Rating: 18/20
Where: Gentofte, Denmark
When: Lunch for 2 on 6 July 2024
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 3500 DKK, Wine Pairing 2350-4000 DKK
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Stellar amuse bouches, great seafood dishes, a very welcoming staff

“Jordnær” is the only the third restaurant to win three Michelin stars in Denmark. That's quite the accomplishment considering that Denmark, and Copenhagen in particular, have become a peerless culinary hotspot in the recent past. Jordnær is technically not located in Copenhagen proper, but in Gentofte, a suburb just north of the city. Luckily, it is still easily reachable by commuter train or taxi. While it is on the ground floor of a hotel, this is not the “standard” 5-star hotel / 3-star restaurant pairing - the restaurant far outshines its more modest surroundings.

Our meal took place on the first Saturday of the month, which was the only day that the restaurant opened for lunch. The dining room was filled with sunlight and had a bright color scheme with lots of white, some soft brown tones, and white table cloths. The wooden floor and rustic beams hinted at a more straight-forward Scandinavian aesthetic, and diners arrived in outfits that spanned the range from casual to dressy.

Jordnær served only a single tasting menu, which was entirely pescatarian on our visit. Mostly for that reason, the wine pairings consisted solely of white wines. And there were three options: two regular pairings for 2350 and 4000 DKK, and a champagne-only pairing costing 3500 DKK. We tried the Champagne pairing and the 4000 DKK pairing. All wines were quite good - these were solid beverage options. By international standards, the pairings are somewhat expensive, but then again, Denmark is not exactly known to be a cheap destination for fine dining. The pairings were better than the ones we recently had at Alchemist and Kadeau, but those cost much less, so I guess you get what you pay for.

Since the wine pairings started only after an initial fusillade of six small bites, one might want to consider ordering an aperitif. Our first snack was a little cheese tarte made from aged comté cheese. It was filled with a fresh cheese, seasoned with lemon and honey and then topped with a romanesco broccoli floret. An auspicious beginning: the romanesco was cooked perfectly, not raw but still with a noticeable crunch. There was only a light touch of lemon, but the cheese cracker was nicely crunchy and creamy 19.

King crab from Northern Norway was served on a flower tartlet with a mussel emulsion and some lemon. This was a surprisingly floral and herbal dish with a light crunch. The only nitpick might be that the crab was not quite as distinctive as the other ingredients 18.

A little cracker cup contained Danish lobster, yuzu, Sancho peppers, trout roe and a dash of calamansi. This dish was intensely flavorful: citrusy and well salted; the popping roe added some additional texture 19.

Next came the tartare of a Spanish bluefin tuna that had been aged in beeswax to concentrate its flavor. The tuna sat in an almond flour tartlet, and was seasoned with soy sauce and wasabi and topped with kaluga caviar and green shiso. This was another dish that was practically bursting with flavors. The wasabi tasted a bit like horseradish; the caviar and tuna were both lovely. Amazingly, and almost unheard of for a dish of this intensity, one could clearly distinguish the taste of caviar and tuna when eaten in a single bite. A common concern about adding caviar to a dish is that the pricy roe gets a bit lost, but that wasn’t the case here, even though there was a lot going on. Masterful 20.

A rosette made from Japanese beer batter was filled with a shrimp salad and topped with a dollop of caviar. One might nitpick that the batter was a bit on the greasy side and the salad a bit light in taste, but after adding the caviar, everything ended up in a good, though salty, balance 18.

I was amazed that the last amuse bouche made it to the dining table in one piece - it looked a bit precarious. A deep-fried ball made from rice flour was filled with lobster, yuzu dashi and koshu. It was topped with another sphere, this one consisting of Beluga caviar, before being crowned with shaved Australian winter truffles. An impressive presentation, although a bit messy to eat. The caviar was good, but sadly I tasted only a hint of truffles. The fried ball in particular made this dish feel a bit simpler than the preceding bites 17.

Our first main course, and the start of the wine pairing, was a scallop. Little cubes of raw salted scallops came on a metal skewer. The skewer was placed over a bowl filled with unripe gooseberries, flower buds, finger limes and a champagne bouillon. The scallops were of great quality, fresh and slightly sweet. They also had a hint of rose flavor that combined nicely with the herbs from the broth. Said broth was lighter in flavor than the amuse bouches, making this a much more delicate dish. But with the nice herbal aroma and the acidity from the finger limes, it was still delightful 18.

The head and shell of a Norwegian langoustine had been cooked into a bouillon, seasoned with cognac and vanilla before being made into a jelly. In addition, there was a shellfish cream and a clear broth of tomato and olive oil. I loved the tomato broth, but the rest of the dish had much lighter flavors - for example, I tasted only a hint of langoustine. However, maybe as a compensation, there were some interesting caramel notes 17.

“Lobster panna cotta” had inklings of being a dessert, an unusual choice at this point of a tasting menu. The dish was made from lightly poached Danish lobster that had been seasoned with black pepper, white asparagus juice, pink grapefruit jelly, a sauce blanquette, lemon oil and grapefruit. Even though most of the dish was lightly sweet, this actually worked fairly well with the lobster. Quite an accomplishment 18.

The next course was all savory again. Sashimi of hamachi belly from Hokkaido was served on top of an oyster, oyster cream, wasabi, a ponzu and sesame oil. The hamachi was lovely, the oyster quite good as well, and the yuzu from the ponzu added a nicely pungent note 18.

The next dish looked beautiful, but at first glance not much like the advertised chawanmushi. It turned out that the Japanese egg custard was hidden at the bottom of the serving bowl. Also present were king crab, marinated red shrimp, Sancho peppers, lime zest, osetra caviar, little flowers and fresh wasabi. The broth was an aromatic tea seasoned with ginger, lime zest and tangerine oil. The long list of ingredients already suggested it: there was a lot going on here - more than one would usually expect from a “mere” chawanmushi. Flavors ran across the spectrum: there was sweetness, acidity, saltiness, and even some crunchiness from little vegetable cubes. The dish was served lukewarm, and might have benefited from being a bit warmer 18.

The parade of wonderful seafood dishes was interrupted by a bread and butter course. The bread in question was a hybrid of a brioche and a Japanese milk bread - apparently the kitchen team's goal was to maximize the amount of butter in the dough. The result was then seasoned with goat butter (!) and lemon zest and served with a side of salted Danish butter (!!). The bread was sweet, buttery (obviously) and lightly crunchy. Quite enjoyable with the excellent butter on the side 17.

Back to seafood: a Norwegian langoustine tail had been finished on a Japanese charcoal grill and seasoned with a red kosho oil. It came with a sakura beurre blanc. The tail itself was cooked wonderfully; it was juicy, tender and a bit smoky. In comparison, the sauce was a bit of a letdown - it wasn’t bad, but there was very little of it and it was missing the richness and/or acidity of a typical beurre blanc. We couldn't help but comparing this dish to a more intensely flavorful course based on lobster that we had had a couple days earlier at Kadeau 17.

Danish Dover sole was our final savory course for the day. The fish had been poached and finished on the charcoal grill. Also on the plate were grilled fresh peas, some flowers, an onion bouillon and a dashi butter. Curiously, the best thing about this dish were the peas - they were amazingly sweet and of an astonishing quality, which was further brought out by the a la minute cooking. The broth was also lovely: full of flavor, and mostly savory but with a hint of sweetness. The weakest part of the dish was the fish - it had a chewy texture and a hint of smokiness 18.

Dessert number one was an Italian meringue that was served with a honeydew melon seasoned with verbena, a milk ice cream, sheep's cream, elderflower vinegar and aronia branch oil. In essence, this tasted of a melon served with a very thick cream. Ostensibly a simple dessert, but quite tasty 17.

The second and final dessert featured two kinds of strawberries, a lychee mousse, rose ice cream, rhubarb juice and almond oil. The strawberries were beautiful, and I was amazed by the rose flavor - just a touch, and not too much - a balance that very few rose-based dishes get right. Creamy, fruity, acidic and light, this was a near perfect dessert 19.

Four petit fours concluded our lunch - much too soon, we felt. A madeleine was very good, served warm and with a light crunch 18. A cannele was disappointing; it had a soft exterior and only a light vanilla taste. Oddly, its consistency was very similar to the cannele I ate a few days earlier at Andersen & Maillard, a local coffee shop chain. Maybe Danish canneles are just different from their French cousins? 14 Slightly better were some chocolate truffles that had a hint of berry flavor - whether from the chocolate itself or from actual berries, I don't know 14. A passion fruit pate de fruit was a clear winner: acidic, fruity, yummy 18.

One thing that sets Jordnær apart from many other restaurants is the welcoming service. The chef’s wife, who runs the front of the house, was particularly engaging. For example, before dinner, she introduced us to another table of guests who happened to stay at the same hotel as us and had noticed us there. That set a refreshing tone of being hosted for lunch, versus merely going to a restaurant. No wonder that many diners become return visitors.

Overall: A wonderful lunch, starting with a truly impressive series of flavor explosions in the form of amuse bouches. The main courses were also great, although I’d have preferred their flavors to match the intensity of the appetizers. Regardless, an impressive series of seafood dishes. In addition, the service was exemplary and friendly. In my mind this is easily the best of Copenhagen's three three-starred restaurants. Worth a journey indeed 18.