Steph C.
Yelp
Ruby opened in 2007, so unless Denmark is vastly ahead of the US when it comes to drink trends, I'd guess it was an early arrival to Copenhagen's craft cocktail scene. My husband and I dropped in for a round on our last night in Copenhagen. We'd gone to Brønnum, a newer sister bar to Ruby, the night before. I wonder if Ruby has stayed the same while the cocktail scene has gotten stronger. We enjoyed the place, but weren't particularly impressed.
We went on a Tuesday night after dinner, at around 11:30. The bar was pretty quiet, so we were able to walk in without hassle. The space was lovely, charmingly decorated, with the feel of a cozy, lived-in mansion. We sat outdoors, on a patio decked out with lounge furniture. It was all very comfortable and relaxing. Service was good--we were able to order our drinks from our table.
There was a robust cocktail menu, complete with paragraph-long descriptions of every house creation. They all sounded delightful, but we settled on the Corny Curd and the 866. The Corny Curd was a mix of white port and Noilly Prat vermouth infused with roasted spelt, shaken with Ruby's own lemon curd. This was a solid cocktail, if not especially memorable. It came with a little snack bite of lemon curd on a cracker. The 866 was made with Campari, pink grapefruit juice, and dill aquavit, served with a salt rim. It wasn't good--just blunt and bitter, with nothing else going on.
We had a nice time at Ruby. The space was pleasant, and I'm always happy to visit the noteworthy bars in any given city. The cocktails were just kind of disappointing. We might have been better off going back to Brønnum.