“Let’s exit for Danish meals” isn’t one thing you typically hear, however Denmark is definitely a foodie vacation spot. The meals in Copenhagen is steeped in custom and historical past, however for the final decade, it’s been present process a revolution.
Modern cooks create fashionable dishes with historic substances and fuse cuisines throughout cultures whereas embracing sustainability. Copenhagen has probably the most Michelin Stars of any metropolis in Scandinavia however maintains a vibrant avenue meals scene. Even some high restaurateurs have opened meals vans.
I’ve lived in Denmark since 2017 and though I’m not Danish, I’ve discovered lots concerning the meals in Copenhagen. I’ve been to numerous eating places each previous and new, sampled avenue meals, and have even been invited to conventional picnics and Christmas dinners by my Danish pals.
Denmark Meals Tradition and Historical past
Geography is future, and the meals in Copenhagen really displays this.
Denmark is a small, flat nation in Northern Europe with no level greater than 50 km from the ocean. The Danish realm, now and traditionally, stretches north to the Arctic — additional shaping its meals.
Denmark is a rustic of fascinating contradictions. It’s a progressive nation with deep traditions.It’s a collectivist society, however folks preserve few, but deep relationships. It’s a homogeneous tradition comprised of people who find themselves pure explorers.
All of which is mirrored within the meals.
Conventional Danish Delicacies
Traditionally, Denmark was a rustic of small farms and fishing villages. Danes salted and cured meals to outlive the lengthy winters. Fish was the primary protein, particularly from the Baltic or North seas.
Dietary staples included root greens and hearty grains that may thrive in a brief rising season. At the moment, conventional Danish meals like pickled herring, cured beetroot, and rye bread come from the local weather and geography of Denmark.
Within the nineteenth century, three main modifications got here that had main impacts on the meals of Denmark.
First, inhabitants development required extra meals and extra farms. Farmers reclaimed hilly land that would not assist grains and now planted potatoes, which thrived within the rocky soil.
Second, will increase in world grain manufacturing made small Danish farms unable to compete. Due to this, farmers shifted to elevating livestock like dairy cows and pigs.
Third, the industrialization of agriculture compelled small farms to develop cooperatives, resulting in the development of dairies and slaughterhouses.
The Danish nationwide dish of stegt flæsk, fried pork stomach, represents all three components of those modifications.
Trendy manufacturers like Arla Meals, Lurpak butter, and Danish Crown bacon all have their origins on this interval. In Copenhagen, most of the former slaughterhouses at the moment are high-end eating places within the metropolis’s well-liked Meat Packing neighborhood.
The meals in Copenhagen brilliantly displays Denmark’s geography and its historical past with an eye fixed on innovation and the long run.
Trendy Danish Meals in Copenhagen
In 2004, Danish cooks led a motion to fuse the historic and conventional meals with fashionable culinary strategies. They developed the New Nordic Delicacies.
New Nordic focuses on native and seasonal meals from pure and sustainable agriculture. The defining expertise of a New Nordic meal is the flavour of core substances with a easy, but lovely presentation.
Essentially the most well-known instance of this motion is the restaurant Noma, 5 occasions named the “finest restaurant on the earth”. Many take into account Noma because the vanguard of the New Nordic motion.
Noma is priced out of attain for many guests to Copenhagen, and sadly is slated to shut for good in 2024, however there are dozens of Michelin star and rated New Nordic eating places in Copenhagen.
Every one gives unimaginable examples of this contemporary Danish delicacies.
10 Tasty Meals to Eat in Copenhagen
Whereas there are numerous superb meals to strive in your journey to Copenhagen, these are the ten finest! Learn on for my checklist of scrumptious meals to strive in Copenhagen, primarily based on my expertise residing (and consuming, and consuming) in Denmark since 2017.
In Denmark, you’ll see how custom and innovation come collectively to create a tremendous culinary journey. Take pleasure in my suggestions on issues to eat in Copenhagen!
1. Expertise an Inexpensive New Nordic Meal
Out of all of the issues to eat in Copenhagen, you completely want the expertise of a New Nordic meal.
The delicacies originated at Noma, however they’re booked months upfront and the meal can value over $1,000 per couple. Fortunately, there are budget-friendly alternate options for a New Nordic dinner.
New Nordic eating places can have a hard and fast or set menu, and you can’t customise or alter the dishes.
Your solely actual alternative is if you want an appetizer, normally referred to as chef’s snacks, and what to drink. It’s widespread for every course to have an accompanying wine choice.
Lots of the dishes will include unfamiliar herbs, greens, and seeds. You will have dishes with celeriac juice, dill, smoked cream cheese, ramsons, or lingonberry — simply go together with it. I’ve had many who have been considerably unusual, however nothing even approaching dangerous.
These native substances create the flavours that outline New Nordic delicacies, even when they stretch your pallet.
To pattern New Nordic meals in Copenhagen, strive Restaurant Meille. They’ve an exceptional operation headed by former Noma chef, Mads Magnusson.
Restaurant Meille serves reasonably priced luxurious — you may have a 5-course meal at $60, and also you received’t neglect the expertise.
2. Julefrokost, the Danish Christmas Meal
Autumn in Europe means altering leaves but in addition modifications within the menu gadgets. Beginning within the fall, Restaurant Puk serves Julefrokost, the normal Danish Christmas meal.
Come hungry!
The Julefrokost consists of a curried herring with egg, onion and capers, or pickled herring with dill bitter cream. Subsequent you strive smoked salmon with apple and horseradish, shrimp with egg, and deep-fried plaice with remoulade.
Then you definately’ll dine on a Danish pate, roasted duck with gravy, roasted pork with pink cabbage and the Christmas sausage.
Dessert is a Danish rice pudding with cherry sauce and a shot of Akvavit, a standard Danish liqueur.
Restaurant Puk is housed in a historic constructing, the previous Royal Brewhouse, which dates again to 1539. A number of Danish kings have been regulars on the web site, and you may be too. That is the place I prefer to deliver pals from overseas who go to me in Copenhagen.
Restaurant Puk has an a la carte menu and a hard and fast menu for lunch and dinner. Click on right here to search out it on the map.
Copenhagen has a big selection of eating places claiming to be conventional Danish delicacies, however many are vacationer traps. A pink and white checkered desk material with an vintage candle holder doesn’t imply it’s genuine.
3. Danish-Fusion Meals in Copenhagen
The Danish meals scene is all about freshness and the standard of native substances.
This poses an issue if you happen to put together delicacies utilizing substances that originate in different elements of the world. Freshness is paramount, so recipes in Copenhagen are duplicated utilizing native Danish substances and New Nordic cooking strategies.
One instance of this hybrid or fusion idea is BÆST, an natural Italian impressed pizzeria.
They serve pizza with a Danish-style sourdough crust and regionally sourced cheese, tomatoes, herbs, and different substances. Through the use of the herb ramson as an alternative of garlic, you get a well-recognized dish with Scandinavian flavour.
One other place to check this idea is Kiin Kiin, a Michelin star Thai fusion restaurant. It’s considered one of my favourite eating places in Copenhagen for non-traditional meals.
They serve a New Nordic tackle Thai delicacies, so Denmark meets Thailand within the kitchen. The result’s culinary fusion like a inexperienced curry dish with cod and a spicy Asian salad with flounder.
At each BÆST and Kiin Kiin, you’ll style overseas delicacies with a Danish affect and New Nordic presentation. In case you hold an open thoughts, you’ll love the results of these meals cultures mixing.
4. Strive Danish Picnic Meals in Copenhagen
Chances are you’ll suppose a picnic is similar in any metropolis, however Copenhagen takes them to the subsequent stage.
Picnics are ingrained within the meals tradition of Denmark, as a result of folks love being outdoors and want the additional area.
Public areas are generally the one possibility for gathering a gaggle of pals bigger than 3 folks. Copenhagen residences don’t depart a lot room for entertaining so folks picnic a lot of the 12 months.
You possibly can anticipate folks to dine outdoors in parks, gardens, and alongside the waterfronts of the harbour and canal system.
Picnics are such an necessary a part of Danish tradition that some Copenhagen meals spots solely supply takeaway meals.
Even high-end eateries, like Backyard Restaurant, supply gourmand picnic baskets for $50-60. They’re positioned throughout from the King’s Backyard they usually pack tapas, charcuterie, and even wine to get pleasure from your individual picnic.
In summer time, sundown is nicely previous 9:00 pm, so a picnic dinner is the right technique to get pleasure from the additional daylight. Over my greater than 5 years in Copenhagen, I’ve had a few of my finest occasions with native folks throughout picnics.
5. Go to a Pølsevogn, the Danish Sizzling Canine Stand
It could shock you, however the humble sizzling canine is among the most conventional Danish avenue meals in Copenhagen. Crowds across the pølsevogen, or sizzling canine wagon, are a typical sight within the metropolis.
The basic Danish sizzling canine is named røde pølser or pink sausage, however there are a number of varieties to strive.
They originated within the early 1900s as meat distributors found they might salvage previous sausages with pink dye. At the moment the meat is contemporary (don’t fear!) and makes an ideal snack or late-night chew.
The very best place to do that excellent avenue meals in Copenhagen is the DØP wagon. They promote natural røde pølser for $5-6 with all of the toppings: remoulade, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and fried onions.
You’ll find their wagon simply outdoors of Copenhagen’s Spherical Tower on daily basis. Click on right here for instructions.
6. Flæskesteg: Denmark’s Nationwide Dish
Flæskesteg is the nationwide dish of Denmark, and one thing you need to strive whenever you go to Copenhagen. The meal is roasted pork, ready utilizing conventional Danish culinary strategies.
Flæskesteg is a reduce of pork broiled with the pores and skin. Whereas making ready the pork, cuts made within the pores and skin are stuffed with a dry rub of salt, pepper, and generally cloves.
The pores and skin cooks together with meat leading to a tasty crackling crust round every slice of pork. To finish the meal, it’s served with boiled or butter-sauteed potatoes and a white sauce.
As soon as once more, conventional meals in Copenhagen is easy and scrumptious.
Discover out for your self at among the finest genuine Danish kitchens, Frk. Barnes Kælder, within the Vesterbro neighbourhood. Most most important dishes, like flæskesteg, will value $10-12 but it surely’s troublesome to get a desk with out a reservation. Click on right here for instructions to Frk. Barnes Kælder.
7. Road Meals in Copenhagen
Like several meals metropolis, the Danish capital has developed a vibrant meals truck and avenue kitchen tradition. It simply wouldn’t be proper to go to town and never strive the road meals in Copenhagen.
The very best place to strive avenue meals in Copenhagen varies primarily based on the seasons.
From April by October, the very best place is Reffen. It’s a Copenhagen establishment of natural avenue meals distributors positioned on scenic Copenhagen Harbour. Reffen has seating for two,500 guests and hosts over 40 meals stalls and bars.
Within the winter months, the road meals strikes indoors to meals halls.
Probably the greatest meals halls within the metropolis is Torvehallerne, two buildings of meals stands and outlets with an natural farmers market in between. It’s considered one of my common stops for a cup of espresso, a pint of Danish beer, or a full meal.
8. Flæskesvær, a Tasty Appetizer
In case you see flæskesvær on a menu, order it! It’s served as an appetizer and is a scrumptious, distinctive, and really Danish meals.
Flæskesvær originated within the nineteenth century when Danes have been in search of a technique to protect and eat each a part of the pork of their eating regimen.
They devised a approach for the inedible pores and skin to be cooked down, fried, and consumed as a snack. The flæskesvær recipe hasn’t modified since.
Restaurant Kronborg could also be extra well-known for Smørrebrød (see #10 beneath), however you can too get flæskesvær there. I additionally like its relaxed and conventional environment.
9. Danish Pastries & Bakery Meals in Copenhagen
Nothing beats a Danish bakery.
Even easy gadgets, like bread and rolls, are re-imagined and served in a approach I’ve by no means skilled. Every merchandise has a time and event in Danish life and bakeries are a cornerstone of Danish meals tradition.
For Danes, rye bread or rugbrød is king. Anticipate dense loaves of rye bread which can be generally baked with malt syrup, pumpkin seeds, or complete rye berries.
Sourdough breads are additionally well-liked and sourdough rolls with cheese are well-liked for breakfast. Sourdough loaves for dinner are normally ready with herbs like rosemary, dill, or thyme.
Danish candy breads and pastries are cherished all over the world, however do you know they really come from Austria?
Danes even name them wienerbrød, or Vienna bread.
In 1850, there was a labor strike among the many bakery staff of Denmark. This brought on the bakery house owners to rent overseas labor, together with Austrian bakers who had new recipes and strategies.
The brand new pastries remained and are completely woven into Danish bakery tradition.
Whether or not you wish to strive the candy or the savoury aspect of Danish baked items, strive Skt. Peders Bageri. For a full sit-down expertise, you may strive the muffins and pastries of La Glace.
Each institutions have been baking in Copenhagen for generations. I discover myself in a single or the opposite not less than as soon as per week.
10. Get a Smørrebrød
Denmark has a standard open-faced sandwich referred to as smørrebrød.
It’s one slice of buttered rye bread topped with meats, fish, hard-boiled egg, or different toppings. Extra toppings, like lettuce, uncooked onions, and remoulade sauce are added to style.
Smørrebrød is served chilly and eaten with a knife and fork. An excellent smørrebrød restaurant can have a full menu of various varieties and educated workers that can assist you select.
Among the many finest locations to strive smørrebrød is Restaurant Palægade within the Kongens Nytorv space of Copenhagen. They’ve a menu of over 40 sorts of smørrebrød that vary from conventional herring to tenderloin and mushroom. Even in spite of everything my time in Copenhagen, I nonetheless find yourself discovering new varieties to strive.
Greatest Meals Excursions in Copenhagen
Probably the greatest methods to be taught concerning the delicacies of Denmark is to affix a meals tour whenever you’re within the capital.
4-Hour Night Tour with Wine Tastings and Snacks
Copenhagen within the night is an excellent expertise. The previous buildings and winding streets appear to glow within the twilight, and the harbor is alive as folks race to catch the ultimate daylight of the day.
This 4-hour tour prices about $145 per individual and consists of a number of drinks and snacks. You’ll undergo the guts of town heart, together with iconic Nyhavn and the waterfront alongside the harbor.
The spotlight is having fun with a drink from the tower above Copenhagen’s oldest harbour bridge. That is one thing even locals hardly ever get to do, and it’s an unimaginable vantage level to soak within the views and vibes of Copenhagen. Click on right here for extra details about this tour.
Copenhagen Culinary Bike Tour
There isn’t any higher technique to see Copenhagen than by bike. First, it lets you mingle with locals on the huge community of motorbike lanes across the metropolis. Moreover, it maximizes your time, letting you shortly transfer between neighborhoods.
The three-hour tour prices about $100 per individual. It consists of plenty of completely different meals to pattern, together with smørrebrød, sizzling canine, fish meatballs, and pattern beer from Mikkeller.
The tour travels from town heart, alongside the waterfront, and into the fashionable Meatpacking space in Vesterbro. It’s an effective way to see a lot of town and pattern a lot of our really helpful meals. Click on right here to be taught extra about this tour.
Vesterbro Strolling Meals Tour
For meals and enjoyable, probably the most fascinating neighborhood in Copenhagen is Vesterbro.
This was the previous red-light district however has undergone a renaissance within the final 20 years. It nonetheless has some dodgy native dives, and can also be house to modern eating places and cocktail bars.
This 3-hour tour prices $146 per individual, and consists of stops in a number of bars across the neighborhood. Additionally, you will be taught the historical past of the neighbourhood, because it moved from working-class to red-light to hip within the span of fifty years.
The tour is ideal for individuals who need a deeper expertise in an actual neighbourhood. It’s additionally an opportunity to find out about different nice bars and eating places to strive in Copenhagen. Click on right here to affix this enjoyable tour.
Drinks in Copenhagen
You’ll want one thing to scrub down the entire tasty meals. Listed below are a few of the drinks to strive in Copenhagen you received’t wish to miss.
1. The Quintessential Danish Beer: Carlsberg
On the whole, Denmark is a beer and shot consuming tradition. The Danish beer model Carlsberg is on faucet at each bar and restaurant in Copenhagen. The historical past of Copenhagen is intertwined with the historical past of the Jacobsen household, the founders of Carlsberg.
The household have been patrons of the humanities, based the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, and funded renovations of Frederiksberg Fortress. In Copenhagen, you may tour the previous brewery with a tasting.
You’ll additionally find out how the founder developed brewers yeast and shared it with the world as an alternative of searching for a patent.
Anyplace in Copenhagen you may pay them homage by having fun with a chilly Carlsberg Pilsner or Jacobsen Lager.
2. World-Class Craft Beer: Mikkeller
Whereas Carlsberg was a patron of the humanities and sciences, Denmark’s (and possibly the world’s) finest craft beer got here from a highschool physics instructor.
Mikkeller is a Danish brewer that really has no brewery!
Mikkeller brews a variety of craft beers, from sours to stouts, typically partnering with current breweries everywhere in the world. In simply 15 years of operation, they developed over 1000 recipes.
You’ll find Mikkeller beers throughout city, together with devoted bars in Vesterbro and their Baghaven location on the harbour close to Reffen. They’re additionally obtainable in bottle outlets and grocery shops round city.
One of the simplest ways to get pleasure from Mikkeller is at two of their partnerships. Warpigs in Meatpacking gives American-style barbecue, whereas Ramen to Biiru has 4 places across the metropolis serving scrumptious ramen.
3. Snaps, Snaps, Snaps!
Understanding that Denmark is a beer and shot tradition, you want some liquor as nicely!
Snaps is a powerful liquor distilled from grain or potatoes and flavored with native herbs like dill and anise.
Snaps is served ice-cold and at all times with meals. It’s sipped and is at all times current at main holidays like Easter and Christmas. You possibly can strive snaps as a part of a standard Danish lunch, because it pairs very properly with pickled herring smørrebrød.
My favourite model of snaps is from Snaps Bornholm. I’ve loved it throughout vacation celebrations as a lot as I’ve after a easy lunch.
It’s rather less conventional, as they combine flavors like chili and honey or fig to make scrumptious snaps with rather less edge for us foreigners. You’ll find Snaps Bornholm in liquor shops or nicer eating places round Copenhagen.
FAQs About What to Eat in Copenhagen
Questioning the place to eat in Copenhagen? Listed below are solutions to some ceaselessly requested questions on Copenhagen meals.
There’s all kinds of meals to strive in Copenhagen. Some well-known dishes embody the nationwide dish flæskesteg (sliced pork) and open-faced sandwiches referred to as smørrebrød. One other well-liked Copenhagen meals is New Nordic Delicacies.
The open-faced sandwiches smørrebrød are discovered on many restaurant menus in Denmark, and it could be the commonest meals. Frequent substances for every kind of dishes within the nation embody fish, pork, and potatoes.
Though it’s going to shut in 2024, Noma is among the most well-known eating places in Copenhagen, and even the world. Two different eating places with good meals to strive in Copenhagen are Restaurant Meille and Restaurant Puk.
Completely Copenhagen is a foodie metropolis. The Danish capital has high bakeries, Michelin-rated eating places, world-class avenue meals, and every thing in between. It’s not laborious for foodies to search out the place to eat in Copenhagen.
A typical Danish breakfast is normally a bread (typically rye) with cheese or jam, probably a meat similar to sausage, and low or tea.
For lunch, Danes typically eat a chilly meal of the open-faced sandwich smørrebrød, which can include pork, fish, or eggs. Many individuals declare that smørrebrød is the highest meals to strive in Copenhagen.
Now You Know What to Eat in Copenhagen
Danish tradition really resonates by its delicacies. The meals retell the story of a individuals who tailored to thrive in a troublesome local weather. It’s the results of a nation that is determined by innovation and creativity to face out within the fashionable world.
Copenhagen is finest skilled by tapping into the native tradition, like its meals. There isn’t any higher approach to try this than by its eating places, bars, and grocers.
From a easy sizzling canine wagon to an beautiful multi-course New Nordic menu, the meals in Copenhagen will fulfill your starvation for pleasure!
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