When it comes to food, Copenhagen punches above its weight. Home to a cluster of Michelin star-awarded restaurants, the Danish capital (population 600,000) holds its own in the battle of great gourmet destinations. It’s not just fine dining. Copenhagen boasts world-class markets, excellent coffee, and cult bakeries. It wasn’t always thus. The 2003 opening of Noma, the pioneering “New Nordic” and former “World’s Best Restaurant” from chef René Redzepi, transformed the Copenhagen food scene. “Noma led the way in putting Copenhagen on the global culinary map, turning the Danish capital into the hotspot it is now – drawing chefs and food lovers from all over the world to explore its vibrant restaurant scene,” says William Drew, Director of Content at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Fast-forward to 2024. Noma will close its restaurant doors in December before morphing into a test kitchen and food lab. There’s still time to snag a reservation, but even if you can’t, there are plenty of delicious reasons to book a Copenhagen break this year.

This is your last year to eat at Noma, the trailblazing restaurant often celebrated as the very best in the world. But don’t panic. There are dozens more reasons to book a gourmet break in the Danish capital

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Colorful buildings line the 17th-century canal and waterfront of Nyhavn. Image credit: Shutterstock

BY Katy Salter

Where To Eat in Copenhagen

Food & Drink

BY Kate Mann

Munich

In the Neighborhood

Volume 22 2023

In addition to fine dining, Copenhagen boasts world-class markets, excellent coffee, and cult bakeries. Image credit: Shutterstock

street food, Argentinian empanadas, or Filipino barbecue, washed down with a craft beer to the sounds of DJs and live music. Copenhageners are fond of a gourmet burger, too. Popular chain Jagger is worth a pit stop, but the best burgers in town are at two places. The first is Gasoline Grill: juicy, organic beef patties dished up in an old gas station. The other is POPL Burger, a favorite of My Dear Copenhagen’s Marinella. “POPL is a must-visit for delicious burgers crafted by Noma veteran chefs,” she says. It’s even possible to eat well at the tourist hotspots. On a recent family trip to Copenhagen’s delightful theme park, Tivoli Gardens, we discovered an outpost of Gasoline Grill as well as the shiny Tivoli Food Hall (you can enter street-side without visiting the park), where we refueled on crayfish sushi rolls and seasonal grain bowls. Under the shadow of the historic Round Tower, we found DØP, Copenhagen’s best pølser stand. Danes’ beloved hotdogs get a makeover here – think organic goat sausages in linseed buns, topped with creamy rémoulade and slivers of pickle. Yes, they still hit the spot.

The trickle-down effect of this gastronomic innovation means you can find excellent food across the city – from neighborhood bakeries in elegant Østerbro to the pizzerias and brewpubs of dynamic Nørrebro. “Copenhagen’s food scene has grown beyond New Nordic, with flavors from all corners of the globe – yet still sticks to using local goodies and being eco-friendly,” says Licia. Torvehallerne is a great place to start. Two bustling halls are connected by a plaza lined with café tables and market stalls. On my last visit in summer, the stands were groaning with carrots, summer squash, and strawberries, and festooned with flags. Locals filling their bike baskets with veggies mingled with tourists sampling the “modern porridge” at Grød, pizza sandwiches, and Vietnamese banh mi. A newer spot to try is Reffen. Open in summer, this waterfront market features bars and food stalls in converted shipping containers. Try Afghan

Torvehallerne food market features two halls of meats, cheeses, vegatables, flowers, specialty products, and more. Image credit: Shutterstock

Street Food and Global Flavors

As chef and restaurateur Trine Hahnemann explains, the Danish larder was ripe for exploration. “Modern Danish cooking is simple in the best of ways, where seasonal produce can shine. It’s impossible to pick a favorite ingredient. In spring, we have beautiful asparagus and spinach, and in summer, I love gooseberries, potatoes, string beans, and mackerel.”

You’ll want to head to the football stadium to find one of Copenhagen’s best restaurants. Geranium is hidden on the eighth floor of Parken, Denmark’s national stadium. Inside is a haven of soothing Scandi design, all open fires and pale wood, with picture windows looking onto the tree canopy of Fælledparken, the city’s biggest park. Geranium’s Rasmus Kofoed was once voted the world’s best chef, and Geranium won “World’s Best Restaurant” in 2022. Dishes include such delights as marbled hake with parsley stems and caviar in buttermilk, and The Forest – wood sorrel granita shaped into a flower and topped with a prune caramel “branch.” It celebrates regional flavors with no red meat, but plenty of foraged ingredients. Like many of Denmark’s leading restaurants, Geranium majors on sustainable Scandinavian produce. New Nordic cuisine was put on the map by Noma, and emphasizes “purity, freshness, seasonality, and ethics,” states the 2004 New Nordic manifesto devised by René and other Scandinavian chefs. “Noma kicked off a surge in Nordic-inspired cuisine, characterized by a connection to nature,” say Licia Genghini and Marinella Greco, who run bespoke tour company, My Dear Copenhagen.

Geranium was named "World's Best Restaurant" in 2022. Image credit: Geranium

Fine Dining and the Noma Legacy

April 2024 (Volume 24)

Saturday morning at Torvehallerne, a gleaming glass and steel food hall in Copenhagen. Do I join the line at Hallernes for smørrebrød draped with smoked salmon and summer herbs? Queue for a cortado and the squidgy, sticky cinnamon buns at OC Depot? Or choose tacos with gooseberry salsa at Hija de Sanchez, the taqueria from Noma alumna Rosio Sanchez? Actually, it doesn’t really matter, because I’ve never tried anything at Torvehallerne that falls short of delicious. When it comes to food, Copenhagen punches above its weight. Home to a cluster of Michelin star-awarded restaurants, the Danish capital (population 600,000) holds its own in the battle of great gourmet destinations. It’s not just fine dining. Copenhagen boasts world-class markets, excellent coffee, and cult bakeries. It wasn’t always thus. The 2003 opening of Noma, the pioneering “New Nordic” and former “World’s Best Restaurant” from chef René Redzepi,

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Fish and seafood are the stars at one of my top picks of Copenhagen restaurants, Kødbyens Fiskebar. This industrial-styled space in the city’s former meatpacking district is the place to try prettily plated, sustainable seafood like Norwegian king crab and Danish razor clams. Alchemist is a spectacular dining experience that is less Scandi-minimalism and more immersive theater show. This Michelin two-star restaurant takes you on a multicourse journey. Diners try playful dishes like freeze-dried butterflies on nettle leaves, or the Andy Warhol “banana” (a crisp banana juice shell filled with jasmine meringue, banana sorbet, and Brazilian cachaça) in different spots around the planetarium-esque space, while images of the sea and stars are projected onto the ceiling. Be warned, however: with a five-digit waiting list, Alchemist is even harder to book than Noma. For an easier reservation, the guides at My Dear Copenhagen rate Vækst, a welcoming Latin Quarter spot that gives you a taste of New Nordic without the hefty price tag. They say, “Chef Casper Hansen curates a menu primarily focused on fish- and vegetable-based dishes and the restaurant’s setting is enhanced by an Instagramworthy indoor greenhouse. It’s our favorite spot for a last-minute reservation.”

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“Modern Danish cooking is simple in the best of ways, where seasonal produce can shine”

Danish razor clams. Image credit: Kødbyens Fiskebar

It’s not just Noma that put Danish food on the map, says Trine Hahnemann. “There’s also been a growing interest in Denmark because of hit TV series and movies, and our ‘hygge’ culture,” she says. The best place to dip a toe into “hygge” – the Danish art of coziness – is in Copenhagen’s coffee shops and bakeries. Diminutive Juno the Bakery in Østerbro has won a cult following for its seasonal pastries. Pass the time in the line by watching the bakers at work in the window. Juno’s cardamom bun is a must-eat: a pillowy bun with a darkgold crust finished with crunchy sugar and shot through with the aromatic spice. Andersen & Maillard by the canal in Nordhavn (try the croissants), Democratic Coffee in the Latin Quarter, and cozy Prolog Coffee Bar in Østerbro are also great spots to snuggle up in the window with a filter coffee, breathe in the scent of cinnamon, and watch Copenhageners cycle by.

For a traditional taste of Denmark, don’t leave without trying smørrebrød – open rye-bread sandwiches piled high with seafood, fish, or other toppings. Smørrebrød has had a gourmet makeover in recent years, says Trine: “A lot of new smørrebrød spots have opened, and the older ones have gained new life and status.” Try Aamans for new-wave smørrebrød or Schønnemann (open since 1877) for classic herring smørrebrød washed down with a traditional shot of cold schnapps. If you fancy making your own, head to Hahnemann’s Køkken – Trine’s bakery, café, and cooking school where you can take a smørrebrød class. Whether your tastes run toward coffee and pastries, street food, or 50-course tasting menus, you’ll find it in the Danish capital. “Copenhagen is a city that continues to foster incredible culinary talent,” says William Drew. Noma was just the start.

Andersen & Maillard is a cozy coffee shop and artisan bakery in Nordhavn. Image credit: Shutterstock

Coffee Culture and Perfect Pastries

transformed the Copenhagen food scene. “Noma led the way in putting Copenhagen on the global culinary map, turning the Danish capital into the hotspot it is now – drawing chefs and food lovers from all over the world to explore its vibrant restaurant scene,” says William Drew, Director of Content at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Fast-forward to 2024. Noma will close its restaurant doors in December before morphing into a test kitchen and food lab. There’s still time to snag a reservation, but even if you can’t, there are plenty of delicious reasons to book a Copenhagen break this year.

Be warned: with a five-digit waiting list, Alchemist is even harder to book than Noma

Fine Dining and the Noma Legacy

For an easier reservation, the guides at My Dear Copenhagen rate Vækst, a welcoming Latin Quarter spot that gives you a taste of New Nordic without the hefty price tag. They say, “Chef Casper Hansen curates a menu primarily focused on fish- and vegetable-based dishes and the restaurant’s setting is enhanced by an Instagramworthy indoor greenhouse. It’s our favorite spot for a last-minute reservation.”

A newer spot to try is Reffen. Open in summer, this waterfront market features bars and food stalls in converted shipping containers. Try Afghan street food, Argentinian empanadas, or Filipino barbecue, washed down with a craft beer to the sounds of DJs and live music. Copenhageners are fond of a gourmet burger, too. Popular chain Jagger is worth a pit stop, but the best burgers in town are at two places. The first is Gasoline Grill: juicy, organic beef patties dished up in an old gas station. The other is POPL Burger, a favorite of My Dear Copenhagen’s Marinella. “POPL is a must-visit for delicious burgers crafted by Noma veteran chefs,” she says. It’s even possible to eat well at the tourist hotspots. On a recent family trip to Copenhagen’s delightful theme park, Tivoli Gardens, we discovered an outpost of Gasoline Grill as well as the shiny Tivoli Food Hall (you can enter street-side without visiting the park), where we refueled on crayfish sushi rolls and seasonal grain bowls. Under the shadow of the historic Round Tower, we found DØP, Copenhagen’s best pølser stand. Danes’ beloved hotdogs get a makeover here – think organic goat sausages in linseed buns, topped with creamy rémoulade and slivers of pickle. Yes, they still hit the spot.

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