Copenhagen Coffee Lab - Alcântara

Danish coffee on an Alcântara corner

The beans travel further than most. Copenhagen Coffee Lab roasts in Denmark and pours in Lisbon, and this Alcântara shop is one of the city’s branches, which makes it a Nordic coffee programme running in a Portuguese neighbourhood. That is a stranger combination on paper than it is in the cup.

The room is small and the tables outside carry most of the trade, in the Scandinavian style of clean surfaces and not much decoration. It is livelier on the pavement than it is inside, and it works best as a daytime stop.

Buns, croissants and a sourdough base

The bakery is Nordic too. The cardamom bun is the item to know, with a cinnamon bun beside it and croissants covering the rest of the morning. All three are built to be eaten with coffee rather than served on a plate with cutlery.

The kitchen also runs a sourdough pizza, which is the one part of the menu with nothing to do with Denmark and everything to do with wanting lunch. Matcha is on the board for anyone not drinking coffee, and cold brew handles the warmer half of the Lisbon year.

Order a flat white and a cardamom bun

The pairing to order is the flat white and the cardamom bun. The milk drink is the house standard and the bun is the bakery’s signature, and together they give the clearest read on what the shop is doing.

If the visit lands later, the cold brew is the better coffee and the sourdough pizza turns the stop into a meal. The cinnamon bun is the alternative for anyone who wants the sweeter of the two buns, and the croissant is the plainer option beside them.