Hi, we’re off to Copenhagen at the beginning of July for six days and then a one day stop in Stockholm before returning. Both cities are new to us, so some tips would be greatly appreciated.
We have the following reservations in Copenhagen:
Saturday - Balderdash (drinks), Geranium
Sunday - Selma, Ruby (drinks), Kodbyens Fiskebar
Monday - Marchal, Klin Klin
Tuesday - NOMA
Wednesday - Bistro Above Me, Iluka
Thursday - Kong Hans Kaelder
We’ve left lunch plans open on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Friday morning, we fly to Stockholm and have all afternoon and evening before flying out the next day. We’re trying to choose between Lucy’s Flower Shop and Punk Royal for bars, and Aloe or Wedholms Fisk for dinner.
Any suggestions on any of it? Places to get Smørrebrød? Cardamom Buns? Princess Cake?
How are the wine and alcohol prices in either city? Anything we should try to bring back?
If you have time in Stockholm, we had one of our favorite dining experiences at Frantzen. They’ve sinced moved locations, but I would jump to return. If you are looking for something less intense, Mathias Dahlgren has two restaurants - both worth checking out. The Vasa Museum is top notch and for a little kitch, the ABBA museum is really fun and a throwback to the 70s. I don’t think you can visit the museum without singing or humming and dancing.
As for the wines and so on I don’t know if there’s something you need to jump. I found Denmark relatively expensive when it comes to the wines (by European standards) and there are a bottlings here and there that is well priced and available. As for Sweden the monopoly is the only way to buy any alcoholic beverage (except low abv). Look out for the temporary selection, that’s usually where the good and interesting wines shows up. With that said I checked a while ago and there were some Keller wines available if you have a hard time getting their wines! A bit of a hassle perhaps but make sure to first locate where the wines are available. this is the website:
For the dinning out in Stockholm - haven’t been to any of the restaurants you mentioned but Franzen is of course a great suggestion. Not sure about seat availability but worth checking out if you are looking for that type of restaurant.
Some more casual restaurants with interesting and mostly reasonably priced wines are:
Great service, good food and an interesting wine list (I usually go for the veal cheek but everything I have tried have been good). Seeing the Burgundy price madness, bargains to be found (?).
This is a restaurant group with restaurants at the same location and shared wine list if I recall correctly:
Frantzen wasn’t available for us. I’ll check out Mathias Dahlgren. I’d LOVE to go to the ABBA museum – I’ll try to convince the others in the party to go with me
I found a few good deals on wine at restaurants relative to US retail pricing, but didn’t find the pricing to be as favorable as some areas of Europe.
In terms of things to do, we rented a GoBoat and cruised around the harbor for an hour or two. GoBoat - boat rental - GoBoat Denmark. It was a fun way to see the city – you can bring food and drinks, or stop along the way.
Go to Schoenemann`s in Kopenhagen.
That ist a reference smoerrebröd. There I would recommend a reservation.
And visit the foodmarket there and eat some sushi from a guy who finished third in a sushicompetition in Tokyo, if I recall that right. That is also extra!
Both places are rather really good and not too expensive, at least for what they offer.
I congratulate you for your trip and wish you a super time there.
Going to Copenhagen for the first time the week leading up to Easter. Any good casual places to check out and places that take walk-ins? Or recent favorites? Are most places reservation, typically with a credit card hold?
My family and I are likely going to places such as Høst, Barr (for lunch and beer bar) and possibly No.2 or Marv & Ben. And going for the usual bakeries and lunch at a place such as Selma or Aamanns 1921. Is a popular place like Kødbyens Fiskebar worth the visit? Open to suggestions. Thanks all.
Yes, definitely go to Kødbyens Fiskebar. We had a lot of fun there, which may have been enhanced by sitting next to Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan and their families and sharing some bottles with them, but would have been great anyway.
Dinner at Alouette was very good.
Aamanns 1921 a good lunch spot.
I thought Host was underwhelming and one of the disappointments of our visit.
We enjoyed walking over the Inderhavnsbroen bridge from Nyhavn to visit Hart Bakery on the east side, where I became addicted to their cardamom croissant while looking over the water.
For non-food activities I recommend the Hey Captain ‘Hidden Gems’ boat tour of Copenhagen- 2 hours duration https://www.heycaptain.dk/ and a visit to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which is one of the most enjoyable art museums I have been to. Doors open at 11:00. It is a 45 minute train journey from Copenhagen followed by a 10 minute walk.
Thanks guys for the insight, it is greatly appreciated. Looking forward to checking out the places including Fiskebar. My wife is purchasing passes (5 days) to be able to take transit around the city and get to things outside of Copenhagen (museums, castles?) and I think a city boat tour may be included. I was a hesitant to book places in case we don’t make it back to a certain area in time.
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.
And we spent more than four hours at the Louisiana - one of the world’s great museums!
We loved our time in Copenhagen and want to go back. Fiskebar is a yes, as is a boat tour - worth it. We loved the food market there would have loved to have more time there. Everything on our list was wonderful, but the surprise of the trip was Kiin Kiin. I didn’t have much expectation for a Thai restaurant in Copenhagen, but WOW! There’s a big Thai population there and this place has married the two cultures and cuisines and made it modern and fun, along with absolutely delicious. Everyone in our party was amazed with this place.
We were in CPH June '22 and loved Fiskebar. Great place for lunch, and nice wine list. We also wanted to dip our toes into Sweden, so we took a train over to Malmo for lunch (30m ride), and had a fabulous canteen style lunch out by the docks, at Saltimporten Canteen. A really nice find. Menu changes weekly - check the site. You have a choice of a meat or veggie dish, with delicious homemade sourdough bread, and decent coffee. They also offer one or two wines. $13 or similar for a really great lunch. If you happen to be going over to Malmo or fancy a little excursion, it’s delicious.
Wow! thank you for the responses and detail. This is helpful. We were trying to be flexible since we don’t know yet if some places will be for 3 (or just 2).
I want to check out the beer lists at Barr and BRUS. That will likely be a solo trip.
I’ll check out Mathias Dahlgren. I’d LOVE to go to the ABBA museum – I’ll try to convince the others in the party to go with me 
