The aebleskiver is at a restaurant.
The "Danish Capital of America" is located in Solvang, CA.
I tried authentic mashed potatoes, flaeskesteg, and frikadeller.
The pastries were the best things I tasted.
I went to Solvang, California, a small town called "LittleDenmark."
The "Danish Capital of America" is Solvang.
Solvang has become a popular tourist destination due to its architecture and the Danes' cuisine. You'll feel like you're in Europe instead of California wine country.
I made the trip to Solvang with my family with the plan to eat my way through the "Danish Capital of America" as my passport remained blank.
I have a full review of everything to do in Solvang here.
I promised to spend most of the weekend in Danes cuisine.
I was in Solvang over the weekend trying new dishes.
One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying authentic food and eating what the locals love.
Before I leave for Solvang, I read reviews and write about restaurants and bakeries that I shouldn't miss.
The first place I stopped was Solvang Restaurant, a top tourist attraction with a line that often wraps around the block.
There is a line in front of a restaurant.
The aebleskiver dessert at Solvang Restaurant was mentioned in a number of websites.
The queue for the to-go window was actually for drinks and pastries, and I realized it when I walked up to the restaurant. The waiter whisked us inside for a real dining experience, despite there being no wait for a table.
Solvang Restaurant pays tribute to its roots in the country of its origin.
There is a "Thumbelina" illustration on the wall.
The walls were covered in paintings inspired by the fairy-tales of Hans Christian Andersen, while phrases like "A good start is half the battle" and "All's well that ends well" were written in the wooden ceiling beams.
We ordered a platter with four different types of sausages for lunch.
Sausages and meatballs were included in our lunch.
The ham and Tilsit sandwich was the first thing we tried. The Tilsit was mild and the ham was good.
The sausage platter had chicken, Danish, and other flavors.
The sausage platter is at a restaurant.
The sausages were alright, but I didn't like the chicken and spinach. My favorite part of the plate was the sauerkraut, red cabbage, and mashed potatoes.
I liked how the fresh bite of red cabbage and the saltiness of sauerkraut worked together, and I thought the mashed potatoes were delicious.
The last meatballs were the Danes-style meatballs, which came with more potatoes and red cabbage, along with some veggies and soup.
The meatballs are from the Danes at Solvang Restaurant.
I thought the meatballs would be one of the more authentic dishes to try from the restaurant.
The meatballs tasted great and the split pea with ham soup was not memorable. I thought the dish had a lot of depth of flavor, especially when combined with those great mashed potatoes, even though they were much bigger than meatballs my Greek parents have made for me hundreds of times.
The star of the meal was the aebleskiver.
The aebleskiver is at a restaurant.
If you don't know what aebleskiver are, this is the perfect explanation from the former owner of Solvang Restaurant.
He wrote about a delicacy called aebleskiver in an article published in the Santa Ynez Valley Visitors Magazine in 1977.
They are like a waffle or a pancake. Everyone has their own favorite recipe and way of serving it, depending on where the recipe came from.
The aebleskiver at Solvang Restaurant is topped with powdered sugar. You can get three for $4, or one for $7.10 with ice cream. I chose the latter.
I realized after my first bite that aebleskiver are worth the hype. The balls were very airy and fluffy, and they were great with the jam. I remember the fried sweets I'd get on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk as a kid.
After lunch, I spent a few hours wandering around town and stopped at The Swedish Candy Factory.
The Swedish Candy Factory has polkagris flavors on display.
I knew I had to visit The Swedish Candy Factory when I found out it was the only Polkagris bakery in the country.
A taffy-like consistency is what Polkagris is. It's a popular candy for Christmas because it's white and red and has a mint flavor.
You can watch the workers make them. The shop makes a wide range of fun and creative flavors, from root beer and peach mango to salted Licorice and sour apple. A friendly worker walks around to offer small samples to everyone, reminding them to let the sweet sit in their mouth and melt.
Bit O'Denmark is located in the oldest building in Solvang.
The front of a building.
One of the first buildings to go up in Solvang was a restaurant that was built in 1911 and was listed on a helpful placard at the front of the restaurant.
It was turned into a restaurant in 1929 after three years as a college. The restaurant Bit O'Denmark has been around since 1963.
The flaeskesteg and frikadeller are two words I've never heard of before, but I chose them along with the wienerschnitzel.
A lot of red cabbage was included in our dinner.
At Bit O'Denmark, I ordered an authentic Danes meal. The red cabbage on my plate was similar to the dishes at Solvang Restaurant. I decided to order all three styles of mashed, boiled, or roasted potatoes for each entree.
One of Austria's most famous dishes, wienerschnitzel, is often served with lemon, capers, and anchovies in the Danes' version, which is called Bit O'Denmark.
The $29 schnitzel was light and juicy, not an easy feat with such a thin slice of meat. The butter sauce and red cabbage and cucumber salad made a nice burst of freshness to the veal and potatoes.
My dad is a huge fan of schnitzel and gave this dish two thumbs up.
The frikadeller was a pan- fried pork meatballs with a brown sauce.
The frikadeller dish is at Bit O'Denmark.
A combination of two or three of the above meats is what frikadeller are made with. It usually contains chopped onions, eggs, and breadcrumbs.
My parents were not sold on the meatballs at Solvang Restaurant, but they were impressed with the frikadeller at Bit O'Denmark.
The pork meatballs were cooked well and had a fluffy middle. The brown sauce was delicious and I loved the addition of the onions. My parents were converted to Danes after watching these.
The restaurant's favorite dish is flaeskesteg, a roast pork stuffed with prunes, which is on the menu.
The flaeskesteg dish is at Bit O'Denmark.
Flaeskesteg is a roast pork dish that you'll find on every lunch and dinner menu in the country. The dish is usually served with red cabbage and features pork rind.
The $26 dish was accompanied by brown sauce and applesauce. The pork was so juicy that it worked well with the mildly sweet applesauce. The brown sauce made everything taste great, and I covered my pork with mashed potatoes for a perfect bite.
I love red cabbage, so I learned a lot from this weekend. The crispness and freshness of the vegetable meshes nicely with the heavy dishes.
If you're looking for a big traditional Danes meal in Solvang, I would recommend Bit O'Denmark.
The best part of my trip was when I tried some pastries the next day.
The display of pastries at the bakery.
It's easy to indulge in the many delicious pastries on offer in the town, because there are five authentic bakeries within five blocks.
I went to the most famous bakery in town for breakfast and loved every single pastry.
The pastry from the bakery tasted amazing.
I knew I had to get a Danes and the apple version was lush and fresh.
I had the right combination of flaky and fluffy Kringle Slice at Olsen's and it was mentioned in the Solvang travel blogs.
Stroopwafels originated in the Netherlands, but I couldn't say no to something called "The Princess Mocha." The stroopwafel base of the pastry was very sweet, and I couldn't stop licking it off my fingers.
I visited Solvang Bakery, which makes gingerbread houses that are frequently bought by celebrities.
The gingerbread houses at Solvang Bakery are famous.
You can decorate your own gingerbread houses from Solvang Bakery. Kris, Kim, Khloer, and others have posted their gingerbread houses on social media.
You can buy gingerbread men, loaves of bread, and ring cake.
I tried a gingerbread man with a Danes.
The gingerbread man and Danes were both delicious.
The gingerbread had a nice flavor and the cookie wasn't too tough. The strawberry jam in the middle was delicious.
I saw a bakery almost everywhere I went in Solvang, with a long line of excited customers.
There is a line in front of a bakery.
I'll stop by Birkholm's Bakery & Cafe, which was very popular, as well as Mortensen's Bakery, which was famous for its waffles from the Danes.
Don't let the lines stop you. These pastries are worth every second of every day. If you're willing to get up early on a Saturday or Sunday, you won't have to wait.
I went to some of the other restaurants in Solvang this weekend.
The lunch was at Mad & Vin at The Landsby hotel.
You could spend the entire weekend in Solvang. Mad & Vin is one of the popular restaurants in the small town that serves locally-soured, wine-country-inspired cuisine.
The cast of "Vanderpump Rules" stayed at The Landsby, a chic boutique hotel, during a girl's trip to Solvang on one episode.
The fried chicken sandwich featured a spicy aioli and cabbage slaw. My dad and I both agreed that it was one of the best fried chicken sandwiches we've ever had.
My mom liked the $22 fish and chips, which came with duck-fat fries, and I tried the $18 buckwheat noodle salad, which was a nice break from the many dishes of meat and potatoes I had over the weekend.
The Mirabelle Inn has First & Oak.
Our dinner at First & Oak was amazing.
I spent a night at the Mirabelle Inn in Solvang, so I knew I had to check out the restaurant, which has a five-course tasting menu or la carte.
We had smoked duck wings for $16, a risotto made with Manchego and truffle oil for $32, and a bowl of handmade fettuccine for $36.
First & Oak is proof that the food scene in California isn't limited to Los Angeles and San Francisco. My parents want to go to Solvang again so they can eat there again.
Paula's Pancake House is where I had my last meal.
You will have to wait a while to get a table at Paula's Pancake House.
I would've been interested in Paula's Pancake House even if I'd read about it in every single article I read about Solvang, because of the many people that always seemed to be waiting for a table.
I went to Paula's early Monday with my parents, and we grabbed a table with no problem. The restaurant's interior felt like a diner from another era with wood panelling and a bar-style counter, even though the outdoor dining area was filled with beautiful greenery and flowers.
The pancake was one of the best I've ever had.
Our pancake came from Paula's Pancake House.
The American variety of pancakes is much larger than the Danes, with a closing similar to crepes. My pancakes were topped with fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream. They were thin and crisp, but still flaky. They tasted great.
The dish reminded me of a breakfast I had in Amsterdam. It was a wonderful way to end the trip and I felt transported back to Europe.
I didn't get a new stamp on my passport, but my trip to Solvang gave me a new appreciation for the food and culture of the Danes.
I had a lot of great dishes and pastries during my trip to Solvang.
I was so impressed with the variety of traditional Danes foods I was able to try without leaving my home state or country.
I know I'm just a few hours away from a town full of fresh Danes, delicious meats, and the best mashed potatoes ever, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to travel there.
The original article is on Insider.
