Known as the happiest city in the world due to its shorter workdays, free university tuition, more vacation days. On top of that, Copenhagen is home to some of the best restaurants and bakeries in the world. It’s a beautiful and clean city connected by a number of canals and great to explore by bike. Like the rest of the Nordics, Copenhagen is incredibly expensive. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Nordics for work and Copenhagen is easily my favourite city in the region.
📝 You don’t get much more Danish than Smørrebrød (an open-faced sandwich). These are typically served on rye bread for lunch.
📝 Copenhagen has loads of great cocktail bars. Here are a few to checkout; BIRD, Balderdash, Tata Cocktail Bar, Lidkoeb.
📝 You can’t talk about the beer scene without mentioning Mikeller who now have a number of breweries and bars across the city. The beers are often strong and experimental in flavour. I’m a big fan.
📝 A few good dive bars to visit; Bo-Bi, Floss Bar, Charlie’s Bar, Eiffel Bar, Lord Nelson.
📝 Also if you are travelling by boat I recommend using ferryhopper.com to book your tickets.
1. Hart Bageri
A co-venture between Richard Hart of Tartine bakery in San Francisco and Noma. They add modern twist to Danish classics. The cardamom croissant at Hart Bageri is proof that god exists and he loves us. It’s a little more like kouign-amann than a croissant if you ask me but they seem to call everything ‘croissant’ in Denmark. Everything here is next level to be fair. You used to have to wait in line but they now have multiple locations across the city.
2. Juno the Bakery
The long line is a testament to how good the pastries are here. The cardamom bun (their signature pastry) might be the best I’ve ever had. Great coffee too.
3. Restaurant Schønnemann
A Copenhagen institution since 1877 and known for serving some of the best smorrebrod (Danish open-faced sandwiches) in the city. I tried the place and shrimp tower. Both were incredible. Great service too.
4. Harry’s Place
To me, Hotdog stands are the Danish version of greasy spoons, which is why I love them so much. Harry’s Place has been around since 1965. This is their famous “Børge” sausage, originally made for prisoners at Copenhagen Prison.
5. Gasoline Grill
Gasoline Grill is probably Copenhagen’s favourite burger spot. They now have multiple locations across the city (including the airport) but I recommend going to the original on Landgreven which is inside an old petrol station. They only have outdoor seating so you’ll freeze your arse off in winter. A lot of people say the burger is overrated but it’s always been pretty great whenever I’ve had it.
6. War Pigs
A famous brewery & smokehouse in the Meatpacking District. They use USDA beef so the brisket and beef ribs are on point. The pork spareribs are unreal too with the meat falling off the bone. Like most good things in Copenhagen, it’s expensive (at least for a poor Englishman like me).
7. Tivolihallen
Tivolihallen (est 1791) is another great spot to come for traditional Danish food. I went for a lovely bit of pan-fried flounder with roumalade, roast beef smorrebrod, and aged cheese with quince and rum. Service is great too.
8. Slagter Lund
Slagter Lund is a butchers and sandwich shop located in Torvehallerne market. They’re known for their ribbenstegs (crispy pork belly) sandwich which comes with pickles, mayo and red cabbage in a fresh soft white bun. This is definitely a must-get if you’re spending a weekend in Copenhagen. It’ll be one of the best pork sandwiches you’ve ever had.
9. Restaurant Kronburg
I love an old school Danish restaurant. Restaurant Kronborg are known for their smorrebrod. I went for the pariserbof (a pink burger with accompaniments) and fried plaice and remoulade. Both were great. The restaurant dates back to the early 1800s as a basement for where farmers ate their packed lunches but the building is even older dating back to the 1600s. Obviously I had to start with a house made aquavit too.
10. Surt
Surt is a new pizza spot from Peppe Oliva (ex Bæst). Surt, means ‘sour’ in Danish, in reference to the sourdough pizza they serve here. The pizza base is similar to Baest (what I call Copenhagen style) – a little thinner and lighter than a Neapolitan. The toppings are top notch. I had the Hindsholm with sausage, mozzarella, spring onion, fermented chili, & 33 months Parmigiano Reggiano. The pickled chilli and aged Parmesan created an incredible flavour. I also tried the Shrooms pizza with oyster mushroom, buffalo mozzarella, garlic, cress. It’s not cheap but it is good. Two pizzas set me back 390 DKK (£45).
11. Baest
Widely referred to as the best pizza in the city. The pizza here is Neapolitan style with charcuterie and burrata which is prepared in-house. It’s always super busy so worth booking ahead.
12. Hero Deli
Hero Deli is an American style sub shop. I went for ‘The Hero’ which came with meatball marinara, provolone and pesto as well as ‘The Rasputin’ which came with chicken, vodka sauce, straciatella and Parmesan. Both were incredible. The rest of the menu sounds amazing too.
13. Kebabistan
Copenhagen’s favourite late night shawarma spot serving chicken, lamb, or mixed shawarma with fries. Kebabistan is very popular with the local chef community. I recommend getting mixed shawarma in a Turkish roll and smothering it with their house-made chilli oil.
14. John’s Hotdog Deli
The hotdog king of Copenhagen located outside the front of Copenhagen Central Station. This is the first thing you should be eating when you arrive in town. Hotdogs are the original Danish street food, peddled by push-cart stands across the city back in the day. John used to have a brick & mortar restaurant in Meatpacking District which was a little more experimental for a while too but that appears to have disappeared for now. Go for a classic Danish style hotdog with ketchup, mustard, remoulade, pickles, onions & crispy onions.
15. Chicky Grill Bar
A fifty year old family-run Danish diner in the Meatpacking District – an area now buzzing with restaurants. I went for the Jyllinge burger, served with gravy, soft fried and crispy onions, fried egg, beetroot, pickles and more. There’s something warm and welcoming about the 90s decor, especially on a cold Danish night.
16. Meyers Bageri
Another popular bakery with a couple of locations in the city. Meyers are less experimental than some of the other bakeries on the list but rather focus on doing the classics well.
17. Andersen & Maillard
Another great bakery with plenty of seating inside and out. I went for a brunsviger, a pistachio cream-filled cube croissant and a canele. Everything was great but the brunsviger was the winner for me. It’s basically a cinnamon flavoured Kouign-Aman in a cube shape. Unreal.
18. Lille Bakery
Lile Bakery is out in Refshaleøen (Reffen Street Food Market). A lot of people say this is their favourite bakery but it doesn’t top Hart or Juno for me. I really liked the blomster bun but the sausage roll was overcooked. They only serve filter coffee.
19. Abrikos
What’s special about this sandwich shop is they make everything from scratch. Not just the bread, but even the ham in the cordon bleu was homemade. For the chicken they used two chicken and thigh and panko fried them. Incredibly crispy. So good. The egg sandwich was very good too.
20. Hija de Sanchez
A traditional taqueria in the Meatpacking District from former Noma pastry chef, @sanchezrosio. The Al Pastor tacos are great here. Like a lot of the good taco spots in Mexico & LA they make the tortilla fresh then and there. It makes all difference. If you want more of a sit down meal then checkout
21. Hija de Sanchez Nordhavn
A Mexican restaurant from a former Noma pastry chef. Hija de Sanchez Nordhavn is more of a full sit-down Mexican restaurant. I love the hibiscus flowers with Mole Poblano & queso tacos. The Al Pastor tacos are also very good. Like a lot of the good taco spots in Mexico & LA they make the tortilla fresh then and there. It makes all difference. At Cantina you can also try the chile chocolate for dessert which was part of the $450 menu at Noma Mexico – a sweet ancho chile filled with chocolate mousse.
22 Dandelion Burger
Dandelion Burger is a short walk from the original Gasoline Grill. They only sell two types of burgers here and both are pretty good. The style of burger is pretty similar to Gasoline Grill in terms of the type of bun, style of patty and pinkness of the meat.
23.Andersen Bakery
Another popular bakery worth checking out.
24. Kodbyens Fiskebar
Fresh seafood, oysters & wine in the Meatpacking District. The dishes are beautiful but your bill can add up quite quickly.
25. Slurp
I’m not really a ramen expert but this place was highly recommended to me and I was a big fan of the miso ‘nduja ramen.
26. POPL
The third burger spot on this list. This one is from Rene Redzepi (the bloke behind Noma). It’s a very good burger but it felt very much like a Gasoline Grill copy to me.
James Dimitri 