Bodega Det Lille Oresund

Copenhagen, Denmark

Field Rating

7

out of 10

Solve the mystery of the clogs.

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The Basics

Oehlenschlægersgade 41
1663 København, Denmark

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In Short

Reminiscent of drinking in some kind of dive bar ship’s hull, Bodega Det Lille Oresund commands a tiny footprint in the trendy Vesterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen, a blue speck on a largely residential block. From the clogs outside to the soccer scarve-lined walls inside, the vibe is cozy, neighborhood, vaguely nautical dive bar.

Field Note

Walking around Copenhagen’s network of urban areas inevitably includes passing plastic crate after plastic crate of beer bottles carted through town to bars that simply rip through Tuborg and Carlsberg on a constant basis. Bodega Det Lille Oresund, say that five times fast after a few of those pints, looks like the wheelhouse of a boat crossed with beer crate storage, the offerings for the next day lined up behind the bar.

The building’s bright blue paint job complements a handful of clogs attached to the wall because of course why aren’t there clogs attached to the outside of a Copenhagen dive bar. The space is small and lives within a largely residential area just off more trafficked routes through the Vesterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen. The area is known as the part of town that used to be industrial and has since been redeveloped, a corridor extending southwest from the city’s main train station.

It’s easy to see Det Lille Oresund thriving in a pre-gentrification version of its current location, a small dive bar serving beer and a handful of liquor options in a wood-lined interior setting.

Given that backdrop, it’s easy to see Det Lille Oresund thriving in a pre-gentrification version of its current location, a small dive bar serving beer and a handful of liquor options in a wood-lined interior setting. Though the ceiling inside has been painted black, the dominant visual here is the floor to ceiling dark wood paneling that extends the ship metaphor inside. A short bar sits inside the front door with limited seating, spilling out into a grand total of about five tables extending around the bar toward the back wall.

Keep an eye out for a few more clogs here and there, a pair just off the very nautical-looking bell begging to be rung above the bar.

The decor is chiefly comprised of soccer-style scarves that hang from the ceiling and dot the walls. Photos of locals can be found in spots, but this is not the classic “cover the walls no matter what” dive bars seen both in Copenhagen and elsewhere. A wooden carving of the dive bar’s name hangs over the seating area, words of wisdom painted onto the beams of the black-painted ceiling above it. Keep an eye out for a few more clogs here and there, a pair just off the very nautical-looking bell begging to be rung above the bar.

The vibe at Bodega Det Lille Oresund is a little minimalist, simple in the best possible way, a small footprint on a quiet street in contrast to some of the busier and louder offerings a block or two away. With a vaguely nautical theme, intentional or not, the feeling is certainly organic to a place like Copenhagen so intimately tied to the sea. And if the confluence of all of those traits leads to drinking in a dive bar reminiscent of a ship’s hull, all the better.