If you get as excited as we do about food, then this blog post is for you. Copenhagen is arguably the best place in the world for mouth-watering food made in a sustainable manner with high quality home-grown ingredients. This city is not only home to some of the best restaurants in the world but also offers casual and street food options that are above par than any other place.
Read on to know which foodie experiences we were captivated by in Copenhagen
Petersens Pølser
You can’t start your Copenhagen trip without first having a traditional Danish hot dog which means having one with everything on top (ketchup, mustard, remoulade sauce, fresh onions, fried onions and pickles). Petersens was the first hot dog stand we tried and Sia loved the vegetarian hot dog here while I was biding my time to get hold of a Døp hot dog stand.
Døp Hot Dog
Everything served at Døp is organic and seriously flavorful. This place was recommended by Phil Rosenthal in his Netflix show Somebody Feed Phil. They even have a vegetarian option for plant lovers like us.
Smørrebrød
Smørrebrød is basically an open faced sandwich. It is a piece of rye bread with a host of toppings which can be vegetarian, seafood or meat. Smørrebrød is traditionally served with a glass of snaps (said schnapps) which is a strong alcoholic spirit. We tried smørrebrød at three different restaurants in Copenhagen and honestly you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Aamann’s 1921 is a Michelin recommended, casual sit down restaurant that serves smørrebrød with traditional Danish and international flavors. We also tried two snaps and found them to be quite zingy. Aamann’s 1921 also has the best tasting beer I found in Copenhagen (their own organic brew)
Aamann’s Deli is a take-away only place. We got three pieces of smørrebrød to go and had an impromptu picnic lunch in a park next to the restaurant.
Domhusets Smørrebrød is a hole-in-the-wall take-away restaurant which we discovered during a food tour with our charming guide Céline. Their smørrebrød had the most traditional combination of ingredients we tasted.
We are such fans of Aamann’s that when we spotted a branch at Copenhagen airport on our return journey, we couldn’t help but have one last smørrebrød with cold Carlsberg beer.
World Class Restaurants
Amass
We had our first experience with a Michelin recommended restaurant in Copenhagen at Amass. This restaurant has earned a Michelin Green Star for sustainability by adopting practices such as no food waste, using unused food as compost, producing biogas from unused cooking oil and sourcing ingredients from organic and ethical farming sources. The restaurant has an utterly industrial vibe with huge windows that look out towards the docks. The food, like the vibe, is totally modern and experimental. Have a look at the pictures to see what we tasted.
Top left- puffed corn, whipped sunflower seeds, Habanada chili & kimchi
Top center- mushroom noodles, garlic, oyster mushrooms & brussels sprout
Top right- fermented potato bread, roasted shallot with green garlic butter
Bottom left- Smoked potato, tempeh, leek & tomato amino
Bottom center- caramelized pumpkin sorbet, whipped yogurt, brown butter & salted pumpkin seed crisp
Bottom right- “Not chocolate’ cookie
Kødbyens Fiskebar
Located in the Meatpacking District of Copenhagen, Kødbyens Fiskebar (recommended by the Michelin guide) is Copenhagen’s premier seafood restaurant. We visited this place twice because we loved one of the few vegetarian dishes (in this predominantly seafood restaurant) so much that it warranted a second visit. They also have a phenomenal list of cocktails.
Top left- sourdough bread made from fermented potatoes with seaweed butter
Top right- cocktail
Bottom left- espresso martini
Bottom right- baby gem salad with spinach, radish and romaine pesto & beetroots with smoked cheese, shiso and pine nuts
Casual Eateries
Gasoline Grill
This is the best burger Sia and I have ever had. Period. Their vegetarian burger was out of this world. It was just the right size, juicy and packed huge flavors. It is no wonder Phil Rosenthal raved about this place.
Hija De Sanchez
This taco restaurant was started by Rosio Sanchez, who was a pastry chef at the world’s best restaurant, Noma. The tacos were the best we had ever tasted. This is definitely a must have in Copenhagen.
La Galette
This French pancake restaurant was recommended by our food tour guide Céline. It is a cozy restaurant that serves sweet and savoury pancakes and a truly lip smacking house wine.
Bakeries
Copenhagen has no shortage of delicious, scrumptious pastries and breads. We visited a bakery every morning while in Copenhagen for coffee and a delicious pastry.
Sankt Peders Bakery
Top left- Sankt Peders Bakery
Top right- cinnamon roll
Bottom left- custard cream croissant and cro-muffin with lemon cream
Bottom right- custard cream croissant and cro-muffin with chocolate cream
This is the oldest bakery in Copenhagen dating back to 1652. We discovered it during our food tour. The bakery is small but cosy with old photographs decorating the walls and a decadent display of freshly baked goodies. Must tries are the cinnamon roll, custard cream croissant and cro-muffins which are sugar coated croissant muffins with a chocolate, lemon or raspberry cream filling.
Andersen Bakery
Top- triple chocolate and custard mini pastries
Bottom left- chocolate croissant
Bottom right- passion fruit and lemon mini cake
We visited Andersen bakery thrice while in Copenhagen. Yes it was that good. Andersen has a blink and you miss it kind of location but don’t worry. The smell of freshly baked bread and pastries will guide you to it. We loved the rhubarb mini pastry, triple chocolate mini pastry, custard cream mini pastry, chocolate croissant and the passion fruit and lemon mini cake.
Hart Bakery
Hart Bakery is a bit away from the center of Copenhagen but still easy to reach with public transport. We reached the bakery quite late and they were sold out of almost everything. Thankfully they had a few of their signature cardamom rolls. These were so good that we went in again for another one within 5 minutes.
Lille Bakery
Located close to Reffen street food market and Amass restaurant, Lille is an artisanal, organic bakery. We tried a filter coffee with goat’s milk which was quite good and a Berliner sugar coated doughnut with a chocolate cream filling.
Bars & Breweries
Balderdash Bar
Left- midnight oil milkshake (black truffle, banana, black garlic, hazelnut and vegan cream)
Right- mushroom alexander (gin, chocolate, 3 kinds of mushroom and coconut cream)
Trusting Phil Rosenthal’s recommendation yet again, we visited this inconspicuous bar on our very first evening in Copenhagen. Balderdash serves absolutely mind-boggling cocktails and the charming bartender surprised us with ingredients we never thought would work in a cocktail. This place is a must visit if you love kicking back with a snazzy cocktail.
Warpigs Brewery
If you prefer a pint of beer over wine or cocktails, then Warpigs is a place to die for. Warpigs is a collaboration between Danish brewery Mikkeller and American brewery 3 Floyds. They have 22 beers on tap which are all brewed in the same building. The vibe is a cross between Danish industrial design and old school Texas BBQ house. We visited Warpigs on a Sunday and Tuesday and it was buzzing both days.
Torvehallerne Food Market
Torvehallerne is Copenhagen’s central food market. We visited this place almost everyday, sometimes twice a day for Copenhagen’s best coffee.
Coffee Collective
This is the best coffee in Copenhagen. Seriously you have to take our word for it. Their oat milk cappuccino had Sia going back for more everyday.
Grød
Grød serves breakfast porridge, acai and chia bowls and risottos of several kinds. We tried their mushroom barley risotto which tasted heavenly.
Laboca
Laboca is a Latin American bar and restaurant where we had the best empanadas in Copenhagen. We tried the sweet corn & triple cheese and the spinach and goats cheese empanadas with amazing chimichurri and spicy picante sauce.
Reffen Street Food Market
We were lucky enough to have our last day in Copenhagen happen to be the opening day of the Reffen street food market. Here are the foods we sampled during a snowy day at Reffen.
Tivoli Food Hall
Tivoli food hall is literally just that. A food hall inside the Tivoli amusement park. Although the park itself was closed when we were in Copenhagen, the food hall was always lively and bustling. Here is what we tried
The food scene in Copenhagen is truly phenomenal. In 2021 Copenhagen was awarded a total of 23 Michelin stars. The world’s best (Noma) and second best (Geranium) restaurants are in Copenhagen (according to the 2021 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list). That speaks volumes about the kind of food you can expect here. We can’t help but think about visiting Copenhagen again in the future to explore the food scene more deeply. Until then we have our amazing dinner experience at Geranium to cherish. Read all about it on this post about the world’s second best restaurant Geranium.
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