Denmark has come remarkably far since 1603, the year in which playwright William Shakespeare had someone damningly utter in Hamlet that ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark’.
Rotten? He must have had someplace else in mind.
Tucked away in the smallest, yet most densely populated country in northern Europe, Denmark is the Scandinavian marvel whose thunder is often stolen by its larger neighbour, Sweden.
But when the violent crime series The Killing started to do the rounds earlier this year (subsequently becoming a TV box set must-have sensation), the Danes swiftly bought their very own recognition and started to give the Swedes – and their well loved Wallander series – a run for their money.

New-found fame: Since The Killing became a DVD hit, Copenhagen has experienced a resurgence in interest

How facetious, but, to speak of Denmark in terms of its media. This is, after all, the land that brought us Lego, provides us with Carlsberg and Tuborg beer, delectable bacon, Lurpak butter, Danish pastries and the fairytale ‘Thumbelina’ author, Hans Christian Andersen.
More recently, it has bought fame and adulation for NOMA, the two-Michelin star and multi-award winning restaurant located within an 18th century warehouse in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of its capital, Copenhagen.
What more can one say than to expect the unexpected of Rene Redzepi’s array of fantastical food during a NOMA outing – one reason perhaps, why it’s very nearly impossible to reserve a table unless done so months and months in development.
But what’s the fuss? Well, to be served live Fjord shrimp, deep-fried reindeer moss, carrots and radishes embedded within not poisonous soil and grass, not to mention the snails that the diner fishes out from within a gorgeous vase of Nasturtium flowers, might just be one way of ticking all one’s culinary must-dos in one sitting. It is a real treat and undoubtedly one of the city’s most-talked about attractions.

What else is excellent?

That said, Copenhagen’s food does not start and end with NOMA’s molecular gastronomy – after all, the restaurant is less than a decade ancient.
The Danes have long been well-known for their smørrebrød (which translates as ‘butter bread’, but to you and me, it is better known as an ‘open sandwich’).
A smørrebrød, served atop or beside baskets of fresh rye bread, is a dish with endless guises. Some plates come adorned with thin slivers of raw beef, others with seafood, hard boiled eggs, radishes, pickles, even as larger platters carrying whole skin-on herrings and hot, salted plaice are commonly loved at frokost, or lunch. 


Fine dining: NOMA’s unusual Scandinavian dishes have earnt it the title of best restaurant in the world
It is in Nyhavn, the picturesque harbour which teems not only with tall clusters of kaleidoscopic Dutch-like housing, but with alfresco pubs, bars and restaurants, too, where Copenhagen showcases its most concentrated range of grub. In the summer, when Scandinavia is blessed with eternal sundown-lit warm evenings, the entire city’s inhabitants come together to make the traditional harbour-side beer-clutching crowds. (Hans Christian Andersen was also once a resident here.)
Head into Told og Snaps (as well-known for their food as they are for their Schnapps,) for Danish classics of curried herring or pork with red cabbage and sauer-kraut. Gasten and Galionen rival their neighbours with their signature, freshly-trapped lobsters served very simply with garlic and vegetables. The ‘Surf-n-Turf’, a giant plate devastatingly to the top with prawns and fillets of veal, is worth ordering here, too.
Don’t leave Copenhagen without tiresome a Frikadellesandwich, a Danish meatball burger to the top with red cabbage and pickles, or on that note, a Fiskefillet, a Danish twist on a classic Fish and Chips consisting of a fillet of red sole, raw remoulade and a very decent amount of lemon. Find the first of these near Nyhavn at Munter, even as the end, at the upmarket Kødbyens Fiskebar within the Vesterbro district of the capital.

And how could anyone forget the Danish Pastry? Wiener-brød translates as ‘bread from Wien (Vienna)’ and pays homage to the oft-repeated tale of the young Austrian bakers who came to Copenhagen in the 19th century with their own sweet bread recipe. Appetite for the men’s pastry was so strong, the Danes never relinquished it once their visitors had returned home. Instead, with a few amendments, they place their own stamp on it. Find the very best at Lagkagehuset on the Christianshavn side of the city or at Reinh van Hauen. Expect mountains of mouth-watering Wiener-brød and Kanelstang, Danish Kringle, at the window.

Why Copenhagen?

From the city’s main square, Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen’s draw is immediately clear: a visitor here is spoilt for choice.
In one direction, there’s the lively and chocolate box harbour of Nyhavn, to the north, the districts of Rosenborg and Frederiksstaden, where tree-lined boulevards give way to the Royal residences and their sumptuous gardens. In a north-easterly direction is the pedestrianised Strøget, otherwise known as the longest shopping street in Europe.

Bottoms up: At the Carlsberg brewery visitors are given three free pints at the end of their tour

There also has to be a mention of past Slotsholmen, the oblong island in the middle of the city which houses the country’s official buildings: The Chancellery, Royal Danish library, the seat of the Danish parliament, Christiansborg and the spectacular black granite Black Diamond, where concerts and lectures are held. A canal boat trip (which departs Nyhavn every quarter of an hour) is the best place from which to delight in these wonderful monuments.
And yet, that list doesn’t even start to cover the ‘fun’ aspect of the city. A trip to Copenhagen is irrefutably incomplete without a visit to the Carlsberg brewery (after whose tour visitors are handed out three, yes, three, free pints to delight in in the courtyard).
Saturday evening fireworks from the centrally-located Tivoli Gardens – the ancient-time amusement park which dates back to the 19th century – never fails to excite the whole city – even if its nocturnal illuminations, restaurants, bars and thrilling rollercoasters do a grand job of attracting passers-by all week long.
Those looking for a rather different experience, but, can find it in esoteric mural-heavy ‘freetown’ of Christiania, Copenhagen’s tax-free ‘alternative society’ convergence, where a now-defunct soft-drug-selling market has been shut down only to be replaced with other similar highlights. Tourists are required to ‘take care’ even as walking through the area’s 85 acres, but more often than not, the stalls manned by over-forthcoming inhabitants makes this area a go-to district.
Copenhagen’s majestic symbol, Eriksen’s Small Mermaid – which sits on a lone rock in the city’s harbour– is a statue that presides over a thoroughly assorted city. Thanks to newcomers like NOMA and its master Rene Redzepi, Denmark’s capital is now revered for its innovative modernity, even as Slotsholmen’s antique, dated buildings and the ancient, chain-smoking fishermen at Nyhavn, who go about transmittable the capital’s main staple of fish, seafood and more fish, demonstrates that Copenhagen is in no rush to shed its prized ancestors, either.
Rotten? Far from it.

Travel Facts

Deluxe Double place to stay at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers (www.cpcopenhagen.dk) start from £185.

For more information on NOMA, visit www.noma.dk
Glide to Copenhagen with SAS (www.glide.com/SAS) from £120 for a return economy ticket from Heathrow to Copenhagen