Narrowing down where to eat in a culinary metropolis can be tough. Sometimes you get lucky with a great food tour that eliminates the guess work for you. Below you will find out your best option when visiting this food paradise. It is with great excitement that I share the tantalizing journey that I took with Foods of Copenhagen.
unique food tour
Foods of Copenhagen offers a wide variety of food tour options to truly immerse yourself in either the traditional or new flavors of Copenhagen. What captured me the most about Foods of Copenhagen, is the constant cultivation of their tours based on the changing food trends in the city.
Birth of the food scene
Twenty years ago the Danish did not have the food scene they are now famous for. The food culture of Copenhagen truly began to grow with the opening of Noma in 2004 and the release of The Nordic Kitchen Manifesto.
The Nordic Kitchen Manifesto is a 10 point agreement by food professionals on how to properly develop a new culture around Nordic food.
denmark’s rising star
Within 2 years of world famous Noma opening its doors, it was ranked as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. It reached the number 1 spot several years since 2008. As Noma’s popularity grew, so did the philosophy and culture of the Denmark food scene. With the release of Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, by René Redzepi in 2010, Copenhagen had become world renowned for their cuisine.
Foods of Copenhagen
More and more people are becoming conscious of the food they eat and where it comes from. This food revolution has created the need for a new breed of food tours.
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Foods of Copenhagen has taken the lead in providing unique food experiences in Copenhagen and continues to dazzle its participants with exceptional tastes. I had the pleasure of joining Lisa on the Copenhagen Delicacy Tour.
I’d like to share what made this tour special and why I recommend Foods of Copenhagen to all my fellow food enthusiasts.
My unique tour experience began at The Church of Our Lady where we learned its rich history. The church was initially constructed in the late 1100’s. It has survived wars, relocation, being burnt down, rebuilt and a number of other experiences throughout the last 900 years. The lesson in Copenhagen’s history was a great introduction to the city. After learning some cool facts, we were ready to dive into the food scene. We made our way to the wonderful bakery, La Glace.
Copenhagen’s favorite bakery
La Glace has been Copenhagen’s favorite bakery since its opening in 1870. In the early years it boasted as being one of the first places in the world to serve ice cream. I had the pleasure of trying several small sweets during our visit. Lisa explained to me that the Danish people stop every day for a coffee and a small sweet treat at 3pm. The small portions, she explained, were never thought of as heavy to the locals who just need a small pick me up in the afternoon.
Small Traditional Pastries
We started our day of delicious indulgence with an Austrian marzipan cake, which was flakey, crunchy and perfectly gooey all at the same time. We moved on to enjoy a delightful traditional apple butter cookie.
The cookie blew me away. The taste and quality of the apple and honey came through in every nibble. Lisa explained that Denmark has a vast variety of apples which are allowed to mature slowly thanks to cool summers.
Next we enjoyed a marzipan cookie which in the past were used as wedding cakes. We also enjoyed a small portion of amazing dark chocolate with a single hazelnut on top. Simply wonderful!
University of Copenhagen
Beyond all the amazing food, learning the history of the city was very interesting. As the group moved on, Lisa brought us to visit one of the University of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings. The University itself dates back to 1479.
Back in those days only Latin was taught. The University’s alumni include many important scientists, such as Inge Lehmann. Inge discovered that the core of the earth was molten through her work. Unfortunately, at the time, the credit was stolen by some of her male peers.
Thankfully the University later recognized her discovery and created a lovely memorial where a statue now stands in her honor.
Strøget, Copenhagen
Our group of foodies continued our walk down the longest walking street in Copenhagen, Strøget. During our stroll we passed by the famous 17th century Round Tower and learned there are no stairs to reach the top, only a long ramp. The ramp has helped create an annual competition, where unicyclists race to the top attempting to beat the best time.
Denmark’s Best Cheeses
We made our way over to a delightful open food market to taste some locally made organic cheeses with a strawberry and rhubarb liquor and a blackberry marmalade. The tasting started with a sister of Gouda cheese, which was reminiscent of Gouda but delicious in its own unique way.
Our second cheese was a goat cheese, which was not soft like most goats cheeses. In fact it was cut into perfect cubes. This was by far my favorite cheese. I am a goat cheese lover and was impressed with this variety. This cheese and its texture were different from anything I had ever tasted.
A crystal cheese was served next, one that tasted very similar to parmesan. It had a buttery creamy flavor and a light crunch. I also tried a piece with their blackberry marmalade, which paired perfectly. Our last cheesy delight was an aged blue cheese, which also tasted great with the blackberry marmalade. The strawberry rhubarb liquor added another layer of indulgence to our palettes.
Danish treats
Our group continued out of the historical center towards the northern gate of the city, Norreport. Soon we found ourselves in the up and coming community of Nørrebro, known for its multi-cultural food and hipster vibe. This was the perfect destination to experience one of Denmark’s traditional bites, Smørrebrød. Smørrebrød are open-faced sandwiches with a variety of toppings.
Michelin recognized
Our next stop was Michelin recognized restaurant known for their variety of Smørrebrød. We had the pleasure of trying two different types that were put together beautifully.
The first was elderflower herring, which consisted of marinated herring, fennel, crème fraîche and bleak roe. It was garnished with edible flowers, sprouts and served on traditional rye bread. This Smørrebrød was almost too beautiful to eat!
My second gorgeous Smørrebrød consisted of chicken salad. However, this was no ordinary chicken salad! This little open face piece of heaven was topped with crunchy bacon, hazlenuts and again decorated with fresh sprigs of greens. The whole table enjoyed every last bite.
Beer with locals
Our tour of Norrebro continued with a local brewery that makes all their beers on site. This particular location is known to be a great place for a fancy bar bite with a selection of beer that can satisfy anyone’s taste. We were served fermented French fries (with mushroom mayo for dipping), a local version of gnocchi and a dazzling summer salad. Our meal included an IPA tasting and a sour beer tasting.
Sour lovers delight
Let me start off my saying the fermented fries were amazing! There was plenty to go around but I’m fairly certain I took out more than my fair share…whoops. The texture of the fries was not like anything I had experienced before. It was perfectly paired with the delicious Summer Water sour beer.
It’s hard to believe but there were two more stops scheduled for our tasting tour. My stomach was quickly reaching its limit so I’m glad we had a chance for another stroll to walk it off.
One of my favorite things about this tour was the walking and pit stops. It gave us all a chance to prepare for the next meal while learning interesting factoids about the city. This stop included a visit to a picturesque cemetery were famous fairy tale author Hans Christian Anderson is buried.
Delicious Vegan eats
As our special day was nearing its conclusion, we stopped for an untraditional version of a hot dog, a vegan dog. We discovered that a vegan hot dog can be extremely tasty when done correctly. I am not vegan, so it’s typically not something I seek out but these vegan dogs were fantastic.
The dogs were made from carrots and topped with marinated onions, cucumber and sesame seeds. Despite all the food we had tasted already, I just couldn’t stop myself from eating every last bite of my vegan dog.
Danish Cider
After experiencing such a variety of delicious food, our group had truly bonded. Everyone shared laughs and enjoyed the wealth of knowledge about Copenhagen that Lisa taught us. We were happy to end our day with sipping some delightful Danish ciders at Rodder and Vin Bar.
Tasting a light and dark cider while the passionate owner discussed how it was made was a treat. He explained that many of the brewers will use only seasonal ingredients that are readily available in their cider. This makes every year bring new tastes because the apples themselves are never the same year to year. The every changing recipe makes for unique experiences for return visits.
Why it is the Best
Copenhagen has made its mark on the culinary map. Since new restaurants and food trends constantly are in flux, so are the food tours. Foods of Copenhagen keeps with the pulse of the city to make sure you get to try the latest crazes.
This makes return visits a viable option. As I mentioned previously, the walking and history integration was my favorite aspect of the tour. You can only eat so much at once and it’s nice to walk off some of those calories. Learning the history of the city in between our meal stops left me feeling like I really got to know Copenhagen.
If you decide to treat your palette to the wonders of Copenhagen, let Foods of Copenhagen be your guide to the best the city has to offer. Visit them here to book today.
A Dash of Life 