The Copenhagen email

Look, I am going to be honest with you. We only went to Copenhagen to go to Noma. It is the first city I have visited where I booked the restaurant before the flight. And again on the honesty, I would go back to Copenhagen just to visit Noma again. Although now there are more places that call me back – but Noma is just that good to justify a trip in it’s own right.

We loved our weekend in Copenhagen with gorgeous views, a beautiful walkable city, fantastic food from fine dining to take away burgers and fancy baked goods. So far I have loved all the Nordic cities we’ve visited with Oslo being a recent favourite – The Oslo email lives here.

Restaurants we loved in Copenhagen

– Noma
Look it was sensational. Noma without a doubt lived up to the hype. Visiting Noma was a huge dream of ours that I never thought would happen. We had a very surreal moment sitting in this dream restaurant thinking all these tough decisions we have made brought us here. And we felt so so grateful. Noma is without a doubt one of our top five meals of our little lives. The food was incredible. The service was flawless. The wine pairing was perfect. The menu was interesting and out of the box but every single bite was delicious – which is a hard line to walk and many fine dining spots don’t get it right.

I am not going to go on about every dish. But honestly, sensational and well worth it for us. Highlights include the marigold tempura with egg yolk aioli where each petal is individually painted with tempura batter, grilled young artichoke and lion’s mane mushroom steak with Noma’s take on Bearnaise sauce.

We visited Noma for their Vegetables season which celebrates all things vegetables over their summer season. They also have an Ocean season which runs from Jan to May and Game & Forest which runs from October to December. But I think this year they’re spending the winter season in Kyoto (what a dream!!).

The number one question I get (after – was it worth it and what did it cost) is how did we get a reservation. I think we got lucky because we booked before they announced their closing which ramped up booking demand even further. I also signed up for their newsletter which let’s you know when bookings will open, added a calendar notification to remind me when it opened and booked as quick as possible. To secure our booking we needed to select which drinks pairing we were going with and be ready to pay for it in advance.

– Gasoline vs Popl burgers (hint: both!)
The Bridge Street Kitchen is home to both Gasoline and Popl and a perfect excuse to have a burger off. Gasoline is the most famous burger in Copenhagen started in an old gas station and is now found in seven sites across Copenhagen. And Popl was started by Noma during the Covid-19 pandemic. So ya, Noma burgers! The Gasoline burgers are made to order so they take a little longer but are well worth the wait. Of the two – Gasoline was my favourite and Popl was Jono’s favourite. So really you need both! We also tried Popl’s vegan burger which was honestly fantastic. So if you’re looking for a vegan option or just to be wow’ed by a vegan option – make sure to give it a try! And don’t miss the chocolate mousse dessert from Gasoline!

– Very Danish sammiches from Hallernes Smørrebrød
Denmark is famous for their open sandwiches on rye bread and Hallernes is known for their top tier smørrebrød. I like this article on a deep dive into the traditional smørrebrød options. We tried and loved shrimp with mayo and lemon, chicken salad with bacon and chevril and liver pate with bacon, lingonberry, beetroot and thyme. They made a perfect snack for ahead of our flight home. They can be found in the Market halls of Torvehallerne so could be tied in with a visit to the market.

– Andersen & Maillard
A fantastic bakery to start our Sunday morning. Great canelé, fantastic little knot situation but my favourite was the pistachio mousse croissant square thing. Jono was happy with the coffee (note the double order) and the tea was pretty good too! I didn’t realise there were two locations so unintentionally we went to the further out location but loved walking through Hans Tavsens Park and visiting Hans Christian Andersen’s grave.

I feel like you could spend an entire weekend hopping around the bakeries of Copenhagen. Another good list from old Copenhagen Collective on a Guide to the Best Bakeries in Copenhagen for next trip inspiration.

Things we did when not eating

– Market halls of Torvehallerne
The Market hall is gorgeous packed with fresh produce, sea food, cheese, wine and a huge number of beautiful foodie souvenirs to take home. Jono was a very big fan of Coffee Collective – it is a super popular spot and the queue takes time so Jono’s hot tip is get two coffees at a time. I got really good tea from Tante T which is a very singular experience when travelling in Europe. Seriously good tea! Even for my take away option I was given a little timer for the recommended brew time and a small cup on the side for my milk to ONLY be added once the brew was finished. If you’re looking for something to take home I’d recommend the organic chocolates from Summerbird. Or a giant gem squash if you have the luggage space??

Scandinavian Standard was an amazing source for planning our trip. This link for The Ultimate Guide to the Best Food Halls in Copenhagen includes all the great food halls and specific recommendations on what to eat!

– Walk around the gorgeous harbour
It’s absolutely stunning with the brightly coloured houses and the boats. Try visit during the day time and again at sunset for maximum magic. We skipped the Little Mermaid as apparently it’s a little overrated, quite out the way and there’s a strong emphasis on the little part of the Little Mermaid. But these are choices you can make for yourself.

– Walk everywhere. Copenhagen is such a perfect walkable city and we loved just wondering around in the early evenings.

– Visit Rosenborg Castle
Built in 1606 and now a museum open to the public. Don’t miss the treasury for a look at some of Denmark’s most precious treasures including the crown jewels.

Where we stayed in Copenhagen

We stayed at Hotel Motel One Kobenhavn which was a super cool modern design style hotel in a great location. A lot of people told us Copenhagen was really expensive and it probably is but it didn’t feel too terrible on the pound and we knew we were in for trouble with Noma pricing anyway. But anyway, I found the pricing of our hotel pretty reasonable and our room was big and super comfy. Would recommend.