Booking a restaurant before booking your flight seems odd, right? For Noma though, I think this may actually be the norm. Although I couldn't score an individual table as originally hoped in September (those tickets went by in seconds, as I learned when tickets went live for the seafood season), shared table seats opened up in January, and I was able to reserve 2 seats on the day I was looking for, having had some time to research flight costs by this point. Purpose of booking: Ron's birthday. I had a particular date in mind, and was so glad to be able to get seats, and at a reasonable dinner time (7:00 pm). With reservations set, we booked our flights so that we could have a few days in Copenhagen as well.
A few months later, the time finally came for our dinner! Upon arrival by bus 9A, which conveniently drops you a short walk away from Noma, we realized that we had unknowingly passed the restaurant previously while on a visit to Mikkeller Baghaven (great if you're into sour beers). From the street, all that can be seen is the greenhouse. Looking closer, a metal sign simply states "Noma," along with a no kayaking sign. We were promptly greeted by a hostess standing outside, who asked if we were here for Noma. She helped us take some pictures by the sign, and then we were welcomed to some cider in the greenhouse while we waited for the other guests of our shared table. We watched as the hostess asked anyone who passed by if they were here for Noma.
Then we were led into the building, past the greenhouses:
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| The greenhouses |
The gardens were barren, but there is a planting plan inside the restaurant.
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| Some sort of dried fish |
The shared table had 20 seats, and they seated each group as we walked in, recommending couples sit across from each other. Although they never asked for our names, I was pleasantly surprised when, as we were seated, the hostess said my name (Grace) and confirmed that we had chosen the juice and wine pairing, and that we'd be sharing those drinks (it probably helped that I had confirmed with them previously that it'd be ok to bring a balloon, which of course we did).
In hindsight, we rather enjoyed the shared table vs a "private" table. It made for great conversation as we were surrounded by people from all around the world. We even had our own small-world story: the person next to us had also flown in from NYC, on the same flight, and even sat in the same row as us on the plane (although on opposite sides of the aircraft). Spending the evening with great people and conversations, what could be better? It's just missing one thing...
The main attraction, the reason why people flock to Noma, the food:
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| Fresh Norwegian Scallop |
Served with roe. Freshly prepared just before serving, the scallop was still attached to the shell. We were instructed to pour the roe into our mouths and then shuck the scallop with the other shell.
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| Seafood Platter |
Starting from the bottom right and going clockwise: carpet clam, venus clam, mahogany clam, razor clam. I can't remember the name of the fruit in the center, but it wasn't lime. We were asked to squeeze it on all the clams as if it were, though.
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| Marinated Sweet Shrimp |
Two small bitesize "shrimps." The shrimp meat is actually on the inside of the faux shrimp.
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| Grey Shrimp Cooked with Sea Lettuce |
The sea lettuce was really two pieces of kelp.
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| Cured turbot |
Each was skewered by a toothpick carved from a pine twig. The fish had a chewy, almost mochi-like consistency.
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| Medium Rare Blue Shell Mussel |
Served with caviar and soup. After finishing the mussel, as you drink directly from the bowl and your nose draws close to the assorted collection of seaweeds, there's a gentle nostalgic smell of the sea.
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| Sea Urchin and Molded Barley |
The barley wasn't quite as crunchy as a cracker, nor was it quite like bread.
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| Cod Bladder Simmered with Quince |
Very refreshing.
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| Cod Tongue Schnitzel |
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| Salt Cod Pie |
The salt cod pie reminded me of an empanada.
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| Beach Crab Gel and Pinecones |
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| Boiled Brown Crab on Flatbread |
Boiled brown crab served on top of brown flatbread shaped like a crab. Very fun.
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| Hot Smoked and Barbecued Arctic King Crab |
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| horseradish sauce served inside a shell |
I think this was our favorite dish. The creamy horseradish sauce added a nice kick to the crab. Each crab came with its own QR code to show its provenance.
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| Feel free to scan this QR code to learn more about our crab! |
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| Crab Salad |
4 hours later, we finally reached the end of the meal, and Noma was kind enough to add a candle in Ron's dessert!
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| Cardamom Scented Sea Star |
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| Chocolate cod skin |
Sounds funky, but actually pretty tasty. The fish flavor was very mild, so it was more like a chocolate crispy cracker than anything else.
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| Salted and Dried Berries from last summer |
We then ended the dinner with a last digestif and a tour of the kitchen.
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| Their garden blueprint- they were planting the day after our meal! |
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| Each crab is identified with their QR code. |
With that, in total, our 5 hour experience ended with stomachs full and a few new friends. Thank you Noma, for an absolutely wonderful experience and a belated happy birthday to Ron, thanks for helping me write this post, and cheers to more travel, food, and adventures together!
