The Best Places To Eat In Copenhagen

Geranium

For a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Geranium is in an unlikely place: on the eighth floor of a football stadium. Up here, the views are far reaching and so is the ambition. Veg and seafood play lead roles on meat-free menus that celebrate Nordic ingredients with remarkable artistry. An open kitchen lets guests enjoy the choreographed precision of a special team. 

Visit GERANIUM.DK

Tèrra

Østerbro restaurant Tèrra is ‘of the earth’ in more than one way. As well as taking a comprehensive zero-waste approach to cooking, it has sunk its open kitchen below ground level. A Michelin Green Star is just recognition not just for its sustainability credentials, but for the talent of its Italian head chef Valerio Serino, who makes the most of every fibre of the exclusively local ingredients he so carefully sources.

Visit TERRARESTAURANT.DK

Texture

It took Texture just eight months to win a Michelin star. Chef-founder Karim Khouani is a serious talent, but he is no overnight success: born in Marseille, he’s been cooking for decades, previously earning a star in the nearby Swedish city of Malmö. Patisserie is a strong suit and, in a bright, intimate basement space in Indre By, he makes fine use of luxe ingredients like caviar, shellfish and truffles.

Visit TEXTURERESTAURANT.COM

Apollo Bar

This chic spot within the Kunsthal Charlottenborg museum is a perennial favourite of the Copenhagen Fashion Week crowd. Inside, original parquet floors are matched to handsome library-style shelving and some classic Danish objets, including vintage Børge Mogensen tables and J39 chairs borrowed from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Frederik Bille Brahe’s menus champion seasonal Danish produce through elegant vegetarian dishes like sweet buttermilk soup with berries. Come evening, the space transforms into a natural wine bar, while its herb garden terrace buzzes with creative chatter. 

Visit APOLLOBAR.DK 

Kadeau

Copenhagen’s Kadeau and its sister restaurant on Bornholm hold an assortment of five Michelin stars between them. In Christianshavn, the big-city outpost is a bijou temple to New Nordic cuisine, where hallowed ingredients from the Baltic island of Bornholm are smoked, pickled and fermented to create dishes you simply won’t find anywhere else. 

Visit KADEAU.DK

Atelier September

Back in 2013, Apollo Bar’s Frederik Bille Brahe sparked a daytime dining revolution with an unreasonably elegant veggie café he called Atelier September. In an old gallery with floor-to-ceiling windows, he elevated simple breakfasts and lunches into artforms. The original is closed now, but its dedication to its craft – and ageless Scandi interiors – endures at outposts in Kronprinsessegade, Nordhavn and Hellerup.

Visit CAFEATELIERSEPTEMBER.COM 

Osteria16

There are three Osteria16s around town. Two of them are in Vesterbro, where one focuses more on seafood than the other, and the third is in Nørrebro. Each one is something close to the textbook neighbourhood Italian. Exceptional ingredients are used to create soul-soothing dishes that dovetail beautifully with wine lists of established and emerging Italian producers. 

Visit OSTERIA16.DK

Graziano

The bold, rustic and satisfying flavours of Tuscany define Jonathan Balsløw Sørensen’s cooking at this new neighbourhood favourite in Nørrebro. The refined décor, Italian natural wine list and amiable, trattoria-style atmosphere will only encourage you to linger over plates of grilled artichokes and tagliatelle with Tuscan ragù.

Visit GRAZIANO.DK

Bobe

In a listed townhouse on a cobbled square in old Copenhagen, celebrity chef Bo Bech has created a new kind of bistro. Simple interiors mix medieval features with mid-century furniture to create a timeless atmosphere in which the kitchen team’s good work can shine. Like the décor, dishes run from classic to contemporary, with pepper ribeye and spinach offered alongside scallop and chicken wings with langoustine bisque. Extend your stay with a spell in the basement wine bar.

Visit RESTAURANTBOBE.COM

Silberbauers

Chef Mathias Silberbauer spent time cooking in Nice before opening his own bistro in Nørrebro. His own take on Gallic charm features whitewashed walls, gingham tablecloths and menus chalked up daily on blackboards. Those ever-changing menus often feature his take on a classic Niçoise pissaladière alongside wider French staples like saucisse de Toulouse and crêpes suzette. The natural wine list is good too.

Visit SILBERBAUERS.DK

La Banchina

Waterside La Banchina is a unique package of restaurant, café, wine bar and sauna that opens at 8am each morning. The sauna can be booked for private sessions lasting an hour and three-quarters. Whether you’re after a cosy coffee spot in winter or a dockside table for summer drinks, everything else is walk-in only. In warmer months, the restaurant turns out veggie and fish dishes made with carefully sourced local ingredients. 

Visit LABANCHINA.DK

Hija de Sanchez

Former Noma pastry chef Rosio Sanchez is building a mini taco empire. As well as her flagship Love Sanchez, offering Mexican tasting menus in Vesterbro, she has five taquerias around town. Using corn imported from Mexico, tortillas are made daily and topped with fine local produce – look out for the slow-cooked achiote pork tacos. The five venues run from a stall in the Torvehallerne food hall (see below) to standalone spots made for laid-back evenings that start with a paloma – simply pick the one that meets your need.

Visit LOVESANCHEZ.COM 

Bæst

Christian Puglisi is another former Noma chef now doing great things on his own. At Bæst in Nørrebro, he makes his own cheese and charcuterie – all in the service of creating sourdough pizzas that have been ranked among Europe’s very best. The in-house mozzarella, stracciatella and ’nduja feature prominently among the toppings – and there’s an option to add extra anchovies to anything.

Visit BAEST.DK

Omar

Simon Leo Hansen has opened four restaurants around the city, each one named after a character from The Wire. All four will serve you well, but our pick is Nørrebro’s Omar, where a talented kitchen team turn out experimental yet affordable tasting menus that deftly combine Scandi and Middle Eastern flavours. 

Visit RESTAURANTOMAR.DK

Friheden

This all-day spot in Nørrebro moves easily from breakfast shakshukas and morning croissants, through flatbread lunches, and into classic small plates for dinner. There’s natural wine and craft beers to go with, as well as an outdoor terrace that can’t be booked but is worth staking an early claim for. Inside, bigger groups can sign up for seven-course menus featuring the likes of grilled white asparagus, hollandaise and pistachios, or pan-fried hake with orange sauce, bobby beans, trout roe and chilli oil.

Visit FRIHEDENKBH.DK

Nr 30

In a former butcher’s shop in Nørrebro, Nr 30 pairs one of Copenhagen's most quietly impressive wine lists with seasonal menus of sharing dishes made with organic local produce and sustainable seafood. Look for warming options like hake, kale, celeriac and sauerkraut sauce or potato, cheese sauce and pickled pepper. 

Visit NR30.DK

Restaurant Cleo

Nørrebro’s Cleo is the latest addition to a burgeoning restaurant group that already has places in the city centre (Frank), Frederiksberg (Polly) and Vesterbro (Grimal). The new place is all about Mediterranean-style sharing dishes, like seabass crudo, piquillo, grapefruit, tomatoes and tomato water, or pork chop with ’nduja bearnaise and lime. An on-point cocktail list runs from dirty martinis to slushies of rum, banana liqueur, coconut, mango, yoghurt and lime.

Visit RESTAURANTCLEO.DK

Diamond Slice

Even the pizza joints in Copenhagen have Noma in their family tree. Three alumni of ex-Noma chef Christian Puglisi’s Bæst have brought New York-style pizza to two locations in Nørrebro. Loaded with toppings including Danish pepperoni and blue cheese, slices are cooked lower and longer for a crisp finish. Make like the locals and pair yours with one of Diamond’s own pilsners.

Visit DIAMONDSLICE.DK

Gasoline Grill

It all started in an old petrol station. The original Gasoline Grill became a destination for a different kind of pit stop as in-the-know locals sought out its reputation-making Butterburger – finished with a schmear of salted organic butter. There are now ten Gasoline Grills around town, so you’ll rarely be far from one of its pure organic beef patties.

Visit GASOLINEGRILL.COM

Popl Burger

Lunches are kept simple at this modern Christianshavn staple: choose between a cheeseburger, a veggie alternative or a daily changing special. Later on, the menu expands, offering some intriguing sides (grilled paprika pepper with gooseberry dressing and fennel flowers) and extra mains (fish sandwich of beer-battered cod, tartare sauce and sorrel leaves). 

Visit POPLBURGER.COM

Doomsday Deli

Billed quite fairly as the ‘Michael Jordan of schnitzel sandwiches’, Doomsday Deli’s signature Air Schnitty is made to order with juicy chicken thighs marinated in confit garlic and a house spice mix, then panko crumbed and air fried. The coffee’s worth stopping in for too.

Visit DOOMSDAYDELI.COM

Torvehallerne

This food hall has been a mainstay of the Copenhagen food scene since it opened in 2011. While wholesalers offer Michelin-level ingredients, there’s a host of street-food options for lunches on the go. Try Omegn & Venner for some exceptional Nordic small plates or find something more portable and take it away to enjoy on the grassy slopes above the lake in next-door Ørstedsparken.

Visit TORVEHALLERNEKBH.DK

SMØRREBRØD

Denmark's most beloved culinary invention is an open sandwich that’s so much more than just bread and butter. The greatest makers of smørrebrød can consider themselves architects for the way they transform simple rye into something special. Close to touristy Nyhavn, Told & Snaps draws discerning locals with a host of smørrebrød featuring organic ingredients like butter-fried beef tartare with freshly shredded horseradish. Hidden along Frederiksholms Canal since 1852, Kanal Cafeen closely guards the secret recipe for its pickled herring smørrebrød, which is still served by waiters in traditional vests. Tucked beneath Copenhagen's oldest square, Cafe Gammel Torv is a lunchtime institution that’s been turning out smoked potato and chicken salad smørrebrød since the turn of the 20th century. At hyper-contemporary Selma, Swedish chef Magnus Pettersson has earned the first ever Michelin Bib Gourmand for smørrebrød, with new interpretations like herb-cured Faroese salmon with yuzu kosho and trout roe. Traditional smørrebrød is also now given a modern twist at historic, harbourside Lumskebugten. But elegant Sankt Annæ still serves its lobster salad smørrebrød on Royal Copenhagen porcelain with starched linens and old-world charm. And one final time-tested name to know: Møntergade

Hygge is intrinsic to Danish culture, and coffee is intrinsic to hygge. Copenhagen’s commitment to good coffee is as strong as its one to baked goods. In Østerbro's leafy streets, Juno draws a queue for ex-Noma chef Emil Glaser's cardamom buns, while British baker Richard Hart has built a network of 11 Hart bakeries on the back of his cardamom croissants. On Refshaleøen's waterfront, Lille is all about organic sourdough champions radical sustainability with their industrial-space bakery, crafting sourdough from organic flour sourced through direct farmer partnerships that respect both environment and community. In Vesterbro, Orsa serves quality Prolog coffee alongside extravagant pastries, while Prolog has three bars of its own around town, as does Darcy's. La Cabra serves its speciality coffee at Another Aspect’s handsome menswear store on Møntergade. Sonny brews La Cabra beans on a signature Mavame machine, while serving home-baked cakes and rye sandwiches.

Granola is another Copenhagen breakfast institution. On Gothersgade, Det Vide Hus is both speciality coffee destination and small-batch ice-cream maker. Finally, ceramic store Yonobi merges coffee with creativity at its unique Pinch Pot Café, where guests can make their own pottery.

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