I am looking for cafes or restaurants that are more Scandinavian than cutting edge. But any old classics, Scandinavian or not, would be welcome! I was going to go to Bergen or Stavanger as well, but the weather is looking fairly bleak right now. I wanted to do a boat tour of a fjord or two, but if the visibility is nil that would be kind of pointless.
One of my much loved Aunts used to make us Norwegian pickled herring, so any places, cafes, grocery chains that sell good pickled herring would be doubly welcome! Lefse recommendations, too, but no lutefisk, please! LOL!
2 Likes
I am sad there are no responses yet; weâre heading to Denmark for the first time mid-August. We are decidedly not Noma types. This trip will skew towards places like the restaurant at Legoland in Billund.
I kidâŚI hope. 
2 Likes
I will be posting my favorites, and less than favorites, so maybe there will be a gem or two in my report next week! Some destinations in Europe are not as well traveled by HOâers. Now if I was traveling to Rome, Paris, Great Snoring or Madrid the chances of getting recommendations would be a bit higher. 
3 Likes
CopenhagenâŚGo to tivoli gardens an old amusement park area lots of fun and good food and beer gardens
Hit up the hot dog vans anywhere. The franske dog spelling it wrong Iâm sure is a hollowed out bun with the dog stuffed in. Good for kids and adults.
Lots of good bakeries for weinerbrod ie danishes and smorebrood places (open faces sandwich buffet for ur table depending on what u pick ie smoked fish fried fish shrimps frickadeler stuff like that)
This is the danish national dish I love it itâs not light
https://www.copenhagenet.dk/CPH-Map/CPH-Recipes-Stegt-Flaesk.asp
Picnic in the kings garden - its near ish to city center so lots of takeout spots. You will note the on the spot recycling of your beer and soda bottles
Good ice cream lots of spots Get some with a chocolate covered marshmallow to top it and go on the port area boat ride tour pretty fun. The little mermaid will be a let down but u can pass by it then.
Christiania is a super cool semi autonomous hippie area like a wormhole from Copenhagen check it out itâs fun for all
We donât do the noma type places there. I have family so lots of eating in
Kronborg castle like hamlet is a cool day trip and lots of spots there for casual food.
Denmark the food is very consistent and good.
Check out the salted licorice like the saltefiske or licorits
What are u looking for ? Where r u staying in Copenhagen ?
@claus anything Iâm missing or more specific ?
5 Likes
What cities are you planning to visit in Denmark ?
When you say âmore scandinavian than cutting edgeâ what precisely do you mean ?
Traditional old tavern type of dishes ?
Also - even though Scandinavia might be a small part of the world compared to the rest of the world, I think you will get more answers, if you specifiy what country and cities you will visit.
I personally have little knowledge of what dishes they serve in Sweden, Finland and Norway as a Dane.
I know some of the dishes are quite close to what we have in Denmark, but I canât tell you for sure.
A warning - I personally would avoid all the restaurants in Tivoli and on the main shopping streets of Copenhagen. They are in 95% cases overpriced poor tourist traps.
A great traditional restaurant I can recommend is Sollerod Kro situated 15 km north of Copenhagen.
Itâs not cheap, but they serve high quality traditional danish and french food.
Cheers, Claus from Copenhagen in Denmark
5 Likes
Tivoli - yes but itâs a super fun place so have a beer and check it out after dark when all lit up if you ask me
3 Likes
Of course - Tivoli is super cool, but I never dine there.
Iâve had too many bad experiences there.
3 Likes
I would visit these 4 restaurants if I was looking for traditional danish food in Copenhagen.
Sollerod Kro - 15 km north of Copenhagen, not cheap, but a great 1 star michelin restaurant.
To be fair itâs really old french and old danish cuisine mixed together in a harmony.
Taxi from Copenhagen to Sollerod Kro is about $80 each way, so not that cheap.
You can also take the train from Norreport station in Copenhagen to Holte station (about $10 pr. person each way) and then take a taxi from Holte station to Sollerod Kro (about $35 each way)
Det lille apotek - a very traditional tavern like restaurant in the middle of Copenhagen on a street next to Copenhagen University, no cars allowed on the street so a quiet cosy place, and not that expensive.
If you want traditional danish fish dishes, try Krogs Fish restaurant located on one of the oldest streets of Copenhagen in the center of Copenhagen, very close to the parlament building and to the canals of Copenhagen. The restaurant is mid priced, so not exactly cheap, but not very expensive either.
English version - but it doensât really work that well https://www.krogs.dk/en/frontpage
I forgot one - this is also a great traditional mid priced restaurant in the heart of Copenhagen.
Itâs called Restaurant Schonnemann. I know 2 Pro chefs who has worked there.
This is abolutely brillant old traditional danish dishes served in a cosy restaurant.
Their dishes are more lunch like, but very traditional danish.
They specialise in danish Smorrebrod, and you donât get it much better than here.
https://www.restaurantschonnemann.dk/en/
I promise you, that neither of these 4 restaurants are tourist traps. They are all high quality places.
6 Likes
Thank you, chienrouge! You have given me several ideas that sound very good, from the Franske hot dogs to the smoreboord (sp)! I had been told that the parks are excellent and the praise of Kings Garden chimes with what others have said.
I am staying in Nyhavn at a hotel that is on the canal. Looking for ward to the city views!
Thanks again!
4 Likes
Thank you, Claus! I like casual family places a bit more than Michelin rated cafes so the first one might be a bit more fancy than I generally like. But having looked at the menus for the other three, they are exactly what I like in a cafe! The menus are varied but look like they are really well done. Det Lille Apotek would be worth a visit for the history alone, but the herring with red onion looks similar to one of the versions my Aunt made for us so I will have to go there for that dish! And the fillet of plaice looks very good too! I spent time in Indonesia and many of their signs were in pigeon Bahasa Indonesia/Dutch, so eating in an Apotek should be a hoot.
Krogs I will have to do for lunch to keep the price down but here again the menu looks to have several dishes I want to try starting with the smoked salmon and then the butter fried plaice with lingonberries. I love me some lingonberries!
There are a couple dishes I want to try at Schonnemanns, but oddly enough, the Potato section of the menu intrigues me. Heidiâs Potato Sandwich looks really good. And the cold smoked salmon w spinach and poached egg looks outstanding as wellâŚ
Thank you, Claus! I may not get to all three but I am definitely going to try at least two of these! I only have two days in Copenhagen planned for now, before I start moving north to Oslo, but if the weather doesnât clear up a bit at Bergen or Stavanger, I may stay in Copenhagen an extra day.
Cheers!
4 Likes
I thought exactly the same thing! I love potatoes in nearly any form.
3 Likes
I think the original is in the Netherlands (Amsterdam?), not Denmark, but I canât help but think of Van Gogh when I think of potatoes⌠
But it wonât keep me from enjoying them!
1 Like
OyâŚCopenhagen never makes the news in this fashion.
Our family loves bof et ost in grey friars square behind stroget for lunch. 3 courses reasonably priced . Mostly the traditional
Open faced sandwich. Be aware they must be eaten in a particular order. Fish, meat, then cheese or dessert.
3 Likes
I just had an excellent meal at Det lille Apotek. I couldnât get in the first day so I went back later and was the last table seated. I ordered the fried plaice with new potatoes and a dill sauce plus the âold strong cheeseâ plate. The waitresses were rocked but the service was excellent. This place is the real deal! My fried plaice was prepared just about perfectly and the dill dressing was just right. Plus the new potatoes were prepared well, also.
The old strong cheese plate was interesting, it was like a mild limburger with onions and aspic over rye bread. Just delicious!
I really like this place, I had a very enjoyable meal here.
6 Likes
Tried to go to Schonnemannâs, but they were full with a private party. Rats.
Tried a Franske Dog at Doep, the place that was featured on âFeed Phil!â I tried the regular dog in the funky âfill the holeâ bun with the herb sauce. So so.
Walked around, watched a funky oldster band warm up in Hojbro Plads then hit Krystal for the Danish Meatball Sandwich but they were out of meatballs so I got the tuna and egg on dark rye. Only fair.
I did have a good breakfast of 2 eggs over easy, some blue cheese and a fruit plate at the cafe of the 71 Nyhavn Hotel, so I am not doing TOO badly on the food front today! LOL!
5 Likes
Glad youâre having fun!
Iâm a fan of the crispy onions as a hot dog topping there works better in regular buns. The red hot dogs are good too.
3 Likes
Great to hear you still had a good time in my home city Copenhagen.
Bummer about the fully booked Schonnemann 
The weather unfortunately turned between Saturday and Sunday to a more cooler type weather.
But honestly Iâm glad that it turned as I really dislike hot weather.
3 Likes
oh, and if youâre feeling it, Denmark is known for its bacon and you can get bacon wrapped dogs at some stands too.
donât sleep on the pastries and bakeries there for quick snacks sweet and savory.
have fun
4 Likes
I visited Told og Snaps for lunch today. Simply an excellent meal! I had the pickled herring w onions, capers and egg. Delicious! The herring was not as vinegary as my Auntâs recipe so it wasnât a direct comparison but it did take me back.
Then I had a fish of new potatoes w bacon and a sauce that seemed to based on crème fraiche. Another light and seemingly simple recipe that was a pleasure to eat. I really didnât expect a really good restaurant this close to the touristy Nyhavn strip but it seems to be the real deal.
And I actually kind of like Nyhavn not despite the tourists (who am I to judge?) but because of the mix of locals and tourists. The other thing I like are the mini concerts every evening at Nyhavn and every afternoon (?) at Hojbro Plads. Moody Blues, Polka, Frank Sinatra, Suzanne Vega⌠you never know what music to expect!
The one thing that has shocked me is the price of everything! 280kr/$40US for a light lunch w one Tuborg Classic . $230US before taxes for a moderately nice room at the Admiral, more at 71 Nyhavn. 42kr/$6US for a cappuccino. 100kr/$14US for a 350ml/ 11 ounce bottle of Bacardi. 260kr/$35US for 3 kilos of laundry. folded. 32kr/$4.50 for a 1.25L bottle of still spring water at a grocery store.
Wow! And I thought the Washington DC area was expensive!
And American Spellcheck is not your friend if you are trying to enter Danish names! 
7 Likes
