As big as winning the handball world cup. This was how one chef described it after noma, René Redzepi's gastronomic homage to Nordic produce was recently crowned best restaurant in the world. You'd have to be Danish to understand why that analogy carries any significance, but there is no doubt that the world's foodie spotlight will now be directed on Copenhagen.
The chances of getting a table at noma these days are about as likely as getting invited to the Queen's Palace for dinner, but this should not deter you from exploring the wealth of restaurants and food shops that Copenhagen has to offer. While the Danish cuisine reflected in the capital's restaurants 20 years ago could be labelled traditional at best and bland at worst, the ugly duckling has turned into a beautiful meaty swan where classic dishes are being reinvented with focus on provenance and produce.
1. Harry's Place and Døp for hotdogs
When the readers of the Danish newspaper Politiken recently voted for their favourite Copenhagen eatery, the award went to a humble hotdog stall. Den Økologiske Pølsemand (the organic hotdog man), or Døp for short, next to the Round Tower in the city centre, serves grilled pork and beef sausages with buns made from slow-fermented sourdough bread and linseed. (You can swap the bread for a potato and parsnip mash, but that really is taking the health concept a bit too far. Plus, it's a decidedly Swedish way of serving hotdogs). If you prefer the more classic variety of hotdog stalls, Harry's Place, on the outskirts of the Nørrebro district, is an absolute gem. It's been in business for more than 50 years and has the endorsement of at least two former prime ministers who were regulars. Its pièce de résistance is a 150g wiener called Børge, allegedly named after a lorry driver who used to consume three of the sausages during his daily visits. The sausage has even inspired a jewellery range of bling-bling miniature hotdogs. Whether you opt for a Børge or its slimline organic sibling, the beverage of choice in a pølsevogn (hotdog stand) is chocolate milk, either served cold or heated on top of the bread toaster.
• A Børge with bread and condiments - including secret "gun powder" sauce – costs 26dkr (£3); an organic hotdog at Døp is 36dkr (£4.18). Den Økologiske Pølsemand, next to Rundetårn in Købmagergade, doep.dk. Harry's Place, Ndr Fasanvej 269
2. Meyer's Deli for your picnic basket
In 2002, the TV chef and author Claus Meyer picked the up-and-coming chef René Redzepi to head a new restaurant focusing solely on Nordic food. Eight years on, that project has been rewarded with the title of best restaurant in the world. In the meantime, Meyer has continued to champion Nordic produce beyond the Michelin-stared tables at his three eponymous delis across Copenhagen. The pick of the bunch is the branch on Gammel Kongevej, where you can sample a tapas-style menu of seasonal Scandinavian specialities, including salted cod with beetroot tartar and scallops with crispy celery. The nearby Frederiksberg Have is the perfect picnic spot so head to the deli section and stock up on crisp bread, red onion relish and glorious apple cider and juice from the island of Lilleø.
• One dish £5.22; four for £17.40. Gammel Kongevej 107, meyersdeli.dk
3. Fiskebaren for the best of the Danish seas
There is a cylinder-shaped tank with jellyfish on display in this modern fish restaurant, but the real showpiece is the Danish seafood on the menu. Oysters from the Limfjorden channel in northern Jutland pack as much punch as the finest fines de claires from Brittany. The main courses salute the unsung heroes of the North Sea, with specimens such as dab and whiting on the menu. Fiskebaren is situated in the trendy Meatpacking district (Vesterbro), so get a late reservation and stick around into the early hours for cocktails and a slice of cool Copenhagen.
• Starters around £9.28; main courses between £15.66-£26.10. Flæsketorvet 100, fiskebaren.dk/da/maden.php
4. Aamanns for open-faced sandwiches
The time-honoured tradition of smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) – buttered slices of rye bread decorated with fish, meats and vegetables – has seen a renaissance in recent years. Aamanns, around the corner from the National Gallery of Denmark, is one of the places to put a modern twist on this Danish classic. The sandwiches are piled high with pork rillettes from the much heralded Grambogård farm, barrel-cured herring from Iceland and chicken salad with poached and crispy salsify. Although two pieces of smørrebrød (which each cost around £5.80) should suffice for a filling lunch, it's a shame to miss out on a slice of the blue cheese kornblomst, which is topped with hazelnut nougatine. Next door is Adam Aammann's fine-dining restaurant, Etabilssementet, which is not quite as idiosyncratic or glamorous as noma, but offers a very interesting perspective on modern Nordic cooking.
• Dinner for two approx £116. Aamanns Smørrebrød and Etabilssementet, Øster Farimagsgade 10, aamanns.dk.
5. Rex Republic for Danish steak
From the outside, you could easily mistake this rustic basement restaurant across from the Freemason's lodge as a quintessential Copenhagen dive bar. But Rex Republic serves up some of the best steaks in the city, championing well-hung Danish breeds rather than the more fashionable Japanese and American varieties. Don't bother with the starters and go straight for the rump and sirloin steaks, which are served with a healthy supply of fried potato wedges, seasonal vegetables and béarnaise sauce.
• Steak with sides: £26. Blegdamsvej 106, Kld, rexrepublic.dk
6. Dyrehaven for cafes and bars
Dyrehaven roughly translates as the Deer Garden, but the place was better known as the Acid Garden in the 1970s when the bar catered for the dodgy characters in Copenhagen's Vesterbro district. Today the area has scrubbed up rather nicely and Dyrehaven has become one of the most popular cafes in this gentrified neighbourhood. The wood panelling around the bar and the nicotine-stained paintings serve as a reminder of times gone by and add to the atmosphere in a place packed with a cool local crowd. The kitchen serves a very decent home-baked wholemeal bread and a small selection of traditional lunch and supper dishes (go for the veal fricassee if it's on the menu). If you get one of the outdoor tables on a sunny afternoon you can enjoy a pint of Danish Hancock lager for the relative bargain price of £3.50.
• Lunch dishes around £7; dinner plates start from £8.70. Sdr Boulevard 72, dyrehavenkbh.dk
7. Lagkagehuset and Sankt Peders for pastry
One of the most popular types of Danish pastry is the snegl (snail), which is a spiral cake packed full of cinnamon and butter, and topped with icing sugar. On Wednesday mornings people flock from all over Copenhagen to Skt Peders bakery for its celebrated onsdagssnegl (£1.50), named after said weekday. On any other given day of the week, the direktørsnegl (director's snail) from Lagkagehuset is about as good as it gets, despite its premium price tag (£1.80). Pick up a couple of snegle from its branch in Christianshavn and walk up the road to the free city of Christiana, where there are plenty of green breakfast spots along the old ramparts by the canal.
• Skt. Peders Bageri, Sankt Peders Stræde 29, onsdagssnegle.dk. Lagkagehuset, various branches across Copenhagen, lagkagehuset.dk
8. Bo Bech for bread
This bakery is surely worthy of some sort of Dragon's Den award. While Bo Bech's Michelin-starred restaurant Paustian explores every nook and cranny of the gastronomic landscape, his bakery in the heart of Copenhagen has kept things as simple as possible. The only item on the shelves is a rustic sourdough bread, which at about £2.80 is a steal compared with some of the skyrocketing bread prices in the city. The dough is rested for four days before it is baked in a stone oven, giving it a lovely crispy crumb and an airy moist centre.
• Store Kongensgade 46, bageri.bobech.net
9. Mêlée for a non-Danish restaurant
There is nothing Danish about the Serge Gainsbourg soundtrack, the rugby-themed decorations or the hearty French classics, such as daube and onglet steak, on the menu at Mêlée. However, it would be a crime to leave this intimate 40-seater restaurant out of any top-10 list of Copenhagen eateries. The food is refreshingly honest and the atmosphere is homely and relaxed. The menu changes monthly but look out for the scrumptious veal and lamb stews served in small pots at the table. On my last two visits, the soups (white cabbage and salted foie gras; celery crème and chorizo) have been a revelation for someone who normally shuns that variety of starter.
• Three courses: £35. Martensens Allé 16, 1828 Frederiksberg, melee.dk
10. Herman at Nimb for when you can't get that noma booking
Having already secured his first Michelin star, Thomas Herman is giving noma a run for its money at his restaurant in the Nimb gastro complex on the edges of the Tivoli gardens. He doesn't adhere to the same Dogme-style restrictions when it comes to produce, but references a lot of classic Danish dishes in his explorative menu. Here the lunchbox classic leverpostej (liver pate) gets a glamorous foie gras makeover. Nimb also houses a ground-floor brasserie overlooking the amusement park, so you can watch daredevils doing gravity-defining spins while you are munching on pickled herring.
• The full treatment at Herman, including tasting menu with wine pairings and all that jazz, costs £230; lunch courses in the brasserie start from £8.70. Bernstorffsgade 5, htivoli.dk/nimb/
