Restaurants in Copenhagen
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Café Victor
This classic French bar and brasserie is the doyen of the Copenhagen cafe scene and is enjoyably snobbish with jet-set pretensions and, generally, a more middle-aged crowd (regulation uniform: loafers, jeans and blazers for the men, Chanel for the women). The food is excellent, but a touch overpriced.
reviewed
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Lê Lê (7)
For dinner try the terrific refined Vietnamese street food at Lê Lê (7) in Vesterbro, where you should get a good feed for under 100kr.
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Custom House
Sir Terence Conran’s recently opened gourmet complex is housed in the old ferry terminal, where boats used to embark for Sweden. As well as a small deli, there are three appealing upscale (or should that be ‘Yuppiescale’?) restaurants here. At Bacino the menu is contemporary but authentic Italian, with dishes including langoustine (shrimp) with pumpkin risotto or fillet of halibut with basil, courgette and almond cream. Ebisu serves what is for Copenhagen an unusually wide range of Japanese dishes, while the Grill Bar apes a more casual, upmarket New York steak joint. The food and service varies from excellent to so-so but, as you’d expect, the décor is smooth and s…
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Damindra
Soothing interiors, a knowledgeable staff and unforgettable Japanese dishes define this little-known gem. The owner, Damindra, designed just about everything you see, including the cutlery, glasses and the chair you’re sitting on. Most importantly, his pride and passion are reflected in the food his Japanese chefs prepare: from the buttery sashimi to an unforgettable prawn tempura, it’s all obscenely fresh, flavoursome and beautifully presented. The ‘Chef’s Choice’ set sushi menu (368kr) provides the perfect culinary tour, while desserts such as chocolate brûlée with Earl Grey ice cream make for a wicked epilogue. Cap it all off with a complimentary soju and p…
reviewed
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Orangeriet
Enchantingly set in a vintage orangery in Kongens Have, Orangeriet is one of Copenhagen’s newest dining darlings. At the helm is award-winning chef Jasper Kure, whose mod-twist Scandi creations focus on simple flavours and top-notch seasonal produce. Savour the brilliance in dishes such as fried cockerel with thyme, grilled charlotte onions, creamy cauliflower, peas and smoked lard, or rhubarb trifle with macaroons, cherry liqueur, vanilla and yoghurt sorbet. Knowledgeable staff, an al fresco summertime terrace, and good-value set menus (three courses for 335kr) make this a must for midrange gourmands and true romantics.
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Dag H
Formerly the coffee temple Amokka, Dag H now takes the name of the street on which it stands and remains the prime weekend brunch destination (when it is best to book in advance) for the locally resident young professionals with kids in tow. One of the city’s larger cafes, it boasts a beautiful, contemporary interior and plenty of outdoor seating in summer with a short but predictable menu of French brasserie classics, burgers, fancy sandwiches and salads (their three-course evening menu for 259kr is a good deal). Kontra Coffee next door is the city’s best coffee-making equipment store.
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Cofoco
If Copenhagen Food Consulting merely offered a superb four-course menu, featuring such delights as pork tenderloin with pork cheeks, parsnip and apricots or veal braised in red wine with celery and wild mushrooms, for just 250kr – well, that alone would warrant it a high ranking on the list of the city’s best restaurants. But this is a stylish and convivial place too, with diners eating on a giant, communal wooden table beneath sparkling chandeliers. The same owners run the excellent Les Trois Cochons and Auberge in Østerbro.
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1.th
This unique, private dining ‘restaurant’ is housed in a classic Copenhagen apartment. 1.th translates as ‘first floor, to the right’ – the location of this sumptuously decorated living and dining room, open to guests of chef Mette Martinussen. You reserve and pay the 1250kr bill (which includes wine) well in advance, then receive an invitation to a convivial, soirée-style evening with a multicourse dinner as the main attraction. Highly recommended, and the contemporary Danish-European food lives up to the high concept.
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Nyhavns Færgekro
An atmospheric café right on the canal, this popular spot has an all-you-can-eat buffet with 10 different kinds of herring, including baked, marinated and rollmops, with condiments to sprinkle on top and boiled potatoes to round out the meal. If you’re not a herring lover, then there’s something very wrong with you. But there’s also a variety of smørrebrød for around 60kr. Dinner, served from 5pm to 11.30pm, betrays French influences, like many Danish restaurants in this area.
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Rasmus Oubæk
Rasmus Oubæk is one of Denmark’s top chefs but he quit the high stress, low profit world of Michelin-starred dining a while back to open this elegant little traditional French place in the city’s royal quarter. We wouldn’t ordinarily recommend that you try out-and-out French bistro cooking in Copenhagen, but Oubæk’s food is just so good – he does dishes such as duck confit and steak tartar better than most French chefs could ever dream of.
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Mielcke & Hurtigkarl
If you plan on seducing someone (or just your own taste buds), book a table at this culinary charmer. Set in a former royal summer house in Frederiksberg Have, its forest soundscapes, lighting installation and whimsical murals are utterly dreamy. While the set lunch menu offers simpler, cheaper fare, the highlight here is the set dinner menu, showcasing head chef Jakob Mielcke’s inspired approach to local and global ingredients (think Norwegian lobster jelly with salty plum ice cream).
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Café Ketchup
In the heart of Copenhagen’s pre-club/café nightlife quarter, Ketchup reigns supreme with its split-level bar/dining room, global menu and glitzy-groovy crowd on weekends. Its veal tournedos with pan-fried foie gras on sweet potato roesti with sautéed haricot verts, Serrano ham and Béarnaise butter sounds pretty heavyweight and it is, but it surely won’t do you any harm once in a while. On Friday and Saturday night there’s a DJ.
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Restaurant AOC
A sublime culinary experience is guaranteed in this vaulted cellar restaurant in a historic mansion. Chefs Ronny Emborg and Michael Munk take the sourcing of the finest Danish ingredients for their restaurant very seriously, applying classic French techniques, learned during stints at Michelin restaurants, with dedication and wit. Meanwhile, sommelier Christian Aarø Mortensen is a champion wine steward with an exceptional list (it’s particularly strong on French wines).
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Trio
Malmö’s answer to Copenhagen’s Noma (restaurant manager and sommelier Erik Berne hails from Noma itself), Trio is a fine-dining mecca for serious foodies. Chefs Ola Rudin (formerly of New York’s WD-50 and Aquavit) and Sebastian Persson (also from Aquavit and Stockholm’s F12) transform seasonal, regional produce into ground-breaking dishes such as scallops with meadowsweet, apple and milk, or blackcurrant with goat’s cheese and wood sorrel. Book ahead or miss out.
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Årstiderna i Kockska Huset
This enchanting 16th-century red-brick cellar restaurant with its vaulted ceilings and cosy corners has been considered the ultimate Malmö gourmet destination for years. And it lives up to its billing, serving seriously impeccable French-inspired food, such as fillet of veal with sweetbreads in a port wine sauce flavoured with duck’s liver. Exemplary service and luscious – mostly French and Italian – wines make this every bit as good as Copenhagen’s finest.
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Kødbyens Fiskebar
Postindustrial cool (concrete floors, tiled walls and a 1000-litre aquarium) meets sterling seafood at this Michelin-listed must. In the trendy Meatpacking District, its seasonal menu keeps it simple and fresh with dishes such as Limfjorden blue mussels with steamed apple cider and herbs. There’s usually a meat and vegetarian option, and delectable desserts include English liquorice with sea buckthorn and white chocolate ice cream. Kitchen closes 11pm.
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Noma
Topping the S Pellegrino ‘World’s Best Restaurants’ list in 2010, this Michelin-starred restaurant is the domain of chef René Redzepi (formerly of Le Bulli and the French Laundry). The menu features only Scandinavian-sourced produce such as musk ox, skyr curd and locally caught seafood, transformed into extraordinary New Nordic creations, including octopus legs with sorrel stems, sloe, blackberries and egg yolk. Book three months ahead.
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Geranium
This restaurant boasts multi-award winning chefs Rasmus Kofoed and Søren Ledet in the kitchen, a biodynamic/organic menu (including the wine), and one of the city’s most beautiful dining rooms, a 19th-century pavilion in Kongens Have. On offer are seasonal, locally sourced dishes such as smoked eel and lobster with gooseberries, lovage and beetroot salad, and pike perch with rye bread, fennel juice, green strawberries and purslane.
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Le Sommelier
A chic, pared-back combo of white linen tables, wooden floorboards and vintage French and Italian posters, Le Sommelier is a good spot for midrange gourmet feasting. Here, French traditions meet seasonal Nordic produce, creating memorable dishes such as Norwegian lobster with lobster bisque and crab salad. Flavours are clean and comforting, and the wine list has a particularly impressive French selection. Book ahead.
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Sweet Treat
Effortlessly cool with its strung light bulbs, hipster mags and turntable (feel free to choose a disc to play), this intimate local cafe peddles brilliant coffee and seasonally inspired smoothies (soy milk available!). Breakfast options include oatmeal, while the freshly made smørrebrød (open sandwiches) are a digestible 28kr. The fish-ball sandwich, with chopped cucumber and homemade remoulade, is especially good.
reviewed
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Brasserie Mulhausen
The area immediately surrounding Rådhuspladsen is something of a culinary desert, which makes the arrival of experienced local chef Søren Thyboe in this delightful Franco-Danish café-restaurant all the more welcome. With its light, airy dining room, charming rear courtyard and excellent Modern European/Danish menu, this is a real oasis in a busy part of town. By late 2007, this restaurant will be renamed Bistroen.
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Peter Lieps Hus
A few minutes' walk north of Bakken, this quintessential Danish country restaurant occupies an historic thatch-roofed house and is good for a nice relaxing meal, with smørrebrød, venison specialities and other Danish food (including children's portions of frikadeller - meatballs - and chips). On sunny days it's a popular place to sit outside and watch the horse and buggy carts go by.
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Numéro 64
This sexy basement restaurant, with its raw-brick- and glass-walled interior, is run by the Cofoco group. The seasonal set menu offers polished new-Nordic dishes such as fresh goat’s cheese with pickled beetroot, crispy rye bread and horseradish, or glazed pork cheeks with Jerusalem artichoke cream, pickled pearl onions, Granny Smith apples and parsley. Inspired flavours; petite servings.
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Schønnemann
Schønnemann has been lining local bellies with smørrebrød (open sandwiches) and schnapps since 1877. Originally a hit with peasant farmers in town peddling their produce, its current fan base includes Michelin-lauded chefs and nostalgia-pining corporates. Not much else has changed, from the sawdust-sprinkled floors to the stoic Danish soul food. It’s a local institution, so book ahead.
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Alberto K
The modern Italian cuisine served here is a match for the panoramic view at this 20th-floor hotel restaurant, which is really saying something. The menu blends locally sourced game and fish with Italian ingredients – the venison with aged balsamic, pimento and a roast garlic and potato terrine being a good example. The restaurant has a well-established, international wine cellar.
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