Just spent a long weekend in lovely Copenhagen with my daughter where we ate very well. No Michelin stars on this trip, but we did splurge for one sushi extravaganza. We found the prices surprisingly reasonable- particularly compared to NYC. The wine lists are phenomenal- and the markups fair. If you like grower champagne, you’ll find plenty of names to explore.
We had wonderful smorrebrod at two places - Møntergade which seemed to attract a well-heeled Danish crowd who were still arriving for late lunches (w/ lots pf Aquavit) at 3pm on Friday and Schønnemann, more touristy but just as delicious.
Our omakase dinner at Sushi Anaba was very special. They have two seatings a night at their semicircular sushi bar which seats only eight people. The food was wonderful even though the chef/owner was not there because his wife was in labor. The intimate setting is very conducive to friendly interaction with your fellow diners, if you are so inclined. The three hour meal included caviar, sea urchin, monkfish liver, snow crab, lobster, shrimp, tuna, and was about $275 per person, a veritable bargain. We drank a superb zero dosage Champagne from Miniere F&R that cost about $140,
The sleeper dinner was at a small wine bar/restaurant called No 30. The food was superb - we had the celeriac with cod roe and brown butter, cuvette of pork with leeks, potato with caviar and chicken jus, and the special of ballotine of halibut and cod. The sauces were deep and complex, the portions generous, and the prices very fair. Almost forgot the delicious and revitalizing lemon curd and grapefruit granita we had for dessert. The service was friendly, efficient, and very knowledgeable about the amazing wine list; we put ourselves in their capable hands and they didn’t steer us wrong. This is not a formal restaurant, but it punches well above its weight. As an example, each dish was served sequentially and the waiter asked us if we were ready for the next, rather than plopping it in front of us. The vibe was similar to Claud or Estela in NYC, but the noise level was more forgiving.
Thx for that report. Looking forward to many a smørrebrød
I’m currently collecting Købnhavn info for a trip in May. No Michelin star places planned at all, but your comment on a meal that was $275 / person has me reevaluate what one might consider a bargain in Købnhavn. Most I ever spent was $250 a head at wd-50 many moons ago.
The small wine bar/restaurant sounds more down my alley. I am guessing alcohol in general will be a sticker shock, tho
Don’t know what your frame of reference is, but mine is unfortunately skewed by living in NYC, where restaurant prices - and particularly omakase - have soared. As an example, the current prices for a NYT 3* and 4* reviewed omakase meal at Nakaji ($500 incl tax and 20% tip) and Yoshino ($650 incl tax and 20% tip) do make Anaba’s $275 seem relatively reasonable - albeit expensive in absolute terms. I will admit that I have not eaten omakase at such high-end places in NYC recently because the prices seem obscene to me, but find it hard to believe that the food and overall experience is that much better than Anaba was…
My excellent house draft beer at Schønnemann was about $10 - believe it or not, that’s on the low end these days for a good quality NYC restaurant. Crazy, I know! And the wine markups were 1.5 to 2 times generally in Copenhagen, which qualifies as a near bargain here.
I don’t live in NYC, but visit whenever I can. Those places are simply off my radar, TBH.
We found beer to be pretty expensive in Oslo as well - all of Scandinavia, AFAIK. I don’t usually buy booze at the duty free, but I brought a bottle of gin to Oslo
1.5/2x markup for wine ain’t bad for anywhere. Might just stick to that
Thank you for this! I’ll be going to Copenhagen in late June for World Coffee Fest Europe and then staying on a few extra days. I’ve already started making lists of potential spots and Schønnemann is on them, so good to know that it’s worth going to.
@linguafood I guess you’ve never been to Iceland. Compared with Iceland, the alcohol prices in Denmark are a bargain. Do like the locals…buy beer/wine at the grocery store (it is no more expensive than in the States) and tote it to the harbor or to the canals along with some bread/cheese/snacks and have a leisurely picnic. In May, it may be too cold to take dip in the harbor (which is famously clean) whilst you are picnicking. Locals do this all summer long (and we joined in the fun). No need to even “brown-bag” it because there is no law against open containers. If you luck out with the weather, you will feel as if you’ve discovered utopia. We didn’t find alcohol prices to be exorbitant in restaurants, either.
I’ve only ever passed through Reykjavik airport, but nonetheless found beer and liquor prices in Oslo painfully high. I know alcohol in general is expensive in most of Scandinavia, which explains the hordes of Scandinavian teens passing out on Greek beaches midday bc they were overindulging.
That said, we’re not as broke as we were back then (17 years ago), and we certainly aren’t alcoholics, so I am confident we’ll be able to afford a bottle of wine or cocktail here and there. It’s just three days.
Public alcohol consumption isn’t a utopia or new idea to me, having grown up in Germany. Peeps drink beer on public transportation, in parks, etc. all the time, especially when the weather is nice.
I’ve only ever encountered ‘open container’ laws in this country.
Oh yeah, I don’t mean it’s utopic simply because you’re drinking outdoors. But I’m referring to the intersection of sun, ocean, being surrounded by people enjoying each other’s company and actually talking with one another, with drinks and snacks to boot. There are kids running around. It’s the summertime version of hygge. B and I found it absolutely beguiling.
When I worked for a time at the Carlsberg Laboratory back in the 90’s I always cut through Fredriksberg Haven on the way to the lab because of the nude sunbathers at 8:30 AM. That’s pretty “utopic”.
When I’ve run into North Americans at the Icelandic public pools, it’s hilarious how the women try to cover up in the locker room/showers. The locals can barely hide their contempt for the foreigners.
We stayed at Villa Copenhagen - which was very comfortable and extremely convenient for Central Station and Metro, but it was in the $200-$300 range. Comb through TripAdvisor!
