Last Sunday my good friend Bjarke and I drove from Vejle to Aarhus, the capital of Jutland. Although Sunday, many shops were opened, so we wanted to make the best out of the last day in the weekend. After visiting several shops, mostly electronics (no, we’re not geeks!), our stomachs outvoted us and so we were in the search for a decent restaurant.

Bjarke suggested a restaurant “Mackie’s Cantina” since he visited it before and was satisfied with their food. The restaurant is placed in the middle of the pedestrian street, so we walked around, just in case we found something better, but we ended at the front of the restaurant again. So, we decided to give it a shot. First thing we noticed was – smoke. It wasn’t too bad, but one could easily smell it. I asked Bjarke don’t they have a “non smoking area”. We asked the personnel. No, they didn’t, but we could go to back of the restaurant, we were told. And so we did, but it wasn’t much better. However, we didn’t want to go out again and search for another place to eat, so we found ourselves a nice little table.

We ordered Hawaii Cheeseburger with pomme frites, salad and cheese. For drinks, I wanted Sprite Lite, but the waitress didn’t know it existed (!), so we ordered two Cola Light.

The atmosphere at the restaurant was nice, a lot of space and decorations on the wall, although too much of the “requisites” hanging on the wall.

Finally, we got our plates and we started to eat. First impression was good. The whole plate looked nice, cheeseburger juicy, pomme frites (some call them French fries) with nice golden color. But I was changing my opinion for every bite I took. Firstly, the meat in the cheeseburger was half/quarter-raw and if anyone knows me, they know how much I loathe raw meat. However, it was “only” a little bit red, so I closed my eyes. It actually didn’t taste bad, but it could be much, much better. Secondly, pomme frites were not good. Not tasty and not crispy. I mean, they were eatable, my friend can eat anything :), but the taste of a good potato was not there. Even though I generally like Heinz ketchup, it simply did not go well with the pomme frites. Thirdly, service was good. Personnel was friendly, communicative and smiling. So, what is the verdict? The place itself is not bad, it really isn’t. It’s got some quite nice atmosphere, but they really need to establish a non-smoking area! Food was not good. I have tasted cheeseburgers that tasted 26 times better than this one.

2 stars out of 5.