisket was amazing. My husband is big on BBQ and he said this was one of the best. We got a pickled cabbage side which was also great. The buns that come with the meats are also great. Service was nice — tables a little small but who cares. Must try if in the area.

Most delicious barbecue I have ever eaten… and I am from Texas.
Barbie was a great find by my colleague, I cannot wait to go back when I return to CPH in November. The pork belly was literally the most melt-​in-​your-​mouth thing I have ever eaten. The Danes at Barbie do it right, very very right.
We ordered The Whole Shebang and an extra side of mac and cheese and it was phenomenal — all of it. Barbie is the first thing we all talk about when any family, friends, etc. ask us what we did while in Copenhagen.
We sat at the bar, it’s very small and not exactly for dining, but they let us sit there any way. The bartender cared for us very well and made a moonshine cocktail that kicks the American South’s a**.
Go, please.

So happy to have found this place (via Unilocal!). Finally something that comes close to a real BBQ joint here in CPH. Not only was the food extremely tasty, another great thing (according to my husband) was that it was quick! Which was good, as we were salivating once the neighboring table received their food…
We were in and out in an hour — just in time to watch another World Cup game. We ordered the tray which was plenty of food — 4 meats and 3 sides. The only thing I wish they would change is to let you pick the 4 meats and 3 sides, but I can understand why it is the restaurant’s choice. We did enjoy all of it, and figure when we return (because we will, soon!) we can order our meats a la carte now that we’ve had a taste of most of them. We ordered a side of Mac and cheese and it was amazing — I highly recommend it, even though it’s in addition to the 3 sides on the tray, it’s TOTALLY worth it. Yumm!

If you like BBQ and loads of it, you like Barbie! Cosy atmosphere, not too fancy, in the cellar underneath another steak restaurant. And they know what they’re doing… meat so well cooked it literally melts in your tounge. Beef brisket and black ribs were my favorites. Enjoy!

ATTENTION PLANET! COPENHAGEN FINALLY HAS A REPUTABLE BBQ JOINT AND IT IS F*CKING AWESOME.
While I don’t really feel like this needs further explanation, for the sake of reliving my meal from Friday night, I’ll break it down.
You get this ‘tray’ with four meats and three sides. They decide for you what those are, and if you ask nicely they might exchange some of the meats or sides on offer for something else (for example, I wanted gluten free, so they made exceptions for that). The sides are like foodgasms in Styrofoam cups, simply put.
The BBQ pork belly and the pulled pork were my favorite, but pretty much I died over and over again during the whole meal. So so good.
PS: service was a little off (not everyone knew what was going on, think they have some new staff), and the sage ice cream was a bit… weird…(it tasted like sage though, so that’s a success), but neither of these things impacted our meal or our experience at all.
Pro-​tip: order the mac and cheese as an extra side. I didn’t eat it, but judging by the face of my friend who did, you won’t be disappointed.