The best restaurant in the world? Geranium v Noma

In September 2022, my spouse and I, along with a couple with whom we’ve been friends for many years, took a short trip to Copenhagen which I documented in this blog post. The primary purpose of the trip was to dine at the esteemed restaurant Noma. I’d been very lucky to snag a highly sought-after lunch reservation for four on a random Friday afternoon and I was even more lucky that everyone agreed to join me on this whim. Once I had everyone signed up and flights booked, I was then also able to convince them to add on dinner at the equally renowned restaurant Geranium. These are not inexpensive places to dine but we all agreed that trying both of them in one trip was an opportunity that does not come along every day. Currently Geranium is considered the number one restaurant in the world, with Noma being last year’s number one. Noma is ineligible for number one again and is now on the “Best of the best” list with all previously ranked number one restaurants. These rankings are provided by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants organization. Both are also three-star ranked Michelin winners, among other prestigious awards. To be fair, best restaurant ranking is a highly subjective affair and the contenders from this organization are a pretty high-end lot. One can also certainly have wonderful meals that are far lower than this price range, but if this type of dining experience is your thing, then 50 Best is a reliable list from which to pick. In this post I’ll compare and contrast the two Copenhagen-based experiences based on a number of factors.

Sunflowers and greenhouses at Noma

Making a reservation

Like many restaurants at this caliber and these price-points, which have a very high-demand, there is usually some type of complex process to book a reservation. These will often include date ranges when tables are available to be booked starting on a certain date and at a specific time (for example: all March tables will go on sale on February 4that 10:00 am Denmark time). Generally, at the designated hour, all people who are looking for a reservation will be checking at that same time and the result is that the entire block that was available will be gobbled up almost immediately. If you log onto the reservation site one minute late, you’ll often no availability for the full block. You can put yourself on a waitlist for certain dates in case something becomes free that day. Noma follows this process and uses the reservation service Tock to manage booking the reservation. Geranium follows a similar process whereby you can book a table three months in advance at 6 pm Danish Time. This is a rolling process and a new date of tables is added each day. Their reservation system connects to their own website and you can book directly there with a good view of what’s truly available and when.

Some of Geranium's many accolades

I found the Noma process to be more difficult due to the rush to reserve all tables available on one date vs Geraniums more rolling approach day by day. I had myself on a Noma email notification list and would get emails when there may be additional seats available, extended dates or other early bird opportunities. One of these emails alerted me that Vegetable Season was being extended and we had an early opportunity to book. One other piece of advice is that it’s often easier to book if you are a party of one or greater than two. Most of their requests are for parties of two so those fill up very quickly. With Noma, I noted there were available tables for four so opted to take a chance on that when I made by booking. It was much easier to get in Geranium, particularly since we were booking several months in advance. It’s important to note that with Noma, you pay for the meal for all parties upfront at the time of booking (not including any drinks/add-ons) and that is currently 3,500 DKK per person (which currently is about $500). Your ticket is not refundable, but you can transfer it to some other interested attendee. At Geranium you pay a deposit per person of 1,500 DKK (about $214) which can be refunded up to three days before the reservation in the event of cancellation.

A view from the path leaving to Noma

In my view Geranium takes the lead here for its easier-to-use reservation process and more customer-friendly cancellation requirements.

What we ate and drank

Though we had dinner at Geranium and lunch at Noma, the menus were comparable in that both restaurants only serve their multi-course prix-fixe menu for both meals.  While they offer lunch and dinner times, the food being served is the same. We had prix fixe tasting meals along with wine pairings at both places. Noma offers seasonal menus and we were dining from the Vegetable Season, so almost exclusively a vegetarian meal. At Geranium we had The Autumn Universe menu with the Heart & Soil wine pairings. Geranium does not serve meat but rather focuses on seafood and vegetables. At both, a la carte is not an option and the small plates are described to you as they arrive, as are the wine pairings. At the end of each meal, we were given a printed menu of what we ate to take with us. Below are the complete lists:

Restaurant	Geranium	Noma
Menu	"The Autumn Universe	"Vegetable Season"
Dishes Served	Appetizers “Danish tradition” salted herring in crispy algae with dill stems and aquavit Lightly smoked bleak roe, milk, liquid greens Cucumber stuffed with oysters, oyster leaves & snail eggs Oscietra caviar “Gold” Lightly smoked sunflower seeds, pickled walnut leaves & whipped cream Boiled beetroot “Birkemosegard” dried cherries & horseradish Lightly salted mackerel, smoked oil & vegetable juice Savory Servings Courgette “Roi Soleil” with lemon verbena, green sprouts & goat cheese Abstract of brown crab Potatoes, fermented cabbage, lovage & mustard seeds Seasonal vegetables, aged cheese & wild plants Bread pancake with buttermilk, ramson & truffle Danish lobster grilles with juniper, pickled elderberries & elderflower vinegar Infusion with celeriac & truffle juice Sweets Aroma of citrus herbs, wood sorrel & ymer Plums, yoghurt & frozen fig leafs tea Dark chocolate & Jerusalem artichoke reduction Sea buckthorn, carrot, pumpkin seeds & white chocolate Forest berries & mild liquorice Milk chocolate with pickled rose hips Warm potato cake with nutmeg & tykmaelk	Summer salad Cauliflower waffle Grilled padron pepper Cucumber skin dolma New season garlic and onion Radish pie Scoby steak and smoked pumpkin Marigold tempura Fresh egg cooked with beets and ramson Potato wrapped in sea lettuce Grilled young artichoke Lion’s mane mushroom roasted with wild roses Chocolate herb salad A dessert of oatmeal and honey Marinated honeycomb
Wine List	"Heart and Soil"	No specific name
Wines Served	2014 Blanc de Blancs, Nyetimber, Sussex, England 2012 Assemblage, Bruno Paillard, Champagne, France 2020 Liebedich Gruner Veltliner, Weingut Peter Veyder Malberg, Wachau, Austria 2020 Isidore Vineyard Semillon, Garage Wine. Co., Maule, Chile 2018 Estate Chardonnay, The Hilt, Sta. Rita Hills, USA NV Les Bois de Binson, Eric TaillDomaine Taille aux et, Champagne, France 2019 Etna Rosso, Frederico Graziani, Etna, Italy 2019 Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Erdener Treppchen, Martin Conrad, Mosel, Germany 2018 Cuvee des Loups, Domaine Taille aux Loups, Montlouis sur Loire, France	2021 Lys-rod #32 – Franz Strohmeier – Sankt Stefan ob Stainz 2020 Chablis Terroirs de Beru – Athenais de Beru – Beru 2021 Metagitnion – Evriviadis Sklavos – Lixouri 2019 Muscat – Christian Binner – Ammerschwihr 2021 Birichen – Al di la del Fiume – Marzabotto 2004 Vire-Clesse – Gilles & Catherine Verge – Vire 2018 Ancestral – Julien Courtois – Soings-en-Sologne 2019 Rose d’un Jour – Mark & Martial Angeli – Thouarce

Impressions of the food and wine

As you can see right off the bat, Geranium offered a much more detailed description of each dish on their printed menu as well as offering more dishes (20 as opposed to Noma’s 15). They also divided menu into categories of appetizers, savory and sweet dishes. Noma’s menu was less descriptive, but you could still understand the main ingredient of each dish. It’s not unusual to get these less specific menu cards at restaurants of this caliber. I once dined at the now defunct restaurant Gaggan (a prior top 50 list awardee) in Bangkok and the menu was a long card of only emojis. 

Some of the many appetizers and savory dishes at Geranium

To me, Geranium’s food was much more traditional, formal, and Danish-traditional whereas Noma’s was very experimental. While all dishes were beautiful, Noma paid a bit more attention to presentation and some of the plates were works of art with clever nuances in how the edible food was included in the overall look of the dish. Both pride themselves on using only the highest quality local ingredients and Noma was a pioneer in the Nordic food movement. Noma is also more known for fermentation and foraging for wild food from the Danish forests and shores. The quality and taste of the food was excellent at both and while certainly there were dishes we enjoyed more than others, there were no flat out failures. My two least favorite things were at Noma: Scoby steak and smoked pumpkin and Fresh egg cooked with beets and ramson. The word scoby stands for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast” and is a rubbery substance used in making fermented things like kombucha. While somewhat tasteless, the texture and appearance was not something for which I cared very much.

Rounding the dishes served at Geranium

I really loved all the food at Geranium so I think I need to give them a leg-up in the quality, taste and overall appeal of the food. Noma was the clear winner in uniqueness and innovation.

Some dishes at Noma, including the scoby steak

I am not much of a wine expert but my overall impression is that the wine pairings at Geranium were more varied (you had different tasting menu options at different price levels) and the labels and vintages were more classic. The sommelier was also an immensely informed resource for us, offering extra tidbits of information and some samples to compare the various options. In keeping with the vibe at Noma, the wine selections felt a little more experimental with some more rare or unusual labels on offer. The descriptions were also a little less detailed about the history of the wine or the makers for example, the service was a little less flashy and was done by our food servers (vs the sommelier at Geranium). All in all, I would have to say that Geranium was again my preference for the wine options and service.

Final dishes at Noma

Ambience

There was a very clear difference in ambience, and I’ll say right from the start that Noma is the winner here for me. Though both were very pleasing in their own rights, the two restaurants could not be more different in style.

Geranium is located in what looks like a nondescript office building. The location is about 10 minutes or so out of the city center next to a large park called Faelledparken (the restaurant does have nice views of the park). There’s a large surface parking lot next to an 8-story building with a nicely portioned-off elevator which takes you to the restaurant. On exiting the elevator, the restaurant seems to occupy the entire floor and is very sleek and modern featuring a Scandinavian minimalist design with light woods and white décor. The room is open with all of the tables located in one main area. There are a few small serving stations placed around the room with minimal floral arrangements and the table tops were bare. The flatware was minimalist as well and most of the dishes were served on plain white porcelain or ceramic vessels. My overall impression was that, while the food was formal, the setting was intended to put you at ease. There were not a lot of distractions in the room or on the table to take away from the enjoyment of the service (which was superb) or the food. Like being at a spa, once you were settled in it was easy to let go of the stress of the day and relax. During a break in the lengthy meal service, we did get a tour of the wine service area (the full cellar was elsewhere) as well as a walkthrough of the kitchen. That was a nice touch and also helped to connect you to the people working there.

The sign upon entering the restaurant

Noma, on the other hand, felt like being in a cozy cabin just off a well-worn path in the forest. The restaurant is situated by the canals right out of the city center and near-ish the neighborhood of Christiania. While close in, it felt a world away as our taxi drove us down the long, slender island and dropped us off at the head of a small lane manned by two greeters. They checked our reservation and afterwards we meandered down the path, soaking in the kitchen gardens, greenhouses, and sunflowers to our right and the marshy waterway to our left. At the end of the path we found the restaurant which consists of several wood-clad buildings. At the entrance was what looked like a gardener’s bench laid out with examples of some of the flora we would be eating and by the large, plain wooden door was a huge floral arrangement of dried alliums, the perfect bouquet for the theme and the season. This décor changes from season to season, highlighting the focus of the menu and the time of year. Once in the building, which is wood paneled and very inviting due to the number of small rooms, we were walked through the large and open kitchen where we were greeted hello by ever single employee. It was a marvelous welcome and really made you feel like they appreciated you being there. Our small dining area consisted of just a half dozen or so tables full of light from the large picture windows. The tables and chairs were constructed of a warm wood and the room was full of alcoves containing potted plants, dried vines and other organic décor. These items are also switched out from season to season. There was a small floral arrangement at each table and almost all of the dishes were served on earthenware pottery or with some type of basket and greenery included in the display. Even the bathrooms felt rustic, almost like a line of outhouses (though far from them comfort wise) situated outside of the kitchen and under a glass-roofed breezeway. The overall feeling was one of comfort and charm, like you were visiting very close (and chic) friends in their rustic weekend house in the mountains.

The ambience outside the entrance to Noma

Service

The service at Geranium was the absolutely perfect blend of formality and familiarity. I think we were blessed to be seated next to the main wine station in the room so we had a lot of interaction with the charming sommelier. He was astute in gauging our level of receptiveness to chatting (we were very receptive!) and allowed himself to become more relaxed with us as the evening progressed. Because we were inquisitive diners, we found interactions with the variety of servers to be fun and easy. Everyone was interested in just a little (but not too much) chatting with us as they brought out and explained the various dishes. We learned that one of our servers had worked in the Washington, DC area (where we live) and was dating the sommelier so we really enjoyed sharing stories about those connections. It’s a tricky task in the service industry to be “of service” and to have a little fun with customers who want it and this team balanced that flawlessly. We left the restaurant feeling like we’d had a fantastic meal and a really fun time with the team as well.

At Noma the service was also excellent. Everyone was very welcoming and the greeting by all of the kitchen staff was special. Like at Geranium, the servers rotate and you are served the dishes and wine by a variety of people. There was no wine service only by the sommelier, it was delivered and explained by the regular servers. The team was dressed a little more casually than at Geranium with more of a natural materials type of uniform. I’d say that the group of servers did not get quite as familiar with us as those at Geranium. They seemed to be bit more reserved in their interactions. They were absolutely pleasant and professional but we did not get into any funny personal stories like we had the night before. I think that Noma is a larger restaurant with more customers to serve and the staff likely had less time to “socialize” if you will.

The clean interior of Geranium

Cost

The total cost for Noma for one person was about $1,100. This includes the early payment in full for the meal, the wine pairings, a post lunch drink and the tip.

At Geranium the total cost per person was roughly $930. This also includes the partial pre-payment, wine pairings and gratuity. We did not have an after dinner drink there.

Final thoughts

I, and this group who joined me, really enjoy these types of dining experiences and we were glad that we had the chance to visit these two highly regarded restaurants. Both were wonderful in their own rights and these will be occasions we will remember for a long time. Noma has long been on the vanguard of the new Nordic cuisine movement and innovation, also doing pop-ups around the world with plans brewing for Kyoto, Japan. Noma’s chef Rene Redzepi has been innovating for more than twenty years and will continue to do so long into the future. Geranium was an oasis of calm with sophisticated food and the most perfect balance between formality and friendliness. It was the first Danish restaurant to earn three Michelin stars and chef Rasmus Kofoed’s vision was flawlessly executed.

The wooded area outside of Noma and the kitchen

For me, Geranium does deserve the top prize. I’d go back again and again. Noma was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience.