Uncover Copenhagen's best New Nordic restaurants (beyond Noma)

From Vækst to Gro Spiseri, these six outstanding restaurants offer a Nordic dining experience that stands out from the crowd.

A visit to Copenhagen wouldn't be complete without getting a taste of its thriving food scene. Scandinavia's culinary capital is home to 14 Michelin-starred restaurants, among them gastronomic titans like world-famous Noma and theatrical wonder The Alchemist – and it's almost impossible to mention the local cuisine without uttering "New Nordic" in the same breath.

This is all the more astonishing given that only two decades ago, Denmark was better known for pork meatballs and curried herring. That all changed when the New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto was drawn up in 2004, championing modern cooking that's rooted in local, seasonal and organic ingredients – an ethos that countless Scandinavian kitchens have embraced ever since.

Among the dozen chefs who signed the manifesto, none have been more influential than Noma's Rene Redzepi, and on 23 November, his illustrious restaurant Noma marks its 20th anniversary. However next year (2024) will also be Noma's last ­– at least as we know it – before service finally closes.

Fear not, there are still plenty of places to sample New Nordic cuisine. Here are our recommendations for outstanding restaurants, each putting their own unique stamp on this quintessential Copenhagen experience.

1. Best for award-winning gastronomy: Kadeau

Boasting two Michelin stars, Kadeau ranks among Scandinavia's most acclaimed New Nordic restaurants, (and has a price to match: DKK 3200/£375 per person). Here, diners are taken on a gastronomic journey to Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. Not only are ingredients sourced from here, it's where the trio of co-founders grew up.

Entering a dark-grey doorway on a cobbled street in Christianshavn, diners pass shelves of jarred preserves and the busy open kitchen. The modern dining room seats just 25-30 diners and is the epitome of Danish hygge: a beautifully understated and thoughtfully designed space in wood and earthy tones. 

Remarkably, executive chef and cofounder Nicolai Nørregaard didn't have formal culinary training. His exceptional 16-course tasting menu is a feast for the mouth and eyes, meticulously crafted from Danish meats and Nordic seafood, and where locally grown vegetables and foraged herbs, berries and flowers take centre stage. A signature dish – the cold- then warm-smoked salmon, prepared over embers – is an ode to Bornholm's fish-smoking tradition.

The summer menu is a celebration of fresh vegetables, while winter dishes lean on the 8-10 tonnes of dried, pickled and fermented ingredients foraged on Bornholm in earlier months, like tangy preserved tomatoes with aromatic elderflower and coriander seeds or charred squid with garden pickles.

Kadeau came to Copenhagen in 2012 after the success of its Bornholm-based sister restaurant, which opened four years earlier. That's now summertime-only and also has a Michelin-star.

Website: https://kadeau.dk/

Address:  Wildersgade 10B, 1408 Copenhagen

Phone number: +45 33252223

Instagram: @restaurantkadeau

2. Best for cost-conscious dining: Restaurant Mes

Restaurant Mes offers gourmet food without a luxury price tag and it's a recipe that means the place is often full, even for lunch.

It's one of three Copenhagen eateries, including sibling Meille and newcomer Mist, owned by chef Mads Rye Magnusson, an experienced restauranteur and alumni of three Michelin-starred Geranium. "Mes" itself is play on Mads' name, which was often mispronounced when he worked in kitchens overseas.

Mes first opened in 2017 and relocated to a busy corner in lively Vesterbro early last year. A welcoming ambiance greets guests inside, thanks to the friendly service and warm Scandi decor of sleek wood, bare concrete and brown leather furnishings.

Here, New Nordic cooking comes with a touch of French flair. Meals begin with optional bite-size snacks, like a creme fraiche and daikon-filled shiso leaf, or fried squid daintily served in an oyster shell. Contemporary twists on traditional fare include a pearl barley porridge loaded with porcini, truffle and apple, or tender morsels of veal paired with celeriac puree; while indulgent desserts include a raspberry sorbet with white chocolate and tonka bean.  

For lunch there's a three-course set menu (DKK 290/£34), while in the evening it's five-courses (DKK 450/£53) or à la carte.

Website: https://restaurantmes.dk/en/

Address: Vesterbrogade 55, 1620 Copenhagen V

Phone number: +45 31762245

Instagram: @restaurant_mes

3. Best for last-minute reservations: Vækst

There's greenery in every corner at this city eatery. Plants fill the shelves and strings of lightbulbs crisscross the ceiling, giving the feeling of an outdoor garden. The centrepiece is an Instagram-worthy greenhouse full of hanging pots.

In fact, Vækst means "growth" in Danish, alluding to the kitchen's New Nordic approach and use of seasonal ingredients.

Steered by chef Casper Hansen, the mostly fish- and vegetable-based menu changes every couple of months. You'll find prettily plated rustic dishes like a fluffy cod and mussel soufflé with savoy cabbage, and fried cod dressed with roe and paired with burnt leek. Between courses there are surprise snacks, like a creamy artichoke broth topped with crisps, while sweet finales – such as apple sorbet with a subtle hint of jasmine tea – are hard to resist.

Located in Copenhagen's historic and buzzy Latin Quarter, Vækst opened in 2016. It's the less-pricey younger sister of popular restaurant Høst (meaning "harvest"), which offers a more refined New Nordic dining experience and has won several design awards for its equally gorgeous interior, but is often fully booked.

Both belong to Cofoco, the Copenhagen Food Collective, which focuses on affordable dining and has grown into a mini food empire, with 16 restaurants ranging from Greek to Japanese cuisine. The group also owns its own solar park, allowing it to provide clean energy for all its restaurants.

Website: https://cofoco.dk/en/vaekst/

Address: Sankt Peders Stræde 34, 1453 Copenhagen

Phone number: +45 38412727

Instagram: @cofocodk

4. Best for seafood lovers: Kødbyens Fiskebar

Under a big blue sign reading "Beef and Pork Hall", this stalwart of the city's food scene is housed in a former wholesale butcher shop. Yet, the menu here is all about fresh seafood, caught in Nordic waters.

When it opened in 2009, Kødbyens Fiskebar was the first new restaurant in the city's meat-packing district, formerly a seedy and rundown area now home to a vibrant arts and nightlife hub. Inside, white-tiled walls and concrete floors give off a raw and industrial aesthetic, but the atmosphere is relaxed and unpretentious.

Co-founded by Anders Selmer, a former Noma restaurant manager and sommelier, and with British chef Jamie Lee at the helm, it's a Michelin Bib Gourmand winner for reasonably priced, quality food.

The well-rounded menu begins with oysters, then cold and hot starters, followed by heartier mains like halibut, cod and whole turbot for the table to share. However, it's best to sample a few smaller dishes. Pretty as a picture, the mouth-watering brill crudo is elegantly garnished with herbs and edible flowers, while the Danish Limfjorden mussels, doused in creamy apple and cider, are delicious mopped up with the home-baked sourdough.

Guests will feel just as at home ordering fish and chips with a beer though, and in summer the outside deckchairs are a popular spot for wine and a nibble while soaking in the late evening sun.

Website: https://fiskebaren.dk/

Address:  Flæsketorvet 100, 1711 Copenhagen V

Phone number: +45 32155656

Instagram: @Fiskebaren

5. Best for getting close to nature: Gro Spiseri

The rooftop of a former car auction house must be one of Copenhagen's most unlikely dining destinations and is a veritable green oasis.

This hidden gem is home to the community-run farm ØsterGRO – and set among the vegetables and flowers, is the unique Nordic restaurant Gro Spiseri. Here, in an intimate greenhouse dining space, 25 guests sit elbow to elbow around a communal table and feast on a several-course dinner served family style. More akin to a supper club, the atmosphere is laid-back and convivial, making for an easy icebreaker, even for those introverted Danes.

The small kitchen team prepare a menu based on the seasonal ingredients from local suppliers. Take for instance a potato salad made with seaweed and lumpfish roe; or the mushrooms, marinated celeriac and mussels teeming with complex layers of flavour. 

Open year-round, the restaurant has two dinner sittings each evening (set menu DKK 560/£65). There's also weekend breakfast and lunch. It's best though on a warm evening when the garden is in full bloom, and you enjoy sipping a glass of wine while exploring the vegetable patch, hen coop and beehives.

Website: https://www.grospiseri.dk/

Address:  Æbeløgade 4, 2100 Copenhagen Ø

Phone number: +45 31729969

Instagram: @grospiseri

6. Best for New Nordic with a Japanese twist: Studio

Rising star Chef Christoffer Sørensen is considered a talent to watch. The 32-year-old has already won Michelin guide's "Young Chef Award" and after nine years in the kitchen of celebrated dining destination Dragholm Castle, he's now helming Studio, where he's drawing praise from Copenhagen's toughest restaurant critics.

A year ago, Studio relocated to the site of a historic brewery in Copenhagen's newest neighbourhood, Carlbergs Byen, where modern apartment blocks rub shoulders with 19th-Century heritage buildings.

In Studio's intimate-but-chic dining space, giant wave artwork sweeps across the wall, and its open-sided kitchen crafts a New Nordic tasting menu (DKK 1800/£210) for just 40 guests.

Diners are treated to innovative Nordic dishes, mostly focused on shellfish and vegetables, that also draw inspiration from Japan, such as squid paired with roasted chicken skin and fermented cucumber. Even the humble potato is magically transformed into a string of creative appetisers. Recent accolades include "dessert of the year" for Sørensen's take on a classic Danish porridge prepared from leftover bread.

Studio is part of the LOCA Group, headed by duo Merete Holst and Dorte Juhl Østergaard, which has drawn up its own manifesto committing to sustainable practices. That's something that Studio takes to heart, with its focus on seasonal Danish produce and chefs' uniforms made from recycled tablecloths.

Website: https://studiocph.dk/en

Address: Paulas Passage 5, Ottilia Jacobsens Plads, 1799 CopenhagenV

Phone number:  +45 28797060

Instagram: @studiocph

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