Ask people in the Sonderborg area to recommend a good restaurant to go out to eat at for some celebration, and you can be sure that Restaurant Bind in Kollund will be one of the top suggestions.

So when we had something to celebrate (new house! But more about that later) we decided to give Restaurant Bind a try.

First Impressions

You find the restaurant by driving along Flensburg Fjord towards Germany and find the restaurant close to Kollund, just before you reach Annie’s Kiosk/Okesøen. The restaurant is not very well marked, having just a small sign, similar in size to a Danish street sign. There is enough parking for the small dining room inside, and from there you make your way to the restaurant by following the signs.

The dining room itself is set out looking on the water, giving you very good views over Flensburg Fjord. On the day we were the first to arrive, so it was absolutely delightful to have the quietness of the restaurant and the view of the fjord all to ourselves.

If possible I would recommend arriving for dinner before the sun has gone completely down to have the opportunity to enjoy the view. We were seated in the middle of the restaurant, but for even better views I would consider asking for a table next to the window next time.

The Food

First thing you should know about Restaurant Bind is that, unlike most other restaurants, there is a 3-course set menu that changes every 2 weeks, together with 2-3 other dishes that also change depending on what is in season. This does make your choice very easy! You can have a look at the menu online before you go to see what is on offer. It does, however, seem that there is no vegetarian option.

As a lot of people have said, the food is really one of the stars of the plate. Everything complemented each other beautifully. The portions were also, although as to be expected not on the huge size, plenty big enough to make you feel nicely full at the end of the meal. Having bread and water continuously supplied (for free!) to the table when needed also helped make the experience for me (a bread loving Mediterranean).

The Service

Arriving at the restaurant we were warmly greeted by a number of staff. The service remained impeccable throughout the rest of the evening. Considering this, I was very surprised to hear that one of the servers had only been there one week, and for the other it was his first day! So Kasper and Michael I bow my head to the excellent job you did.

Having said all this, if there is one downside to the place is that there is a sort of subtle upselling pressure from the owner that arrives at intermittent points during the evening, namely, aperitifs on arrival and tea after your dessert. This was not something I expected from such a restaurant, but I am sure it works, considering that even though I really don’t like most teas-except British black teas-I was close to saying yes to them! It was also a surprise to see that the alcoholic and non-alcoholic (juice) aperitif cost the same when the bill came. Nevertheless, this was a very very minor blip in an otherwise perfect evening.

Would we go again? When we have something to celebrate and want to treat ourselves, Restaurant Bind will most definitely be high on our list of options! I just need to remember to say no to things I do not like, but I guess that is my problem…