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Copenhagen has experienced a gastronomical revolution over the past decade. A rising interest in new Nordic cooking emphasizes using locally sourced raw materials and high-quality seasonal ingredients. Wild game, cured or smoked fish and meats, Limfjord oysters, Læsø langoustine, eel, and plaice are a few examples.
There's also been a revival of authentic Danish fare. Most such meals begin with sild, pickled herring of various flavors, served on rugbrød, a very dark and dense rye-based bread. This bread is also the basis for smørrebrød—open-face sandwiches piled high with various meats, vegetables, and condiments. For dinner, try flæskesteg, pork roast with a crispy rind, which is commonly served with rødkål, stewed red cabbage, and potatoes.
There are plenty of bistros serving moderately priced meals, and for inexpensive savory noshes in stylish surroundings, consider lingering in a café. Many restaurants offer fixed-priced meals with wine-pairing menus, and most restaurants require reservations. Many restaurants tack a surcharge of between 3.75% and 5.75% onto the bill for the use of foreign credit cards.
This modern northern European kitchen is giving acclaimed Noma a run for its money. Chefs Rasmus Kofoed and Søren Ledet put a modern touch on classic Scandinavian cooking by using molecular gastronomy and sourcing vegetarian products from biodynamic farmers; it made headlines when the restaurant removed all meat from the menu in 2021. Book months in advance, and set aside a minimum of three hours (and a sizeable portion of your net worth) for the adventurous, ambitious tasting menu.
Dark oak tables, wooden floors, and chairs with lamb-fur accents are a rustic interpretation of Nordic luxury that's appropriate to the setting—a former warehouse on the waterfront. This restaurant is at the vanguard of new Nordic cuisine and Denmark's most highly acclaimed. Chef Rene Redzepi and his innovative team pair the best local ingredients like berries, mushrooms, vegetables, and herbs with game, Jutland marsh lamb, Greenlandic musk ox, and Faroe Islands scallops. Dishes from the 20-course tasting menu can be served with wine pairings or a juice menu for an additional charge. Service is irreproachable. Given the hype, it's nearly impossible to book a table—reservations are taken a full three months in advance. So plan well ahead, and be prepared to settle for lunch instead of dinner. The chef plans to close noma after New Year's Eve 2016 and reopen it in 2017 as an urban farm-to-table restaurant in a new location.
When international foodies visit Copenhagen, AOC is high on the list of restaurants to visit. The restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, offers one tasting menu with a strong focus on sensory pleasure, Nordic produce, and imaginative cooking.
The name stands for "basic formula," but this French-Danish restaurant is anything but basic. The chefs Rune Jochumsen and Kristian Moeller serve classic French cuisine based on seasonal Danish ingredients in an interior of leather, glass, marble, and steel. The wine list includes around 400 varieties; the majority are classic French, with an impressive selection from Burgundy.
At this trendy and inventive Asian Michelin-starred restaurant, the fragrances may well whet your appetite for such typical Thai street snacks as lotus-flower chips, satay, and fish cakes. Gilded Buddhas grace the walls, hand-woven wicker chairs made from water hyacinth beckon, and cream-color bamboo lamps illuminate the space. Kiin Kiin's famous Table 9, in a discreet corner, offers snug seclusion for romantics.
Five centuries ago this was a vineyard; now it's the site of one of Scandinavia's finest restaurants, and the oldest Michelin restaurant in Denmark. Chef Mark Lundgaard's French- and Danish-inspired dishes employ local ingredients and are served in a medieval subterranean space with whitewashed walls and vaulted ceilings.
The Danish-American couple behind this restaurant met when Camilla Hansen walked into Nick Curtin’s restaurant in New York to go on a blind date with another man, and the rest is history. The restaurant, which serves French-inspired menus in a former band room in Islands Brygge, quickly got its first Michelin star. The five-course menu changes based on the seasons, available produce, and the creative ideas of the chefs.
