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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.
One of Copenhagen’s most charming cafés isn’t just located by the water but directly on it. This combined café, restaurant, and bar is floating on Christianshavn Kanal, giving it one of the best locations in the city. Stop by for coffee, light lunch, or dinner, or just a glass of wine. It’s closed in the fall and spring but usually open in December, when the enterprising owner adds a roof, walls, and a wood-burning stove to the platform.
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.
It looks like an American diner, but the menu at this local favorite reads more like that of a French café. Stop by for coffee and croissants in the morning, a croque madame for lunch, or just to have a drink and people-watch.
This combined cafeteria, bar, and venue in an old carrier hall is one of the best places to go for a cheap but delicious breakfast, a glass of wine with a friend, an organic cup of coffee, or a light lunch or bigger dinner. The service is casual and friendly, and the dishes are creative and inexpensive despite their outstanding quality. After dinner the place becomes a popular bar.
"Yes, please" is the translation of this restaurant's name, and that was the reaction diners had when the restaurant opened. Critics, dining guides, and locals all love the restaurant for its tucked-away location, the combination of Scandinavian produce and Cantonese flavors (the chef, Jonathan Tam, has Chinese roots), and the friendly atmosphere.
This wine bar and restaurant is known for its tasty dinners and natural wines as well as for its sauna and bathing jetties, which are impossibly popular with Copenhageners on summer days. The restaurant looks a bit like a boat shed, and dinner is cooked in a small kitchen outdoors. From October to April the restaurant moves indoors and scales up the culinary ambitions with a tasting menu.
The velvet curtains, comfy couches, and cherry pie at this café and bar, which is heavily inspired by Twin Peaks, provides the perfect living room setting. Sink into a couch, order a coffee (or something stronger), and stay for a while.
An Italophile Danish couple have created a small empire of Italian restaurants and bars in the neighborhood of Vesterbro, and Mangia is the best, drawing a stylish crowd with its festive atmosphere and classic Italian cooking. If the restaurant is fully booked—it often is—try to get a table at one of the team's other nearby restaurants: Tuscan-inspired Circolo or the festive Bar La Una.
You could spend an entire day at this all-day café and restaurant, which seamlessly transforms from a cozy breakfast spot in the morning to a busy café at lunch and a bustling neo-brasserie at night.
When Noma opened a pop-up burger shack in its restaurant during the pandemic, people stood in line for hours, and guests and reviewers were quick to call it the world's best burger. Have a taste for yourself at this new, permanent burger restaurant, located on an iconic corner on a quay.
Only a few years old, this restaurant has a beautiful location. The creative menu of open-faced sandwiches and excellent service have already made it a classic on Copenhagen's lunch scene. The crew, which ran the popular lunch spot Palægade (until it was forced to close because of a fire), draw in hordes of loyal locals. By night, the restaurant transforms into a French brasserie.
This excellent café, located on a busy street in the heart of the historic center, serves tasty sandwiches, strong coffee, green juices, and home-baked goods to an ever-growing crowd of Copenhageners. Everything's organic, and it's hard to find a better breakfast in Indre By.
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.
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