Best restaurants to eat at in Copenhagen

We spent the Easter weekend in Copenhagen and I was blown away by the quantity of amazing restaurants in the city and the quality of the food. Copenhagen is of course home to Noma, which has been named Best Restaurant in the World four times, so perhaps it’s not that surprising then!

We did some research on where to eat, as well as asking friends who’d been to Copenhagen where they’d recommend. We ate out seven times and did not have one dud meal, which I think is pretty impressive!

Here are the best restaurants in Copenhagen I’d recommend.

Osteria 16

We were recommended Osteria 16 by one of my husband’s colleagues and we booked it for dinner on our first night. It’s a small, unassuming Italian restaurant in the Vesterbro area of the city. They serve an eight course set menu for around DK 265 per person and the food is served in a sharing style.

The menu is seasonal so the dishes change according to what’s available and they also import products from Italy. The radicchio salad, pictured, was amazing! Honestly, I don’t even like radicchio very much but this I could’ve eaten all day.

A couple of the dishes were quite old fashioned – such as Parma Ham with melon – however, the quality of the food was very good. The pasta dish was definitely the star of the show and got the seal of approval from my Italian husband. We really enjoyed our meal at Osteria 16. The service was friendly and efficient, the Prosecco was perfectly chilled and the food was delicious.

Galionen

We were wandering around Christianshavn and Nyhavn and the next thing we knew it was lunch time. Nyhavn is very touristy and it was a beautiful day so every restaurant was packed outside. We walked around and soon noticed that basically every restaurant had pretty much the same menu so we settled on Galionen, which had indoor seating by a window so we could admire the view.

I opted for a traditional dish, Stjerneskud, which is an open-face sandwich with steamed and fried Plaice, topped with shrimps and asparagus. It was really yummy! My husband had the fillet of Sole with potatoes and salad, which he really enjoyed.

Lunch in Nyhavn is very enjoyable, even if rather touristy!

Cafe Victor

Cafe Victor was another suggested restaurant so we booked dinner here on the Friday night. The restaurant is divided into two areas – a lively bar and then the restaurant. It was opened in 1981 as a French/Italian inspired brasserie and is popular amongst locals.

We loved the decor and the low lighting, but we weren’t too keen on how close the tables were together. We prefer a bit more space when we’re dining so that we don’t feel like we’re right on top of the next table. Luckily for us, although the table next to us was about 3 cms from ours, it remained empty.

The food was really good and the steak was excellent – cooked perfectly and well seasoned.

The service was a bit hit and miss – we had to ask for the dessert menu three times, for example. Having said that, they did acknowledge it when they brought us the bill. Despite the close tables and the erratic service, the food was great and we did enjoy our meal.

Radio

This was hands down my favourite meal in Copenhagen. Situated in Kobenhavn, in front of the old Radio House at Forum Copenhagen, Radio is a modern restaurant which changes its menu monthly, according to what’s in season.

It works on a set menu basis of 3 or 5 courses and we settled for the 5! In April the menu consisted of a salad of cerviched fish (sea bream if I remember correctly as I forgot to take a photo of the menu!) with lots of herbs, baked celeriac, pork with a chicken broth, three Danish cheeses with Rye bread and a rhubarb dessert.

I enjoyed every single course but my favourites were definitely the pork and the rhubarb dessert, which was so pretty too. I also have to give a shout out to the amazing fresh bread they served with the meal. Absolutely delicious.

The food was exceptional, service was friendly and attentive and I would 100% return. It’s no wonder it’s been Michelin recommended since 2015.

Formel B

With 17 Michelin starred restaurants in Copenhagen, we had to try at least one. We chose Formel B, which has one Michelin star, for dinner on the Saturday night. It’s situated in Frederiksberg, which is a fashionable part of Copenhagen and an independent municipality.

For his first course, my husband chose the chef’s signature dish of langoustine, carrot puree and vegetables. It might not look like much but it was phenomenal!

For my main, I chose the Danish lamb with green olives, rosti, lovage and a pine and pepper sauce. It was beautifully presented and the lamb was perfectly cooked.

Although it has a Michelin star and is fine dining, Formel B is not stuffy or pretentious. The food was innovative, service was excellent and the restaurant had a lovely ambience.

Llama

Llama is a fun, Latin America restaurant aptly situated in the Latin Quarter of Copenhagen. The menu features dishes inspired by Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico yet uses Scandinavian produce.

The lighting is quite dark so not ideal for taking photos! My two favourite dishes were the crispy soft shell crab tacos with lime mayo and the grilled ribeye steak with tomato salsa.

The food was delicious, although service was slow at times and not particularly attentive. I’d recommend ordering around 2 to 3 dishes each as the menu is designed for sharing.

Hidden Dimsum

Probably a bit of an unusual choice when in Copenhagen surrounded by excellent Danish restaurants showcasing the best of Danish cuisine but we do love dim sum and felt like having some on Easter Sunday. We had passed Hidden Dimsum whilst walking about the day before and liked what we saw so off we went on the Sunday for lunch.

Given it’s a Chinese restaurant I wasn’t expecting the decor to be so Scandinavian! I loved the simplicity of it and the little decorative touches, such as the stacked bamboo steamers and the colourful tea tins.

The menu is fairly large and it took us a while to look through it. We settled on some Siu Mai, Cha Siu Bao, Gaozi and BBQ pork Cheung Feng, all of which were delicious. My favourite was the Cha Siu Bao, pictured, and it was the best I’d ever tasted! The Cheung Feng was new to us and we loved the taste but weren’t too keen on the texture. Plus, it was really hard to pick up!

We also ordered the roasted duck with the chef’s prized marinated soy sauce. OH BOY was it good!! It was served with steamed rice. It’s definitely up there with the best duck I’ve ever tasted.

The food at Hidden Dimsum was exceptional and we’d definitely return the next time we’re in Copenhagen.

Bonus

So this is not a restaurant but definitely deserves a mention. When in Nyhavn, you simply must visit Rajissimo 3 for churros with chocolate and hazlenut sauce and soft serve ice-cream. So indulgent! We loved it so much we went back another day and had it again.

Copenhagen is certainly a destination for food lovers!