Dining in Copenhagen
Era Ora
Era Ora is an Italian restaurant housed in a late 18th-century building in the district of Christianshavn by the canals. A gourmet restaurant with one star in the Michelin guide, it is among the very best, and priciest, Italian eateries in Copenhagen. The food is a delight - based on seasonal, fresh ingredients and prepared and presented with a light, extremely sophisticated touch, and the wine list is equally impressive.
Overgaden Neden Vandet 33B
Tel: 3254 0693.
Kong Hans Kaelder
This one-star Michelin restaurant claims to be housed in the oldest building in Copenhagen. Starters include foie gras and sautéed scallops with wild mushrooms, while mains are of the likes of grilled turbot and other fresh seafood, with the signature dessert being chocolate soufflé. The food is served up on metal plates in the charming surrounds of the historical building, where 500-year old gothic arches and wooden floorboards lend a medieval atmosphere to the restaurant.
Vingaardsstræde 6
Tel: 3311 6868.
Noma
This restaurant has two stars in the Michelin guide and can be found in a renovated house on Christianshavn, on the waterfront straight across from Nyhavn. Noma’s kitchen fuses contemporary styles and techniques with the best quality traditional Nordic dishes and ingredients, sourced from as far as Greenland, The Faroe Islands and Iceland. Part of the aim is to ’play a part in the regeneration of Nordic culinary craft’. The visionary chef in this restaurant is René Redzepi, who has worked in some of the very greatest kitchens in the world, including the fabled French Laundry in Napa Valley, California, and the experimental El Bulli in Spain.
Nordatlantisk Brygge
Tel: 3296 3297.
Restaurant Paustian
A bright and colorful eatery, Restaurant Paustian exudes excitement and honest sophistication. Culinary magician Bo Bech is in charge and the modern cuisine has roots in French and Continental cooking, but also includes Nordic elements. The restaurant’s interior is fun and lively and lit up by the natural light shining in through the windows. A place full of character.
Kalkbrænderiløbskaj 2
Tel: 3918 5501.
Restaurationen
This restaurant has provided lavish French cuisine for decades. Restaurationen boasts high ceilings and walls adorned with black and white photos of the cooking team. Head chef Bo Jacobsen conjures up an impressive array of dishes with the freshest local produce. The menu follows the changing seasons but whatever the time of year booking is essential. The restaurant also bakes its own bread and makes its own sausages and hams, which are made with organic ingredients where possible.
Møntergade 19
Tel: 3314 9495.
Formel B
Formel B is an unexpected find in a busy part of the city. Chefs Kristian Meller and Rune Jochumsen perform culinary wonders with the freshest of local produce in a stylish setting that just manages to avoid being pretentiously hip, with polished wooden floors and a sleek, minimalist look. The cooking is French with a funky accent and includes codfish with oysters, bouillon of quail with truffles and foie gras, and mushroom pie with walnuts. Reservations strongly recommended. No lunch. Closed Sunday.
Vesterbrogade 182
Tel: 3325 1066.
Le Sommelier
Another fine dining temple, complete with white linen tablecloths and immaculately attired waiting staff, which proves how much the Danes love top-class French food. Specialties include foie gras as a starter and a number of seafood and shellfish mains, depending on availability and season. The food is accompanied by a gargantuan wine list that caters for even the most demanding palate; there are rumored to be almost 1,000 different wines, with over 30 sold by the glass. No lunch weekends.
Bredgade 63-65
Tel: 3311 4515.
MR Restaurant
On the first floor in a corner of the Kultorvet marketplace, there is a gourmet restaurant carrying the initials of its chef, Mr Mads Refslund. MR Restaurant offers advanced, European gourmet food with a distinctly modern touch, inspired in part by the new science-based, chemistry-orientated gastronomy. Highly inventive cooking presented and served with elegance and style.
Kultorvet 5
Tel: 3391 0949.
Restaurant Godt
Run by an Anglo-Danish husband and wife team, this small restaurant focuses on fresh local meats and seafood given innovative culinary twists. The daily changing set menus might include soup of Norway lobster served with monkfish and red caviar, or brill with a beurre blanc of oysters or veal with a morel sauce. The wine list is extensive and diners can choose to have a ’wine menu’ to go with the set menus. The simple two-decked restaurant is very relaxing and is tastefully decorated. Booking as far ahead as possible is essential. Closed Sunday and Monday and at other holiday periods.
Gothersgade 38
Tel: 3315 2122.
Restaurant Kiin Kiin
Located just a stone’s throw away from Sankt Hans Square, Thai gourmet restaurant Kiin Kiin (meaning ‘eat eat’ or ‘come-and-eat’ in Thai) opened in September 2006 and has already received a mention as a ‘rising star’ in the Michelin guide. The daily menu is rooted in the Siam way of cooking but with many Danish ingredients and offers wonderfully flavorsome dishes.
Guldbergsgade 21
Tel: 3535 7555.