Noma has the reputation to be one of the best restaurants in the world. Chef René Redzepi has developed the concept of nordic cuisine, which focuses on local Nordic ingredients, some of which are gathered by foraging.

After it had been announced that Noma would close at the end of 2024, it became even harder to get a reservation. To get a reservation, you need to sign up for the restaurant’s newsletter. You will then receive the reservation link with some days nice. On a Monday at 3pm the reservations for a whole season will be available, and by 3:01pm it is fully booked. I managed to get a reservation for a single diner at the communal table for lunch. Copenhagen is only an hour’s flight from Amsterdam, but the other 3 foodies that joined me at the communal table had travelled farther (Ireland, Abu Dhabi, and Los Angeles).

Noma has three seasons with a set tasting menu: Game & Forest in Autumn, Ocean in Spring, and Vegetable in Summer. I visited for Game & Forest (DKK 3950). At the communal table you can only order the wine pairing (DKK 2200) or juice pairing.

Upon arrival I was seated in a greenhouse by the fireplace with a cup of rooibos tea until the other guests arrived.

We then walked to the restaurant, behind a door that was decorated with antlers.

The first wine was a 2011 Crémant d’Alsace by Christian Binner, from Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois, and aged for many years on the lees after the second fermentation in the bottle. Very elegant.

A demonstration of the first course was on the table when we arrived: guinea fowl baked in salt crust.

The breast was amazingly juicy and tender, which is quite a feat. It was served with a hazelnut dipping sauce, caramelized skin from the back of the bird, an egg and chlorofyl from nettles. It was noteworthy that the menu started with a proper course (albeit small, like all the courses) rather than an amuse bouche.

Next came a pear salad with a buckthorn dressing served in a bowl made out of ice that can best be characterized as a palate cleanser.

The next wine was a Müller Thurgau orange wine from Sussex, England, a 2018 Qvevri Rüllem by Ben Walgate.

The following course was a piece of a jelly like substance that was called a Crowberry-scoby, taken from the solid part of making kombucha, and a stuffed hip berry.

Still with the same wine, a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin was quite flavorful for pumpkin, but still pumpkin.

The 2022 Nilda Shizenshu Junmai Ginjo sake by Yasuhiko Nilda was served warm and was nicely full bodied and balanced.

A bowl of walnuts, which was nice because the walnuts had been peeled (no astringent skins).

Next was easily the best dish of the meal, with a bit of cheating because it included white truffle from Piemonte, Italy (and thus not foraged in Scandinavia). It was a sandwich of crispy cherry leaves with foamy goat cheese ice cream and white truffle. Truffle can be overpowering, but in this dish it was part of the whole with a great balance and contrast of flavors and textures. Both original and delicious. Most truffle dishes are just about the truffle (such as fresh pasta with truffle), but here the truffle was part of a new whole. It worked quite well with the sake as well.

The next wine was a Chenin Blanc from Swartland in South Africa, a 2017 Cortez by Craig & Carla Hawkins.

This was paired with wild boar belly, apple, and lingonberry. The combination of pork and apple is a classic one. The pork was nicely tender.

With the same wine, mushroom gel and sunflower seeds.

Still with the same wine, a braindeer omelet (as we called it at our table): an omelet stuffed with reindeer brain. It tasted better than it sounds; I would not have recognized it as brain if they hadn’t told us.

We moved to red wine with a still Pinot Noir from the Champagne area, a 2020 Chères Vignes by Manu Lassaigne. Earthy and acidic (which is good for sparkling wine, but less so for still wine).

Sautéed wild mushrooms with a herb salad — all at the table were wondering what this dish was doing in the tastings menu of a three Michelin star restaurant. The crispy bits of chestnut were nice.

Reindeer tongue, served medium rare, with a sauce of butter and oxidized wine (that’s how they called it, not sure if it was Vin Jaune). It was surprising how tender the tongue was, considering tongue is usually braised.

For the main course a full-bodied red from Georgia, a 2022 Saperavi by Tamuna Bidzinashvili.

The main course was grilled red deer with autumn pickles and a horseradish sauce.

The final wine was a 2016 Sodalis Riesling by Michael Gindl from Niederösterreich, Austria. Off-dry but not really sweet.

A tree sap tart.

Icecream from fresh hazelnuts and hazelnut oil, served in the shape of spaghetti. The hazelnut ice cream had a really nice creamy texture. It was of course too sweet for the Riesling.

The meal ended with some nice sweets: candied pine cone, pine caramel, and chocolate sauce to be licked off a sumac fruit.

If you come to Noma with high expectations because of its reputation, you may be disappointed. Since this was my second visit (first one in 2010 at the former location), I knew what to expect: food that is special because of its originality (have you had a braindeer omelette before?), but not necessarily special because of deliciousness (if you taste the omelette it is nice, but not blown away delicious). The truffle dish was amazing. The wines were good, but not great. I wanted to try Noma one last time before it closed and I’m glad I did, but I won’t be trying to get a reservation again in the final year before it closes.