Does the open air seafood market still exist in Bergen, that’s my only recollection of the town.
It does but I’ve read it’s over run with tourists (who? me?) and is super expensive. We’ll certainly check it out and see what alternatives there are. I understand that Norway is expensive anyway. And, hey, you’re only young once, right?
BradFord - Did you eat at Geranium for lunch and Noma for dinner in the same day? If yes, was it too much food? I’ll be in Copenhagen for a short period (Sunday-Wednesday) and have dinner booked at Noma Tuesday evening. Geranium is closed Sunday and Monday, so that leaves Tuesday lunch.
I did do Geranium for lunch and Noma for dinner in the same day. No, it was not too much food for us. The food at Geranium is fairly light as is the food at Noma in the seafood season - I’ll post some pictures.
However, my dining companion and I remarked to each other that it was probably not ideal if we had to do it over again. In part because we were a bit jet-lagged and in part because we drank a fair bit every day. I was very happy with choosing some glasses of Champagne and Corton Charlemagne at Geranium and some bottles of Champagne and Chablis at Noma dinner - I was encouraged to do this by others and I think it paired quite well. If one did the wine pairings for both, I think there would be palette fatigue.
When I discussed my dining plans with others, they recommended that we do lunch specifically at Geranium because of the nice views, and the meal is fairly light so it works for that.
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Geranium for lunch. High finesse and gentle cooking. The supplemental caviar course is worth it; it was one of the best dishes of the trip. A very nice flow of delicate flavors.
odd formatting, I’ll have to fix that.
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Noma 2.0 for dinner (the current “Seafood Season” menu). Exquisite product, great textures. The crab was unbelievable and overall it was a magical dinner. Maybe don’t look if you want to keep the surprise!
odd formatting again, it works on mobile but the resize threw things off on desktop.
FYI we also ate 2 tacos at Sanchez a little bit before Noma. But, I’d space it out (Geranium at 12:00pm, Noma ~9:00pm). We ended Noma late, after midnight I think, didn’t take pics of our bottles but the Aquavit to finish made me quite drowsy.
Pre-Noma bang
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Yes, please. PLEASE tell us what each dish is. And the photo looks like it’s out aways. ?
Planning a trip back probably this year, as part of a bigger trip.
I will - probably in a separate thread for each with my thoughts/review.
Better? No, not in my opinion. Distinct styles? Yes. They’re both very up there. Pay no attention to official Michelin stars here - Noma is every bit as much a 3* imo as Geranium and Frantzen. Personally, I found Noma to be more worthy of a special destination than 3* such as Per Se, The French Laundry, Le Bernardin, Manresa, Atelier Crenn, Quince, etc etc. With that said, it has a distinct style that is a bit hard to directly compare to others like Geranium, but it’s clear that they’re both top echelon. Depending on who I’m taking, I may opt for one or the other. But I made my trip based around a Noma reservation and I’m glad I went overall.
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Iluka very nice raw bar. Great with Larmandier-Bernier blanc de blancs. Norwegian langoustines were live while mahogany clams were about 200 years old. Faroese sea urchin was not my favorite but Gillardeau oysters were really good. Truly excellent bread by Hart and the simply grilled brill fish with lovage and kale was perfect. Great spot for a date or simple dinner for a small party.
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Super review. I long for those cigalas…
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They were still moving…not sure how I feel about that, but in any event, the meat was superb. Lightly brushed with 8-yr old elderflower vinegar.
Also had it at Frantzen, lightly deep fried with koshihikari rice, with a ginger butter and green onion emulsion.
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@Bradford Thanks so much for this info - I will be in Copenhagen soon, but only for <48 hours. My Noma reservation is at 5pm, and Geranium has lunch availability. I am tempted to book Geranium for lunch as well, but I think that’d be different from your experience - since you had the Noma dinner much later, at 9pm. I’d essentially be eating at these restaurants back-to-back…the ultimate bang-bang 
Probably way too ambitious? I’m thinking my SO might disown me…
Also, Iluka looks great - do you have any opinions on it vs Kodbyens Fiskebar? I went to Fiskebar the last time I was in Copenhagen, and I thought I had the best oysters I’ve ever eaten. Iluka seems like very high quality, but Fiskebar has a greater variety of oysters (e.g., Limfjord as well).
@kimara Are you sure Geranium is open on Tuesdays? I think they’re closed Sun - Tuesday.
Yes tbh it’ll be too tough to do Geranium and Noma back to back if your Noma res is at 5pm for dinner.
Note that Geranium’s meal is easily 2.5 hours. It’ll be a bit hard to rush, since the scene is very serene anyway.
Essentially 20 dishes, a 2 hr break (including driving ~20 mins to Noma), then another 20 dishes. I think that would compromise your experience at Noma for sure.
If you’re in Copenhagen and had to choose one, and you don’t visit often, you might as well stick with Noma solely.
I didn’t try Kodbyens, unfortunately. I did go to Palaegade for smorbrod (traditional open faced sandwiches). Some chefs gave me recommendations - I’ll post a few here. The menu at Iluka is small but good.
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For smorrbrod, we were recommended to go to Palaegade. It’s a close walk from the Nyhavn, and an easy lunch option. I don’t love the rye bread for smorrbrod, but I like pickled herring. I’d skip the regular beef tartare, though to be fair they did suggest other dishes.
Also, you can stop for a Mikkeler beer inside Paustian, a well-known furniture store, and it’s a close walk to one of the Gasoline Grill (burger) ligations for a snack or casual lunch.
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Thanks so much for the info! I’m leaning toward going to Palaegade for the lunch before actually.
Sure thing. Palaegade was the one most mentioned. I did also receive from some good chefs a couple other options for traditional:
Sankt Annae
Schonemann
Told og snaps (more casual)
Palaegade is slightly more modern in style; it’s by chefs from Formel B (you may have come across it in your research).
The one restaurant in CPH that i really disliked was 108 for dinner. I wish I tried Sankt Annae instead so I could compare with Palaegade.
I do like to try traditional as well, not just high end when traveling to get a local feel, and everyone I met said I must try smorrbrod. I liked the traditional and curried pickled herring the best. The red herring was interesting though it had an unusual (berry?) flavor I couldn’t put my finger on.
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@BradFord Thank you for the update and pictures! I booked at 12pm slot at Geranium on Tuesday and 7pm dinner at Noma. I am wondering a little about the quantity of food, but my stomach can handle it. 
@NYCtoLA That particular Tuesday was marked green on their online reservation calendar. I reserved a 12pm spot this past Sunday and received the confirmation email. I haven’t heard from them otherwise. It also looks like not all Tuesdays during the month are open. Only May 28th and June 18th are available.
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Here’s a piece about Jutland about a 2-1/2 hour drive from Copenhagen. Restaurants (and other recs).
Just a follow-up and thank you to @BradFord for all of the suggestions. I had a blast eating and biking my way around Copenhagen.
Hija de Sanchez
Clockwise: pastor with jalapeño & pineapple, fried chicken with mayo and cabbage, rajas tostada with corn, jalapeño and cream cheese
Got another pastor. Spicy mmm!
Sanchez
Guillardeau oysters with habanero and sea buckthorn
Crispy tortilla, octopus grilled in pastor paste, avocado, cured egg yolk, and habanero sauce
Two tacos with organic achiote spiced pork, habanero and sea buckthorn pickled onions
Open churro sandwich, frozen parfait and bitter cream
Palaegade
Local beer and snaps
Herring sampler platter
Tartar of lobster with crispy fried egg and cress
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