Copenhagen Dispatch #2: The Noma Post
Copenhagen Dispatch #2: The Noma Post
The long-awaited review of Noma's Ocean season, plus a recommendations list.
Wrapping up my big trip diary while I’m on my other Eurotrip of the year… more on that coming soon…
This will get cut off on email (lol) so click the title above to see the whole post, which Substack estimates is a 15 minute read (also lol).
And if you just want the big list of recommendations, from dining to art to sightseeing, I made a separate post (that wasn’t sent by email) that you can see here:
Monday 29 April
A morning bike ride to Dyrehaven (literally “deer haven”), a nature preserve just north of Copenhagen with deer meadows and a golf course. It’s an easy 45 minute bike ride out of the city, going along the coastline. My clunky cruiser was slow as hell, but my legs were strong. (It turned out the front tire was really underinflated, which exacerbated my struggles.) It’s hard to photograph how majestic these meadows are, especially when you eventually run into the big pack of deer (they are also hard to photograph).
You Know It’s Not the Same As It Was
For lunch, I went with some more traditional (and much cheaper) than my weekend meals. Harry’s Place is a Copenhagen institution, known for their hot dogs and roast pork sandwich. This being Europe, they offered both miniature (lille) meal-sized portions.
Their hot dog absolutely rules, with a perfectly crispy natural casing, and served with a variety of sauces and relishes. The roast pork sandwich had a super crunchy skin, and a fatty interior.
Then I went home and caught up on some life admin (mostly personal finances) and relaxed. This is a vacation, after all.
Fruits of the Sea
For dinner, Jade, Amy, and I met up with Kristy, Amy’s cousin, who had been spending her days sightseeing and shopping on her own. Craving mussels, we went to Oysters & Grill, a local seafood restaurant that keeps things fresh and simple. Everything was quite good, from the Peruvian scallops to the moules frites, but I’d recommend this restaurant to locals and long-term visitors, not tourists, since none of the seafood preparations are particularly unique. There’s nothing wrong with the restaurant! But you can get the same stuff in Spain at a much lower price. Dinner and a glass of wine was $74 for my share.
Tuesday 30 April
Second to last full day in Copenhagen and feeling the pressure to do more things. Crazy how much this city has to offer, the more you explore. Spent the morning biking around Christianshavn (aka Freetown), the former separatist commune in the heart of the city. I saw the now-dismantled Pusher Street, where people used to openly sell marijuana. (Weed is still illegal in Denmark, as in most of Europe.)
A Day Not to Pho-get
April 30 marks the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, the day that the communists took over Vietnam and pretty much the only reason there’s a large Vietnamese diaspora anywhere. I figured it would be kind of hard to find a Vietnamese restaurant in Copenhagen, but it turns out there's quite a few options, thanks to the roughly 16,000 people of Vietnamese origin who live in Denmark (this is 0.3% of the country’s population).
A Danish acquaintance passed along a list of Vietnamese restaurants, ranging from the typical immigrant hole in the wall to the upscale and refined. I really wanted to go to Bep Viet or Pho Hanoi, the latter’s long lines indicating its place as (apparently) the best Vietnamese restaurant in Copenhagen. But they didn’t open until the late afternoon, as did the other “classic” Viet restaurants, and the remaining two dinners on my trip were already spoken for.
I ended up walking into Hian, a Vietnamese restaurant near the bustling Nørreport train station. It’s a beautifully designed space, with bamboo jutting out of the ceiling and low-fi hip-hop beats playing on the speakers. Our server let us know that the portions were small, as we were meant to order a bunch of different things. And they were indeed small, but it meant we could sample a variety of dishes.
Pretty mixed results overall. There were some rather fantastic plates, such as a crispy shrimp cake or the sunbust egg, deep fried just like my grandma would do it, and the duck curry was delicious. But the beef pho had a disappointing broth that cried for more spices (the meat itself was great).
The Europeanized servings reminded my friend of the Viet restaurants in Berlin. I’d recommend coming here for certain dishes, but skipping things like pho or spring rolls that are usually better in those more lowkey restaurants. Lunch, plus a bottle of beer, cost $40.
I’m On A Boat
The American mind cannot comprehend a society built on mutual trust. We rented an electric motorboat and puttered through Copenhagen’s canals. No waivers to sign, and the “training” consisted of a guy telling us how to steer and then letting us have at it. And they let you drink alcohol while you’re on the boat!!
After some awkward struggles against the current, we took turns piloting the boat and enjoying a pleasant, sunny day. It was a really fun way to see some of Copenhagen’s architectural landmarks, as the canal cuts through the center of town. We brought a bottle of wine, cheese, and crackers. It was a good time. Split four ways, two hours of boat time cost $32, and was absolutely worth it.
Semi Formal Life
Second to last dinner of the trip at Uformel, a sister restaurant to the one-starred Formel B. Every dish was pretty to look at, and based on my notes, I liked nearly everything I ate. Yet I don’t quite remember enjoying the overall experience. Perhaps it was dining fatigue (eating out every meal gets tiring!), or it was a disappointing final savory course, or it was the stuffy service.
But it’s worth a stop if you’re looking for a nice dinner that isn’t much of a splurge — my split of a lighter meal was $75, including a glass of wine.
Highlights:
Hiramasa with smoked cream cheese, charred peas, and chili, with enough finger limes to make it noticeable.
Squid with pickled green tomato, garnished with foamed mussel sauce and XO sauce. Thanks to the squid’s noodle-like texture, this had a creamy, mac and cheese kind of vibe. Really cool and fun.
Fried artichoke with Comté, ramsons, and whey sauce. Love the rosebud presentation here, and basically a deconstructed artichoke dip.
The stuffed chicken wing was the disappointing dish I mentioned; it’s stuffed with morels but you can barely taste the mushroom. My friends found it way too salty as well, but my salt tolerance is very high.
After dinner, we had a nightcap at House of Machines, a nice cocktail bar with a cozy mid-century modern design.
Wednesday 1 May
Quit Playing Games With My Hart
Noshed on some baked goods from the ubiquitous Hart Bageri (cardamom croissant great, pain au choc needed more butter) before embarking on my longest bike ride of my trip: venturing to the suburbs to find Thomas Danbo’s “Forgotten Giants” sculptures. It’s possible to see all six in one day with proper planning, but with limited time and a limited bicycle, I managed to only see three. Still a great reason to bike a bit more than one normally would in Copenhagen, even though biking back into town really really sucked thanks to a nasty headwind.
Big Fish Energy
To pre-game my dinner at Noma, I slid into Kødbyens Fiskebar just as their kitchen was about to close for lunch. I’m grateful that the staff let me get a couple dishes because this is now number one on my list of restaurants to revisit on my next trip to Copenhagen, whenever that will be. Both dishes were creatively and beautifully presented.
There was the garfish, which was raw, thinly sliced, and placed on top of small dots of mayo then showered with a bright combination of gooseberries, flowers, and hazelnut. The pronounced nutty flavor was really nice, and thanks to the mayo, it kinda felt like a sashimi filet-o-fish.
And a super crazy presentation of pike perch… I don’t know how this was prepared but it looked like a fruit roll-up and had a crunchy, celery-like texture. It doesn’t look like fish, but it certainly tastes like it. The mini-meal came with a thick wedge of fluffy potato bread and a quenelle of seaweed butter.
The two dishes cost $53, and a glass of excellent albariño cost $18. A full meal would perhaps be twice as expensive. Ample seating, both inside and outside, makes it a popular mid-afternoon destination for wine or beer.
The Idea of Noma
My last dinner in Copenhagen was the reason for this entire trip: Noma’s “Ocean Season.” I’m fortunate enough for this to be my second visit to Noma — I went last October for “Game & Forest Season” — and I’m not offering a contrarian take on René Rezdepi’s massively influential restaurant. Michelin’s definition of a three-star restaurant is “worth a special journey,” and this certainly is. I try not to think too much about the financial cost: $600-ish depending on the exchange rate, and I spent about $100 on wine. Psychologically, it helps that the reservation was prepaid months in advance.
From the opening sip of tea in Noma’s beautifully decorated greenhouse, to the joyously fun desserts, this is a restaurant that operates as an extremely well-oiled machine. It also feels warm and inviting. The excellent service retains a casual air, even though your water glass stays topped up and the servers quickly notice if you’re left-handed and swap the orientation of your cutlery. If you offhandedly mention to your friend that something seems off with the service, they silently fix it… they’ve got ears everywhere. That famous Maya Angelou quote, about people never forgetting how you made them feel1, certainly applies here. At the end of the four hour experience, we stepped into the warm spring night, feeling better than we had going in.
(On my prior visit to Noma last fall, it turned out that one of the cooks went to high school with someone in my dining party. They hadn’t kept in touch, not even following each other on social media. But ten years later and 3,600 miles away, there was a reunion in miniature. Witnessing that moment is something I’ll never forget.)
I know everyone just wants to see what I ate so here were some of the dishes from the twelve-course dinner.
Langoustine, that was fully de-shelled — even the legs! The plate was rimmed with a plankton-seasoned salt, and came with a sidecar of thick kelp butter broth. (If there’s one single thing Noma could do to improve the eating experience, it’s to offer chopsticks to its diners… far less awkward than using a fork to handle such delicate matter.)
Lift up a rock and a blue mussel opens up, revealing the meat that’s been wrapped in a baked golden beet, and a bit of mussel caramel fixing it to the shell. Deceptively simple tasting.
A sea urchin that was doused in hazelnut cream that neutered that iconic briny, yolky flavor. Was it a good bite? Yes. Did it taste like uni? Not really.
A cod roe “waffle” where the sliced, cured roe graces a crisp cracker described as a poppy-sunflower seed granola, with a wasabi leaf in between. This was terrific! The seeds give an earthy crunch, while the wasabi leaf provides a hint of spice.
Most memorable presentation: this cod head showcase. You don’t eat the dehydrated cod head, but pull out the little spoon and there’s a grilled piece of cod tongue that’s very gelatinous. Paired with it was a tartlette of cod eye, with roast kelp, horseradish, and trout roe. This was another course where they’ve backed off from making the dish particularly challenging. Since it’s surrounded by very yummy trout roe, you can’t taste the eye, nor feel it... I wish I had picked the cod eye out and tried it on its own.
Rounding out the cod head showcase were two confits: one of kokotxa and one of the jaw. The kokotxa, which is a Basque delicacy (it’s basically the underside of the chin), was served in a velvety, luxurious sauce of fig leaf, green garlic, and chive cream. The cod jaw confit was topped with dried tomato and smoked pumpkin and it was so rich and fatty.
The desserts were gorgeous to look at: a frozen hazelnut milk tart with an interesting salty-sweet combo due to a scoop of caviar and a shimmering kelp oil. I wasn’t a fan of the ice cream, but the others at my table loved it. Followed by a whimsical “sweet oyster,” It’s not really an oyster: the “shell” was a frozen ice cream of sorts (which quickly started to melt!) and inside were milk crumbs, aged balsamic, and Japanese quince marmalade. A second salty and sweet dessert!
As you’d guess, “Ocean Season” is focused on seafood. I’m fairly certain it’s pescatarian, or very close to it. While it's very very very very good and beautifully executed... I did think that there were dishes where the natural "sea"-ness of something was muted to have a broader appeal. I’m thinking specifically of the sea urchin and the cod eye.
I understand the choice. Some people really don't like the taste of unadorned sea urchin and were grateful for the transformation. But it’s funny that a restaurant usually parodied for being weird and challenging felt to me like they were playing it safe. What was once transgressive becomes the standard. On the other hand, I’ve done my fair share of fine dining at this point, often at restaurants that were directly inspired by Noma’s New Nordic cuisine… so maybe I’m just used to this stuff. While it was not a particularly challenging meal, it's a very fine one, and I’m glad I got to go one more time. (They claim to be closing a year from now, but that date keeps getting extended. One could call it a perpetual going out of business sale, except nothing’s been marked down.)
It can also vary by season. The “Game & Forest” menu that I ate was a tad more experimental and satisfying. One of my friends has been to all three seasons, and she liked “Vegetable season” the best, even though she does not like to eat vegetables (wrong opinion but whatever). Yet in her mind, that menu had the most creativity. Selling a well-heeled diner on a vegetarian meal is tough, so you have to pull out all the stops to ensure it’s a worthwhile time.
Some quick Noma tips:
It can take some effort to secure a reservation at Noma. Bookings open up for an entire season a few months in advance. Sign up for their newsletter, and wait for an announcement. I didn’t book these reservations myself, as my friend is evidently very good at setting alarms and clicking buttons on the Tock website… But it’s a bit easier to get a table for four (most guests are booking for two). You can also join the waitlist, which apparently is pretty easy to get in if you can flexibly make vacation plans.
I’ve never had the wine pairing as it’s quite expensive, but you can just order by the glass and they’ll usually pour whatever the intended pairing was for the upcoming course. It may be possible to do a half-pairing, but I never asked.
After dinner is over, you’re invited to have a digestif in their lounge. They offer a couple cocktails but I would skip them; they’re made for people who don’t like to drink cocktails. Stick to coffee or tea, and have that post-dinner drink at a proper bar.
But ask nicely and you’ll get a quick tour of the restaurant. The first time I went, the tour was bit more in-depth than usual, since we had a personal connection to one of the cooks2.
The parting gift from the restaurant is a bottle from their consumer-packaged goods brand, Noma Projects. I got a bottle of Mushroom Garum that measured 100 ml, which happens to be the maximum amount allowed for carry-on liquids.
As with every fine dining restaurant, use the bathroom at least once! When I went in the fall, there were pine leaves on the floor, which were culled that morning3, and it was the best-smelling bathroom I’ve ever used.
We followed up our expensive three-star dinner by going to a “bodega” (the Danish term for a dive bar), where we knocked down a pint of beer while inhaling cigarette smoke and a drunk guy in gym shorts played billiards. High and low, indeed.
Thursday 2 May
So Long, Copenhagen
Just enough time before my flight home to get some pastries from the ever-famous Juno the Bakery, which I enjoyed in a nearby park. The much-lauded cardamom bun wasn’t as good as the last time I had it, but I loved the almond croissant, and very much enjoyed the pistachio and rhubarb frangipane.
The post-trip depression was quite strong, having spent a blissful week in a calm and pleasant city. Helping with the comedown were a few souvenirs: 2.5 lbs of Danish cheese from Arla Unikas (the famous gammel knas is indeed terrific, basically a Danish manchego), those mushroom garums from Noma, a bottle of ramson oil, a couple bags of Prolog coffee for some friends, seven cans of beer from To Øl, and three bottles of Spanish vermouth that I can’t get in the US. I considered buying a loaf of bread to take home as well, and wish I had done so, with 2 kg to spare before my bag was considered overweight.
Plane Movies
Spotted on my flight from Copenhagen to New York.
Oppenheimer
Anatomy of a Fall
The Expand4bles
The Beekeeper
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Inception
Wonka
Anyone But You
The Donut King
The Office (TV)
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” lmao
Our guide told us the toughest day of work was cooking the staff meal, a duty that’s rotated among the interns. Making lunch for eighty people, all of whom are food lovers… that’s tough!
Each morning, two staffers are tasked with going to the pine trees that surround the restaurant and snip off the branches, then step on them a bunch to start releasing the oils.