A Guide to Eating and Drinking in Copenhagen
- Copenhagen Information
- Eating & drinking in Copenhagen
- Night life in Copenhagen
- Getting around in Copenhagen
- Things to do in Copenhagen
- Where to stay in Copenhagen
- Copenhagen street map
The Danes tend to take their food very seriously, and eating out in Copenhagen can be a delightfully drawn-out affair, with the standard of food and the general atmosphere typically excellent.
Copenhagen is home to a staggering 2,000 or so restaurants, cafés and bars, as well as a number of smaller snack bars that are dotted around here and there on street corners. As such, eateries in the Danish capital cater for all possible tastes, cuisines and pockets.
Popular areas to eat out in Copenhagen include the shopping district of Stroget, where there are a number of excellent (and surprisingly cheap) options and, elsewhere in the city, the Latin Quarter which surrounds the old university.
In addition to the usual a la carte menu, or ‘spisekort’, many Copenhagen restaurants offer a special dish of the day (‘dagens ret’) or a fixed daily menu (‘daglig kort’) which is usually the cheapest way of getting a decent meal in a restaurant.
When it comes to food on the go, Copenhagen is famous for its tasty snacks and the city is full of hot dog stands, chicken and fish grills and bakeries. Hot dog stands around the Radhuspladsen offer ‘polser’, steamed or grilled hot dogs with shredded onions and chips.
But nothing epitomizes Danish food more than 'smorrebrod'. Served in cafés across the city, this Danish institution is a sort of cheerfully cheap Danish version of an open-faced sandwich. With countless variations on the theme, it’s impossible to tire of them.
And should you have exhausted the variety of fresh produce at Israel Plads open-air market, the ‘viktualiehandler’ are small food shops that sell a vast array of interesting Danish specialties including smoked fish that work out even cheaper than the smorrebrod.
Café culture is also extremely popular in Denmark; ‘bageris’ or ‘konditeris’ can be found on practically every street in Copenhagen. They offer fresh bread, rolls and, of course, Danish pastries.
When the weather’s good enough, visitors and locals often flock to the café-filled streets of Stroget and those lining the canal, to watch the world go by over a cup of coffee and a cake.
Eating and drinking in Copenhagen is defined by the remarkably warm and friendly atmosphere of the place. And, when faced with the sheer quantity of top cafés and restaurants, visitors are sure to find more than one place to their liking.