**Pre-amble:** Me and a friend who are $20-$30 meal type foodies joked for about two years that if we got a reservation to Noma we should go super hard on entirely food-based trip. The joke turned real when I somehow nibbed a reservation to Noma. And then one to Geranium because we thought it would be ‘funny’ to go to the World’s Best Restaurant toppers back-to-back in the same city. This has set my saving goals back years. Was it worth? Yes. In the way that reaching the endgame of an MMORPG is worth it, I guess. This trip was a sort of ‘foodie endgame’ for me over a week in Copenhagen. A, ‘let’s see what’s at the top of the food mountain by taking a cable car up’ type trip to gather up fine-dining reference points as I don’t really do tasting menus outside my native Japan. I’ll now present my highly scientific findings and field notes in the order in which I dined at said restaurants. The black-and-white photos are from my decision to photo in black-and-white for this trip because I thought it would be fun as I’d never done it before, and because art. Thank my friend for taking normal photos with his IPhone. Hopefully this is of use to someone!
**NOMA Game Season:** + Juice Pairing. Fuck yeah these guys really go for it don’t they. It’s like every chef here was the type of kid that used Impact font everywhere on their presentations. Alot of unfamiliar flavors that are really up-front, this season being quite rustic? I mentally tagged many of the dishes as ‘divisive’ but that’s the kind of stuff I tend to love. If you prioritize ‘interestingness’ as a metric then this meal is through the roof. NOMA is metaphorically and literally like getting hit in the face with a deer penis. Some may enjoy it. Others will ask, ‘did I get hit in the face with a deer penis?’. The juice pairing was particularly wonderful. I don’t know what to say about NOMA that hasn’t been said other than yes, this is the hyped bastion of experimental dining that you either love or just shrug your shoulders at. I tend to love it, a rollercoaster-ish meal. Lots of ‘Oof¿¿???’ type meal.
**Geranium Winter Universe:** + Cheapest Wine Pairing. Super clean, super tight and super-bly executed fine dining. I’m emphasizing the execution here as every meal really was perfectly balanced and any ‘more’ or ‘less’ to each dish would throw it off. They’re really scraped the metaphorical teat of perfection at Geranium. If your idea of a perfect thing is ‘no flaws’ then this is your type of restaurant. Maybe a bit too clinical for me but my favorite meal in the world is a large Big Mac Meal so feel free to throw my opinion in the bin. Don’t know anything about wine so all I can say to the wine pairing is, ‘amazingly yummy’ and also I got 6/10 sloshed on it. My friend had the juice pairing and from the sips I had it was excellent, with alot of ‘What the heck is this and where can I get it?’ flavors to some of the juices. Incredibly impressive meal. They really can claim to be at the top if there is such a thing. After the meal we got a tote (heck yeah) and a take home bottle of beer. Lots of ‘Jezus Christ’ type meal. What you picture in your head fine-dining is.
**Sushi Anaba:** + Sake Pairing. The sake pairing I would say is mandatory. Really amazing omakase that doesn’t play up kitsch Japanese-ness like I’ve seen other high-end omakase outside of Japan do. Focus is purely and squarely on the fish, mostly sourced from around Scandinavia. Really cosy vibe too. Best omakase I’ve had outside of Japan. Could confidently crack a top five in comparison to the ones I’ve had in Japan as well! Really high level execution. Really unique shari and broke from tradition quite often throughout the meal. This is where I would take someone NOT into fine dining who wants a high-level but comfortable experience. Like going to the ballet except that instead of a ballet, you get some fish. Lots of ‘Oh God’ type meal. In a good way.
**Kappo Ando:** This is a personal one as I’m Japanese and thought it was really cool and weird to find Kappo cuisine outside Japan. Passionate owner and sister restaurant to Sushi Anaba. Super super new restaurant so the menu is not quite there yet but give it a year or two and I’m sure they’ll be great. A choice if you want to see a place in it’s embryonic phase pushing a new type of cuisine rarely seen outside it’s home country. If you like going to places before they pop off this is a good bet I think. Lots of ‘Hell Ye’ type meal.
**Alouette:** Of all the meals sans Sushi Anaba, this was definitely the place that made me the happiest. The flavors were quite simple and bold. The experience is quite short compared to the above. It’s on the cheaper side of tasting menus. Nothing is too out there and the flavors are familiar but every meal is a ‘wower’ and very impressive. You get to go up to the restaurant in one of the shittier elevators I have seen, which is quite a big plus for me. The place and staff are vibez, with a z. Perfect date meal or a family meal for your family who thinks you’re a bit of a weirdo for spending this amount of money on food. Really high-level comfort meal. The best fancy dinner party you’ve ever been to. Lots of ‘Absolutely Yes’ type meal.
**Kadeau:** There were MULTIPLE chefs/waitstaff at the places we dined above that once they learned we were on a food trip asked, ‘Are you going to Kadeau?’ Apparently this preserve season is something special. There was a lunch reservation that opened up which in a moment of weakness and wallet-consciousness – I didn’t take up. I regret it to this day. I guess don’t make my mistake? Maybe someone else can report.
**Misc. notes:** Every restaurant tailored their service quite nicely. At every place once they realized we were just two idiots sent their youngest/most inexperienced/best craic waitstaff towards us which was most appreciated. I never felt an ounce of ‘fine-dining-diningness’ at any place so shoutout to Copenhagen for keeping it real. No complaints about service anywhere.
I wanted to book at Alchemist but I couldn’t get a reservation and one never opened up when we were there. Amass restaurant I was highly interested in but unfortunately it closed down in the months before we arrived. Only had one slot for a smorrebrod and chose Selma, which was really lovely. Polse I’m sad to say, is overrated. Cola and lemonade are really good in Copenhagen for some reason?
All good but Isted Grill and Dandelion for me stand above the rest. Poulette is a must if you prefer a chicken sandwich/burger, had it twice. Gasoline Grill is really, really solid. POPL is quite unique tasting (hit or miss depending on person) but TOO EXPENSIVE. Tommi’s is a really, really textbook burger joint but sometimes you just need a normal burger n’ chips. Burger scene is quite strong so good looks all round.
**Best Coffee:** Prolog vastly outclassed every other coffee I had in Copenhagen.
**Best Bakery:** Lille Bakery. Might be the best sausage roll ever? Really interesting preserve based menu. Super out of the way too so you feel cool for walking there. The girls on a date next to us were having a really deep conversation about neuroscience and personalities too so maybe this place makes you smarter. Bageriet Benji had the best cwassant. Seks’ Cheesecake is worth the line. The bakery game here is quite ridiculous.
**Final Notes:** We also ate at a bunch of other, non tasting-menu places that were culled from places repeatedly mentioned in and around r/FineDining and r/Copenhagen so thanks for all the help! Any questions feel free to ask! And Copenhagen even in the deadest winter is indeed a beautiful city 🙂
jeanlDD on
Similar itinerary as I had in early Feb but missing Alchemist, totally feel you on the surprise of nabbing the Noma booking.
Also agree on the Sushi Anaba pairing and pairings in general too, really terrific.
For me, Gasoline grill is easily the winner though. Cleanly the best burger I’ve ever had and I make good burgers myself.
Sushi Anaba not reaching as far as Geranium or Noma do but it was one of the most comfy and enjoyable meals I’ve had anywhere. Not a ballet person but totally get the comparison.
syahawesome on
Gasoline grill for burgers man. But yeah POPL is good too.
Damn you didn’t go to Juno bakery? Best one imo.
Prolog is good but I reckon alice is solid too for coffee and croissants!!!
Thanks for the sharing. Looking to go back later this year 😆 and my bank account won’t be happy
delicategayflower on
I’m sorry but some of this stuff is just ridiculous. I love fine dining but I feel nowadays it’s more about smoke and mirrors.
abaganoush on
copy/ paste it to r/copenhagen <<
AndyVale on
I just missed out on Kadeau too. Was on the waitlist for months but had a call on the day saying a seat had opened up.
I had really got excited for the place I got a table at instead (Kiin Kiin), so decided to keep that booking instead.
Had a wonderful night there, but do sometimes wonder about what I missed out on.
NMazer on
All looks delicious.
The_Ewe_Pilgrim on
This was a fantastic read that left me chuckling all by myself! Thank you for sharing your foodie tour of CPH, one of my favorite cities to visit over and over again. I did an insane day of Geranium lunch and Noma dinner on Nov 3rd 2016, and will never forget the experience – though to do them both now would be even crazier! We have very similar taste, as Prolog was also my favorite coffee in the city, and I think I loved the juice pairings most across all my fine dining experiences. You’re making me want to book another trip to Copenhagen ASAP!
buttapopcorn on
An awesome read and an epic trip you had! Experience at Noma is still the best I’ve had anywhere.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Sushi Anaba. Mads Battefeld trained at Hakkoku and Sushi Jin. The latter is my fav spot and I ate there when Mads was a trainee. Do you remember which sake they served?
9 Comments
**Pre-amble:** Me and a friend who are $20-$30 meal type foodies joked for about two years that if we got a reservation to Noma we should go super hard on entirely food-based trip. The joke turned real when I somehow nibbed a reservation to Noma. And then one to Geranium because we thought it would be ‘funny’ to go to the World’s Best Restaurant toppers back-to-back in the same city. This has set my saving goals back years. Was it worth? Yes. In the way that reaching the endgame of an MMORPG is worth it, I guess. This trip was a sort of ‘foodie endgame’ for me over a week in Copenhagen. A, ‘let’s see what’s at the top of the food mountain by taking a cable car up’ type trip to gather up fine-dining reference points as I don’t really do tasting menus outside my native Japan. I’ll now present my highly scientific findings and field notes in the order in which I dined at said restaurants. The black-and-white photos are from my decision to photo in black-and-white for this trip because I thought it would be fun as I’d never done it before, and because art. Thank my friend for taking normal photos with his IPhone. Hopefully this is of use to someone!
**NOMA Game Season:** + Juice Pairing. Fuck yeah these guys really go for it don’t they. It’s like every chef here was the type of kid that used Impact font everywhere on their presentations. Alot of unfamiliar flavors that are really up-front, this season being quite rustic? I mentally tagged many of the dishes as ‘divisive’ but that’s the kind of stuff I tend to love. If you prioritize ‘interestingness’ as a metric then this meal is through the roof. NOMA is metaphorically and literally like getting hit in the face with a deer penis. Some may enjoy it. Others will ask, ‘did I get hit in the face with a deer penis?’. The juice pairing was particularly wonderful. I don’t know what to say about NOMA that hasn’t been said other than yes, this is the hyped bastion of experimental dining that you either love or just shrug your shoulders at. I tend to love it, a rollercoaster-ish meal. Lots of ‘Oof¿¿???’ type meal.
**Geranium Winter Universe:** + Cheapest Wine Pairing. Super clean, super tight and super-bly executed fine dining. I’m emphasizing the execution here as every meal really was perfectly balanced and any ‘more’ or ‘less’ to each dish would throw it off. They’re really scraped the metaphorical teat of perfection at Geranium. If your idea of a perfect thing is ‘no flaws’ then this is your type of restaurant. Maybe a bit too clinical for me but my favorite meal in the world is a large Big Mac Meal so feel free to throw my opinion in the bin. Don’t know anything about wine so all I can say to the wine pairing is, ‘amazingly yummy’ and also I got 6/10 sloshed on it. My friend had the juice pairing and from the sips I had it was excellent, with alot of ‘What the heck is this and where can I get it?’ flavors to some of the juices. Incredibly impressive meal. They really can claim to be at the top if there is such a thing. After the meal we got a tote (heck yeah) and a take home bottle of beer. Lots of ‘Jezus Christ’ type meal. What you picture in your head fine-dining is.
**Sushi Anaba:** + Sake Pairing. The sake pairing I would say is mandatory. Really amazing omakase that doesn’t play up kitsch Japanese-ness like I’ve seen other high-end omakase outside of Japan do. Focus is purely and squarely on the fish, mostly sourced from around Scandinavia. Really cosy vibe too. Best omakase I’ve had outside of Japan. Could confidently crack a top five in comparison to the ones I’ve had in Japan as well! Really high level execution. Really unique shari and broke from tradition quite often throughout the meal. This is where I would take someone NOT into fine dining who wants a high-level but comfortable experience. Like going to the ballet except that instead of a ballet, you get some fish. Lots of ‘Oh God’ type meal. In a good way.
**Kappo Ando:** This is a personal one as I’m Japanese and thought it was really cool and weird to find Kappo cuisine outside Japan. Passionate owner and sister restaurant to Sushi Anaba. Super super new restaurant so the menu is not quite there yet but give it a year or two and I’m sure they’ll be great. A choice if you want to see a place in it’s embryonic phase pushing a new type of cuisine rarely seen outside it’s home country. If you like going to places before they pop off this is a good bet I think. Lots of ‘Hell Ye’ type meal.
**Alouette:** Of all the meals sans Sushi Anaba, this was definitely the place that made me the happiest. The flavors were quite simple and bold. The experience is quite short compared to the above. It’s on the cheaper side of tasting menus. Nothing is too out there and the flavors are familiar but every meal is a ‘wower’ and very impressive. You get to go up to the restaurant in one of the shittier elevators I have seen, which is quite a big plus for me. The place and staff are vibez, with a z. Perfect date meal or a family meal for your family who thinks you’re a bit of a weirdo for spending this amount of money on food. Really high-level comfort meal. The best fancy dinner party you’ve ever been to. Lots of ‘Absolutely Yes’ type meal.
**Kadeau:** There were MULTIPLE chefs/waitstaff at the places we dined above that once they learned we were on a food trip asked, ‘Are you going to Kadeau?’ Apparently this preserve season is something special. There was a lunch reservation that opened up which in a moment of weakness and wallet-consciousness – I didn’t take up. I regret it to this day. I guess don’t make my mistake? Maybe someone else can report.
**Misc. notes:** Every restaurant tailored their service quite nicely. At every place once they realized we were just two idiots sent their youngest/most inexperienced/best craic waitstaff towards us which was most appreciated. I never felt an ounce of ‘fine-dining-diningness’ at any place so shoutout to Copenhagen for keeping it real. No complaints about service anywhere.
I wanted to book at Alchemist but I couldn’t get a reservation and one never opened up when we were there. Amass restaurant I was highly interested in but unfortunately it closed down in the months before we arrived. Only had one slot for a smorrebrod and chose Selma, which was really lovely. Polse I’m sad to say, is overrated. Cola and lemonade are really good in Copenhagen for some reason?
**Ultimate Copenhagen Burger-Type-Food Shootout:** Isted Grill/Dandelion Burger > Poulette > Gasoline Grill > POPL Burger / Tommi’s Burger.
All good but Isted Grill and Dandelion for me stand above the rest. Poulette is a must if you prefer a chicken sandwich/burger, had it twice. Gasoline Grill is really, really solid. POPL is quite unique tasting (hit or miss depending on person) but TOO EXPENSIVE. Tommi’s is a really, really textbook burger joint but sometimes you just need a normal burger n’ chips. Burger scene is quite strong so good looks all round.
**Best Coffee:** Prolog vastly outclassed every other coffee I had in Copenhagen.
**Best Bakery:** Lille Bakery. Might be the best sausage roll ever? Really interesting preserve based menu. Super out of the way too so you feel cool for walking there. The girls on a date next to us were having a really deep conversation about neuroscience and personalities too so maybe this place makes you smarter. Bageriet Benji had the best cwassant. Seks’ Cheesecake is worth the line. The bakery game here is quite ridiculous.
**Final Notes:** We also ate at a bunch of other, non tasting-menu places that were culled from places repeatedly mentioned in and around r/FineDining and r/Copenhagen so thanks for all the help! Any questions feel free to ask! And Copenhagen even in the deadest winter is indeed a beautiful city 🙂
Similar itinerary as I had in early Feb but missing Alchemist, totally feel you on the surprise of nabbing the Noma booking.
Also agree on the Sushi Anaba pairing and pairings in general too, really terrific.
For me, Gasoline grill is easily the winner though. Cleanly the best burger I’ve ever had and I make good burgers myself.
Sushi Anaba not reaching as far as Geranium or Noma do but it was one of the most comfy and enjoyable meals I’ve had anywhere. Not a ballet person but totally get the comparison.
Gasoline grill for burgers man. But yeah POPL is good too.
Damn you didn’t go to Juno bakery? Best one imo.
Prolog is good but I reckon alice is solid too for coffee and croissants!!!
Thanks for the sharing. Looking to go back later this year 😆 and my bank account won’t be happy
I’m sorry but some of this stuff is just ridiculous. I love fine dining but I feel nowadays it’s more about smoke and mirrors.
copy/ paste it to r/copenhagen <<
I just missed out on Kadeau too. Was on the waitlist for months but had a call on the day saying a seat had opened up.
I had really got excited for the place I got a table at instead (Kiin Kiin), so decided to keep that booking instead.
Had a wonderful night there, but do sometimes wonder about what I missed out on.
All looks delicious.
This was a fantastic read that left me chuckling all by myself! Thank you for sharing your foodie tour of CPH, one of my favorite cities to visit over and over again. I did an insane day of Geranium lunch and Noma dinner on Nov 3rd 2016, and will never forget the experience – though to do them both now would be even crazier! We have very similar taste, as Prolog was also my favorite coffee in the city, and I think I loved the juice pairings most across all my fine dining experiences. You’re making me want to book another trip to Copenhagen ASAP!
An awesome read and an epic trip you had! Experience at Noma is still the best I’ve had anywhere.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Sushi Anaba. Mads Battefeld trained at Hakkoku and Sushi Jin. The latter is my fav spot and I ate there when Mads was a trainee. Do you remember which sake they served?