REVIEW: One does simply walk into Fysisk Fredagsbar

Disclaimer: This text was translated using machine translation / AI and post-edited by Maria Nielsen Pedersen

At 4:55 PM, the door to the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and thus to Fysisk Fredagsbar, was open. By 5:01 PM, it was locked. Word has it that there’s a staff Christmas party in the ‘Sky Lounge’ on the top floor, and they don’t want any uninvited guests. My fellow reviewer and I have to wait for someone to exit so we can slip in and join the Friday bar festivities. Luck is on our side tonight.

Fysisk Fredagsbar is located in a study area with a single classroom en suite, where the only things that haven't clocked out for the weekend are the formulas and figures on the blackboards. They’re hard to decipher under the slightly too harsh, white lighting, similar to what you might find in a pizzeria. However, this lighting provides a sense of security, making it comfortable enough to leave an open backpack, wallet, or unlocked phone unattended.

I've never been to an escape room, but this is how I imagine it would be. The room is filled with various props and random objects that could easily be mistaken for clues. Why is there a half-eaten platter of open-faced sandwiches (smørrebrød, ed.)? What do the equations on the blackboards mean? Why is the bar staff dressed in pyjamas? I'll find the answers later.

Tonight’s themed drink is called ‘Pangalaktisk Ganefræser’, or ‘Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster’ in English, and is priced at 20 DKK. Two, please. It's a mix of cheap orange juice from REMA 1000, Faxe Kondi, and an indescribable green syrup-like liquid. “Do you like olives?” the bartender asks while mixing. “Uh, yes,” I reply, and an olive becomes a kind of stowaway in the themed drink, adorned with a sugared rim. And that's exactly how it tastes. Like a mix of orange juice, Faxe Kondi, olives, and a sugared rim. Keep in mind that the bar has a wide selection of craft beers as well...

Fysisk Fredagsbar offers a great space for debriefing the week with your fellow students. As the bar staff put it, it’s a cosy bar, not a party-hard bar. It's perfect for an after-work beer or as a pre-party before heading on a Friday bar crawl.

What does the bar say? 

The student social committee ‘The 42nd Dynasty’ runs Fysisk Fredagsbar. The ‘califine’, Sofie Spange Holm (IT and venue manager, ed.), explains that most professors and even the head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy have been part of the Dynasty. Another califine (beer manager, ed.), Elise Rørbøl Markussen, adds that it's a cosy bar, not a party-hard bar, providing space when Umbilicus (the medical Friday bar, ed.) is crowded. She mentions that tonight is representative of a typical night at the Friday bar. 

This Friday bar’s theme is 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the BARlaxy' based on the 1978 science fiction radio drama by Douglas Adams called 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', which later became a book series. The protagonist is wearing pyjamas when the world ends. Ah, that explains the dress-code among the bar staff.

What do the guests say? 

“What the fuck is that drink?” asks Joe Pitfield, a guest at tonight's Friday bar, as he sees the reviewers holding the green themed drink. He’s a postdoc at the department and is wearing a sweater that says: 'One does not simply walk into Mordor', referencing a completely different well-known book series than tonight’s theme, namely Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. He’s sitting with fellow PhD students and graduated physicists, and the alumni are well represented at the Friday bar. They highlight the bar's strong sense of community and the great selection of craft beers that can be enjoyed in a relaxed setting.

How we work

We send out two reviewers who start by hanging out in the bar for a while without making themselves known in order to get an impression of the atmosphere in the bar and facilities.

As a Friday bar typically evolves from afternoon to evening, we make ourselves known and talk to guests and volunteers to get an impression of how the bar usually changes and what sort of mood the bar is hoping to achieve.

We don’t grade on a scale. The Friday bars at AU are very different, so it can be difficult to compare and judge using the same criteria. Instead, we summarise our review in plus and minus sections.