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The days when Copenhagen’s restaurants were considered dull and uninteresting are long gone, as various international cuisines have made their mark on the city, most notably French and Oriental. Allied to this growth has been a recent resurgence in Modern Danish, which uses the freshest local ingredients and infuses them with new flavors.

The selected restaurants have been divided into five categories: Gourmet, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.

VAT (MOMS) of 25% is automatically included in the prices given by Copenhagen restaurants. Service charge is not usually automatically added to the restaurant bill so a tip of around 5% will be appreciated, perhaps more if the restaurant is a budget one.

The prices quoted below are for an average three-course meal for one person and for a bottle of house wine or cheapest equivalent; they include VAT but do not include service charge or tip.


Gourmet

Gastronomique
Gastronomique offers a totally unique restaurant experience, set amid a leafy park, away from the bustle of the city, in a homely yet stylish venue. The cuisine is modern Danish and the views of the park are part of the relaxing gourmet experience. Specialties include foie gras, grilled turbot and glazed Norway lobster.

Frederiksbergs Runddel 1
Tel: 3834 8436. Fax: 3876 1393.
E-mail: gastronomique@mail.dk
Website: www.gastronomique.dk
Price: Dkk550 (five courses). Wine: Dkk550.

Kong Hans Kaelder
This one-star Michelin restaurant claims to be housed in the oldest building in Copenhagen. Starters include foie gras and sautéed scallops with wild mushrooms, while mains are of the likes of grilled turbot and other fresh seafood, with the signature dessert being chocolate soufflé. The food is served up on metal plates in the charming surrounds of the historical building, where 500-year old Gothic arches and wooden floorboards lend a medieval atmosphere to the restaurant.

Vingaardsstræde 6
Tel: 3311 6868. Fax: 3332 6768.
Website: www.konghans.dk
Price: Dkk700. Wine: Dkk250.

Le Sommelier
Another fine dining temple, complete with white linen tablecloths and immaculately attired waiting staff, which proves how much the Danes love top-class French food. Specialties include foie gras as a starter and a number of seafood and shellfish mains, depending on availability and season. The food is accompanied by a gargantuan wine list that caters for even the most demanding palate; there are rumoured to be almost 1,000 different wines, with over 30 sold by the glass. No lunch weekends.

Bredgade 63-65
Tel: 3311 4515. Fax: 3311 5979.
E-mail: mail@lesommelier.dk
Website: www.lesommelier.dk
Price: Dkk350. Wine: Dkk250.

Noma
This new restaurant can be found in a newly renovated house on Christianshavn, on the waterfront straight across from Nyhavn. Noma’s kitchen fuses contemporary styles and techniques with the best quality traditional Nordic dishes and ingredients, sourced from as far as Greenland, The Faroe Islands and Iceland. Part of the aim is to ’play a part in the regeneration of Nordic culinary craft’. The visionary chef in this restaurant is René Redzepi, who has worked in some of the very greatest kitchens in the world, including the fabled French Laundry in Napa Valley, California, and the experimental El Bulli, in Spain.

Strandgade 93
Tel: 3296 3297. Fax: 3295 9722.
E-mail: noma@noma.dk
Website: www.noma.dk
Price: Dkk495 (five courses). Wine: Dkk495.

Pierre Andre
This minimalist restaurant has been offering French cuisine of the highest quality since 1996. It gained its single Michelin star one year later and has held onto it ever since. The roast foie gras is a particular highlight on an innovative and beguiling menu. Other specialties are oysters or lobster as starters and braised sole, pigeon or veal as mains. There are three set menus to choose from, including one mammoth nine-course extravaganza (Dkk755). Another plus is that they bake all their own bread and desserts. No lunch Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Ny Østergade 21
Tel: 3316 1719. Fax: 3316 1772.
Website: www.pierreandre.dk
Price: Dkk600. Wine: Dkk250.

Restaurationen
This French restaurant has one Michelin star under its belt and this is well deserved. Restaurationen boasts high ceilings and walls adorned with black and white photos of the cooking team. Head chef Bo Jacobsen conjures up an impressive array of dishes with the freshest local produce. The menu follows the changing seasons but whatever the time of year booking is essential. The restaurant also bakes its own bread and makes its own sausages and hams, which are made with organic ingredients where possible.

Møntergade 19
Tel: 3314 9495.
Website: www.restaurationen.com
Price: Dkk640 (set menu). Wine: Dkk255.


Business

Alberto K at the Royal
Alberto K is the centerpiece of the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel. To run a restaurant in the name of Alberto Kappenberger (the first manager of this hotel and an enormous fan of Arne Jacobsen’s design) requires something out of the ordinary design-wise, as well as an innovative and expert gastronomy. The Alberto K lives up to this high standard. The unusual Scandinavian-Italian symbiosis works well for diners who appreciate the love of ingredients and the care in preparation that is manifest in everything on offer, from the homemade durum bread to that morning’s lobster from Thyborøn. Other creations include ham from Parma and its well-smoked counterpart from Løgumkloster; rabbit with truffle oil from Umbria; spring cabbage with polenta, and lump fish with Tuscan rosemary. Alberto K also boasts an extensive, mainly Italian, wine list. To top it off, the views from the location on the 20th floor are superb, making this a spectacular setting for a business lunch or a longer dinner.

Hammerichsgade 1, 20 etage
Tel: 3342 6161.
Website: www.alberto-k.dk
Price: Dkk455 (three courses), Dkk595 (five courses). Wine: Dkk315.

Cap Horn
By day, this is the perfect place for a smørrebrød sandwich in the pleasant canalside setting. When the temperature stays up at night, Cap Horn is also a good place for a relaxed business dinner by the water, with more substantial Mediterranean options, such as grilled fish and steak, on the menu. The excellent range of desserts at dinner is another plus point, as is the cosy atmosphere of this former jazz club.

Nyhavn 21
Tel: 3312 8504. Fax: 3315 7130.
E-mail: caphorn@caphorn.dk
Website: www.caphorn.dk
Price: Dkk350. Wine: Dkk160.

Kokkeriet
In bright rooms behind big windows by the Kronprinsessegade, the charming Kokkeriet is to be found. The atmosphere is fairly fast-paced but at the same time quite cool and relaxed. There is seating for 65 people in the main rooms and for 22 more at a large table in the back room. The kitchen is modern European flavored with Danish finesse and elements from old Danish cooking traditions.

Kronprinsessegade 64
Tel: 3315 2777. Fax: 3315 2775.
Website: www.kokkeriet.dk
Price: Dkk435 (five courses). Wine: Dkk415.

Kommandanten
Denmark’s only two-star Michelin restaurant continually delivers and is the perfect venue for impressing clients, as well as severely denting the platinum card. The building, dating from 1698, is a typical burgher’s house of the period with numerous small rooms on several floors. The restaurant enjoys an effortless style, with silver service set against long windows, wooden floors and a quietly contemporary elegance. The main culinary influence is French and the service is first rate. Sample dishes include duck breast with port wine sauce, pork shank with morels, as well as fried Norway lobster à la nage served with aniseed and spring onions, although there is also a ’special’ menu offering six small dishes for a fixed price of Dkk690. The wine list contains in excess of 1,000 wines, many available in half bottles.

Ny Adelgade 7
Tel: 3312 0990. Fax: 3393 1223.
E-mail: kommandanten@kommananten.dk
Website: www.kommandanten.dk
Price: Dkk700. Wine: Dkk250.

Peder Oxe
Situated right on Grabrodretorv, the city’s most beautiful square, Peder Oxe specializes in traditional Danish cooking and is a good place to get to grips with the nation’s culinary larder. The decor is suitably old fashioned. It may attract too many tourists for some tastes, but the quality of the food is still high, with specialties like the eponymous oxe burger and the oxe steak.

Gråbrødretorv 11
Tel: 3311 0077. Fax: 3313 9086.
Website: www.pederoxe.dk
Price: Dkk300. Wine: Dkk200.

Søren K
Located in the Black Diamond, the Royal Library, Søren K continues to win praise from the Danish press for its super-modern minimalism. This is a splendid venue for impressing clients. The decor is bright and trendy, with modern lines and colors. Fresh seafood (such as grilled halibut with beetroot risotto, balsamic vinegar and oyster vinaigrette) is a specialty, but all the produce is of the highest quality.

Søren Kirkegaards Plads 1
Tel: 3347 4949.
E-mail: soerenk@kb.dk
Website: www.soerenk.dk
Price: Dkk380. Wine: Dkk250.


Trendy

Barstarten
One of the hottest nightlife venues in Copenhagen, Barstarten also offers very good food. At weekends, locals and savvy visitors flock to this funky venue, for the DJ sets and the buzzing atmosphere. The normal menu includes dishes from the French and Italian kitchen (highlights are the Mediterranean polenta with roast vegetables and the grilled fish) which are served with fresh salads. The Sunday brunch menu is also good value. Booking is advisable, seeing as only 25 covers can be catered for at once.

Kapelvej 1
Tel: 3524 1100.
Website: www.barstarten.dk
Price: Dkk250. Wine: Dkk170.

Formel B
Formel B is an unexpected find in a busy part of the city. Chefs Kristian Meller and Rune Jochumsen perform culinary wonders with the freshest of local produce in a stylish setting that just manages to avoid being pretentiously hip, with polished wooden floors and a sleek, minimalist look. The cooking is French with a funky accent and includes codfish with oysters, bouillon of quail with truffles and foie gras, and mushroom pie with walnuts. The restaurant’s six-course menu is among the best in the city. Reservations strongly recommended. No lunch. Closed Sunday.

Vesterbrogade 182
Tel: 3325 1066.
E-mail: info@formel-b.dk
Website: www.formel-b.dk
Price: Dkk600. Wine: Dkk365.

MR Restaurant
Above the Hvide Lam inn in a corner of the Kultorvet marketplace, there is a new gourmet restaurant carrying the initials of its chef, Mr Mads Refslund. MR Restaurant offers advanced, European gourmet food with a distinctly modern touch, inspired in part by the new science-based, chemistry-orientated gastronomy. Highly inventive cooking presented and served with elegance and style.

Kultorvet 5
Tel: 3391 0949. Fax: 3369 0581.
Website: www.mr-restaurant.dk
Price: Dkk 425 (three courses). Wine: Dkk425.

Restaurant Godt
Run by an Anglo-Danish husband and wife team, this small restaurant more than justifies its Michelin star. The focus is on fresh local meats and seafood given innovative culinary twists. The daily changing set menus (three, four or five courses) might include soup of Norway lobster served with monkfish and red caviar, or brill with a beurre blanc of oysters or veal with a morel sauce. The wine list is extensive but diners can also choose to have a ’wine menu’ offering a glass of different wine to accompany each course (Dkk100 per course). The simple two-decked restaurant is very relaxing and is tastefully decorated - only pictures of the late King Frederick and Queen Ingrid, parents of the present Queen, adorn the dove grey walls. There are a very limited number of tables and Godt is no longer the closely guarded secret it once was, so booking as far ahead as possible is essential. Closed Sunday and Monday and at other holiday periods.

Gothersgade 38
Tel: 3315 2122.
Website: www.restaurant-godt.dk
Price: Dk450. Wine: Dkk450.


Budget

Barock
This bright bar-restaurant, the first restaurant in Nyhavn, is extremely elegant, decorated in the style of Louis XVI with an ornate tiled ceiling and rosehead wall lights. Nevertheless, Barock makes it into the ’budget’ category as it offers excellent modern Danish cuisine at outstanding value for money. As well as pastas, salads, steak and chicken dishes, the menu includes shrimps with and avocado, lemon sole poached in white wine and tempting desserts like walnut pie with chocolate and crème fraiche or dark and white chocolate mousse with orange sauce. There is also a fairly comprehensive wine list. From April to October, the waterside terrace is the place to be on a warm summer’s evening, enjoying a meal while watching the world go by.

Nyhavn 1
Tel: 3333 0151.
Website: www.barock.dk
Price: Dkk280. Wine: Dkk180.

Pasta Basta
This popular budget restaurant offers 15 different types of pasta dishes and the options are imaginative, such as fettuccine in a white wine sauce with grilled salmon strips, garnished with salmon caviar and saffron. The unfussy, unpretentious surroundings are bright and airy and are also home to an all-you-can-eat daily buffet. As well as being good value for money, Pasta Basta is family friendly and has over 150 seats, able cater for large groups.

Valkendorfsgade 22
Tel: 3311 2131.
Website: www.pastabasta.dk
Price: Dkk230; Dkk79 (fixed-price buffet). Wine: Dkk250.

Restaurant Kultorvet
This bistro is situated on a corner of the Kultorvet market and serves a decent Danish menu, both set and à la carte. The cubicle layout, decorated with old plates and photographs of Copenhagen in years gone by, makes for intimate conversation. The restaurant is ideal for a light lunch, with its popular open sandwiches (smørrebrød) with herring, egg, shrimps or smoked salmon. Alternatively, for a more substantial early evening meal (the bistro closes around 2000), there are good-value standbys like pork with Béarnaise sauce and salad.

Kultorvet 2
Tel: 3314 7099.
Price: Dkk150. Wine: Dkk155.

Restaurant Puk
This slightly down-at-heel basement bar-restaurant is not the place for those who want a sophisticated or elegant setting. Although its rustic atmosphere, with wooden beams, old photographs and paintings, is enhanced with various objects dotted around, such as ancient cash registers, dolls, battered musical instruments, books and statuettes, adding a quirky, off-beat appeal. And for no-nonsense basic Danish cuisine, it is hard to find anywhere better. House specialties include herrings in various guises (pickled, marinated and curried) Wienerschnitzel, fillet of ox baked on an oak platter (planksteak), and ’old cheese’ served with a splash of rum.

Vandkunsten 8
Tel: 3311 1417.
Price: Dkk250. Wine: Dkk159.

Shark House Deli
This small, lively deli is perfect for anyone looking for a tasty and quick lunch in the trendy Nørrebro area of Copenhagen. The Italian and French deli food on offer (mainly sandwiches, salads, houmous and soup) is among the cheapest in the city and great value for its high quality. Most people grab something ’to go’, but there are tables in summer for a more leisurely meal.

Blågårdsgade 3
Tel: 3535 5135.
E-mail: sharkhouse@mail.dk
Price: Dkk100. Unlicensed.


Personal Recommendations

Café Victor
A small L-shaped bistro situated on the corner of Ny Østergade and Hovedvagtsgade, Café Victor is proving popular with celebrities. Divided into a bar-café and a restaurant, it combines excellent Danish food with fast and friendly service. The menu features herring in various guises, good salads and familiar dishes with pork, steak and fish. Fresh oysters are served daily. This is an excellent, chatty place for a quick lunch, while the restaurant merits a longer stay for a relaxing dinner.

Ny Østergade 8
Tel: 3313 3613. Fax: 3313 4134.
Website: www.cafevictor.dk
Price: Dkk100-180 (café); Dkk450 (restaurant). Wine: From Dkk200.

Cascabel Madhus
Vegetarian heaven is the best way to describe this popular, good-value restaurant. Cascabel Madhus is located off the main tourist trail but is still close to the city center and, as it does not feature in many guidebooks, it is a good place to eat like the locals do in unfussy surroundings. The eat-in or take-away menu revolves around vegetarian curries and rice dishes, but also includes orange pepper and goat’s cheese quiche, chick pea, pepper and basil ’meatballs’ (frikadeller), and mushrooms with pumpkin seeds, as well as three-choice combination dishes. Excellent value for money. Closed weekends. No dinner.

Store Kongensgade 80-82
Tel: 3393 7797. Fax: 3393 7786.
Website: www.cascabel.dk
Price: Dkk160. Wine: Dkk140.

Il Ristorante
One of the best Italian restaurants in the city, offering a traditional repertoire of classic Italian pasta and dessert dishes, as well as some tasty more imaginative concoctions. The fillet of lamb in a red wine sauce, the duck in an orange sauce and the tournedos in a light mustard sauce are all rather special. The wine list is modest but well thought out. Subdued lighting and ochre walls adorned with old paintings and pictures make this a smart but relaxed restaurant, an easy place to enjoy an inexpensive meal.

Grønnegade 33
Tel: 3315 1565.
Price: Dkk345. Wine: Dkk180.

Restaurant Ida Davidsen
Proving that there is no such thing as ’just a sandwich’, Ida takes the Danish smørrebrød tradition to new heights. Her 200-plus creations include such delightful toppings as smoked salmon, beef tartar and caviar. This is a real Copenhagen institution, with walls bedecked with old family photos. Diners should remember, however, that Restaurant Ida Davidsen is a lunch venue only and it closes at 1700 (the kitchen at 1600). Closed weekends.

Store Kongensgade 70
Tel: 3391 3655. Fax: 3311 3655.
E-mail: ida.davidsen@cirque.dk
Website: www.idadavidsen.dk
Price: Dkk85-185. Unlicensed.

Wallmans
In the Autumn of 2004, a completely new nightspot opened in Copenhagen’s former circus building, not far from the City Hall Square. Wallmans offers a spectacular dinner show. About 1,000 guests can enjoy a four-course dinner while being served and entertained by Wallmans’ professional artists on seven stages beneath the circus building’s dome. After the show, the interior is transformed into a gigantic nightclub for dancing.

Cirkusbygningen, Jernbanegade 8
Tel: 3316 3700. Fax: 3316 3706.
Website: www.wallmans.dk
Open: Wed-Sat (Nov-Dec: Tue-Sat)
Price: From Dkk500 (Dkk650 at weekends) for a four-course dinner with show.

1.th
This restaurant is something of a local secret and is set to remain that way unless it changes its booking policy. Diners have to book weeks in advance and then receive an ’invitation’ to come around for dinner at 1900 in this homely yet impeccably stylish second-floor venue. The set menus take diners on a unique culinary journey, lasting the entire evening, through many different cuisines and styles of cooking, although primarily Modern Danish with a classical basis. Owner Mette Martinussen’s favorite dish is rumoured to be sausages and these do often feature on the menu. There is only space for 16 or so diners, the nine-course dinner has to be paid for in advance (fixed price) and the restaurant is open only from Wednesday until Saturday.

Herluf Trollesgade 9
Tel: 3393 5770. Fax: 3393 6769.
E-mail: 1th@1th.dk
Website: www.1th.dk
Price: Dkk1,100 (including wine).



Nightlife:

Nightlife in Copenhagen changes fast and starts late, things rarely get going on Friday and Saturday night until after midnight. The city has an ever-changing range of clubs, restaurants and bars catering to all tastes - from pop to cutting-edge dance music or world-class jazz or pop. The city also has a surprise up its sleeve in the form of several popular DJ/bar/restaurant ’hybrids’ that change mood and function over the course of an evening. There is no one defined nightlife area, although both Nyhavn and Boltens Gaard are popular.

There are late licensing hours in Copenhagen with cafés typically open until 0100 or 0200, bars close between 0200 and 0500 and clubs close around 0500. The minimum age for drinking is 18 years. A beer costs Dkk25-50, while a gin and tonic averages around Dkk50. In general, the dress code for most places is not strict.

Copenhagen This Week (website: www.ctw.dk) and the Wonderful Copenhagen tourist information website (www.visitcopenhagen.dk) both provide further nightlife information.

Bars: A wide range of nightlife venues defy conventional categorization, such as Ultimo, Hovedvagtsgade 8, Café Ketchup, Pilestræde 19, BarStarten, Kapelvej 1, and the trendy Zoo Bar, Kronprinsensgade 7. In the daytime, they may function as cafés or restaurants but, in the evening, they become restaurants and/or bars, DJs will appear and suddenly everybody will be on the dancefloor. Stereo Bar, Linnésgade 16a, Israels Plads, is a much-loved pre-club joint, with funky 70s decor and an eclectic music policy from easy listening to drum’n’bass. Rather more underground is Stengade 30, Stengade 18, in Nørrebro, which blends the best of Danish and overseas rock and dance acts. The Dubliner, Amagertorv 5, Strøget, is a genuine Irish restaurant and music pub with nightly live Irish folk/rock music, Irish barmen and a very friendly atmosphere. Café Victor (see Restaurants) also has a friendly bar area, which is popular with visiting celebrities.

Casinos: Casino Copenhagen, Amager Boulevard 70 (website: www.casinocopenhagen.dk), is open daily 1400-0400 for American and French roulette, blackjack and stud poker. A dress code applies and photo ID is required for entrance - entrance is only for those 18 years and older. Admission costs Dkk80 per day.

Clubs: The two top clubs in the city are Rust, Guldbergsgade 8 (website: www.rust.dk) and Vega, Enghavevej 40 (website: www.vega.dk), which are both extremely popular and draw top international DJs and live acts. The Vega complex is housed in a magnificent 1950s trade union building, while Rust is spread over three floors with a cocktail bar, main bar and large dancefloor. Park Diskotek, Østerbrogade 79 (website: www.parkcafe.dk) close to Parken, the national sports stadium, runs a disco ballroom with DJ music in an authentic 1970s atmosphere. The city’s thriving gay scene focuses on Pan Disco, Knabrostræde 3 (website: www.pan-cph.dk), with three floors of lively music, as well as Sebastian, Hyskenstræde 10, and Heaven, Kompagnistræde 18. For pure dance clubs, head for Boltens Gaard and the Zero Nightclub and Lounge, Gothersgade 10B, and Blue Buddha, Gothersgade 8F, which was started as a reaction against the high bar prices in the clubs, offering cheap cocktails and beers. If you’re still going when the sun is up, head to Club Blue Note, Studiestræde 31, which opens at 0500 and serves up techno and house until breakfast.

Live Music: Copenhagen is one of the major European jazz centers with excellent clubs throughout the city and a festival in July (see Cultural Events in Culture). The Copenhagen Jazz House, Niels Hemmingsensgade 10 (tel: 3315 2600; website: www.jazzhouse.dk), is the jazz venue, offering top-quality live music followed by a relaxed funk and soul disco. Vega, Enghavevej 40 (website: www.vega.dk), is an established and prestigious cultural institution and Denmark’s largest regional venue, annually featuring around 250 concerts. The music profile is rock, modern electric, R’n’B, hip hop, metal and pop. Open-air rock and pop concerts are held at the Pavillonen, in Fælledparken, during the summer. The main live music venue in Christiania is Loppen, Bådmandsstræde 43, which has regular rock, jazz and other performances. Seedy but hugely atmospheric is La Fontaine, Kompagnistræde 11, which is open 2000-0600.

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