a|o|c - Copenhagen
Underground dining
Rating: 18/20
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
When: Dinner for 2 on 9 August 2025
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 3200 DKK ($500), Wine pairing 1500-3000 DKK ($235-$470)
Accolades: 2 Michelin Stars
Why: Scandinavian cuisine with bold flavors
“a|o|c” is a restaurant in Copenhagen that has held two Michelin stars for about ten years - a considerable time in the restaurant business. Its name is short for “Aarø & Co”, where Aarø is the last name of one of the founders. The restaurant is located in a palatial building, so we half expected to end up in a grand ballroom or similar grandiose dining room. Alas, that wasn't meant to be. The restaurant is actually in the building's basement, with regular-height vaulted ceilings. But any lingering catacomb vibes were quickly forgotten thanks to the friendly staff, and once the food started, our minds were elsewhere anyway. Just don't expect any great views here, even the open kitchen is not visible from the main dining room. The restaurant's walls are painted white, the floors tiled, and white tables cloths are everywhere, but the general ambiance was still unfussy and minimalist Scandinavian.
a|o|c serves a single tasting menu, and dietary restrictions are accommodated (within reason). There were two wines pairings, both available with either five or seven glasses. The seven glass options were priced at 2000 and 3000 DKK, respectively (about $310 and $470). Since the price difference wasn't quite as extreme as what we had seen the previous day at Geranium, I went for the pricier pairing. The wines were all quite good throughout, a 2020 d'Yquem paired with a savory (!) course being a particular standout. My wife tried a few wines from the lower priced pairing by the glass and they were also quite good, suggesting that it probably has more bang for the buck. A non-alcoholic pairing for 1500 DKK ($235) was also available. Since the pairings started only towards the end of the appetizers, it was not a bad idea to order an aperitif. Unusually, the two offered champagnes and one Danish sparkling wine all cost exactly the same (400 DKK for a glass, $60). No danger of ordering an overpriced drink by accident here. Unexpectedly, the Danish wine, a 2019 Skærsøgaard Don's Cuvée Brut, turned out to be our favorite - definitely worth a try.
The appetizers started with potato pillows (pommes soufflés) that were served with a layered dip of (from the bottom) a brown butter emulsion, chopped chives, and vendace roe from Kalix, Sweden. The three little pillows had a near perfect consistency: airy, extremely thin, and only supplying crunch with barely any fat. Too often do such crackers draw attention to themselves by being too heavy, but these potatoes let the dip be the star. And that dip was indeed lovely: salty, creamy, and quite light with a very fine roe. Elegant, but flavorful - even after running out of potato pillows, we still made sure to finish the rest of the dip 18.
The following dish featured a tartare of raw Swedish shrimps, seasoned with tomatoes, ground dill, pickled onions and shallots - all sandwiched between two taco crackers. The shrimps were of great quality, creamy, and with a bit of dill flavor, whereas the cracker added a nice crunch. Another lovely appetizer, but I couldn't really taste either the tomatoes or onions. Then again, that might have been intentional to let the main ingredient be the center of attention 18.
A spinach croustade was filled with a gel of apples, some razor clams, crème fraîche, pickled cucumbers, yuzu, nasturtium leaves and salicornia (a kind of succulent). This bite was herbal, crunchy, and had some acidity, but the clams were not particularly noticeable among the other ingredients 17.
A carrot tartlet contained a horseradish cream, black angus beef tartare (including some beef heart), and edible flowers on top. The beef was nice enough, but had a pretty light flavor. The horseradish however added quite a punch - which was much appreciated, compared to the many “only a hint of horseradish” dishes that I've had recently 18. The pescatarian version of this dish replaced the beef with hamachi tartare and slices of bottarga. I couldn't really detect the latter, but the fish was lightly seasoned and quite good 18.
This led us to the last appetizer - the switch to the “main” courses was only apparent since it was explicitly mentioned by the serving team; left to our own devices, we probably wouldn't have noticed the transition. A cheese cracker had been made from pine bark cheese and was topped with a Danish cheese, a truffle cream, Australian truffles, and a brown, crispy milk skin. A wonderful combination of cheese and truffles: there were both fresh and aged cheeses, a strong truffle flavor, and excellent crackers 18.
The next dish had five small pieces of cured scallops, covered with fennel, chervil, apple, wasabi and purple honeybee flowers. To this, our server added a sauce made from apples and geranium oil, as well as a few drops of a soy/ginger sauce. The scallops were very tender and lightly sweet. Crunchiness was provided by the vegetables, which were also quite (maybe too?) acidic. Otherwise lovely 17.
A chopped Gillardeau oyster was topped with a kohlrabi cream, coriander and chives. Although there was a lot going on in this dish, one could still clearly discern the individual ingredients. In particular: the salty oyster, a hint of sweetness from the kohlrabi and the texture of the chives. Distinct flavors, but perfectly balanced 18.
The next dish was a serving of caviar, but a somewhat unusual one. Bulgarian caviar with 1.8% salt content (much less than normal) was served with a buttermilk whey foam and a white currant sauce. The sauce was quite sweet, but the currants also had some acidity and fruitiness. The buttermilk made the dish creamy and the caviar gave it some saltiness (even with the reduced salt content). Fruit and caviar combinations are not exactly commonplace, in particular when one can clearly taste both ingredients. As a member of this elusive culinary category, this dish worked quite well. But as a matter of personal preference, I would rather have eaten the caviar by itself, or in a more savory context. (I overheard a diner at a neighboring table mention that this was his favorite dish of the night - so clearly tastes differ.) 17
Warm sourdough bread made from five different flours had been brushed with duck fat, giving it a distinctive crunchy crust, and sprinkled with salt. On the side was a mixture of fermented butter, buttermilk cream and sour cream. This was a really nice bread with a crumbly crunch that went great with the creamy butter. Its taste was not too strong though, allowing one to use it with the sauces in the following courses 17.
A filet of turbot had been cured and cooked wrapped in a kombu leaf, before being glazed with a reduced kombu stock and yuzu juice. It came with a heart of leek, and two sauces: a mousseline and a beurre blanc made with champagne and ponzu. The fish was cooked nicely to a pretty firm consistency. The leek was phenomenal, unlike any I've ever had before: it had a consistency similar to white asparagus, but with considerably more flavor. And the clincher here were the two sauces - very different, but both very good: one was more citrusy, the other more creamy and buttery. Delicious 19.
A Norwegian langoustine (and its claws) were served with a vinaigrette of cherry and seaweed that came in a separate bowl. The langoustine was terrific, cooked perfectly and very tender (in particular the claws), nicely salted and lightly smoky. The sauce added a hint of fruit, and lots of acidity 18. The pricier wine pairing had a d'Yquem for this dish - a bold choice, possibly meant to match the cherries and the sweetness of the langoustine. I'm not going to complain about getting a glass of one the world's best dessert wines, but as a pairing this was more so-so rather than great. I wish that I had been able to try the (dry) chardonnay that came with the regular pairing.
A warm salad of Brussels sprout leaves came with black truffles, some flowers (violets and mustard flowers), and a sauce made from Danish Vesterhavsost cheese. The cheese was noticeable but not very strong, making this dish more truffley than cheesy. Interesting 17.
Our final savory dish was a quail served with a chanterelle sauce and topped with a glaze of quail bones, some chanterelles, and fresh hazelnuts. This was mainly a mushroom dish; while the quail was fine, I would have had a hard time guessing what kind of meat this was. The unroasted hazelnuts provided for an interesting texture 17. The pescatarian alternative replaced the quail with a nicely juicy monkfish 17.
Starting the the sweeter part of our dinner, we received a gooseberry sorbet topped with a Douglas pine/buttermilk foam and a geranium/rose water granita. Not too sweet, fresh and light - just what you'd want from a palate cleanser. The flavors were a nice combination of fruity, woodsy and floral that my wife described as “tasting like a Christmas tree” (in a good way, I suppose) 17.
The stars of the next dish were Swedish wild blueberries that had been prepared with blueberry juice, thyme syrup, chartreuse liquor, brown butter, and sesame. On the side was a sheep's yogurt topped with thyme flowers, thyme leaves and watermint. This was probably not the ideal dessert to serve to your kids at home - the alcohol content in the sauce was quite noticeable. Other than that though, this was basically a berries and cream dish, with the thyme adding an herbal note. Personally, I'd have toned down the alcohol and herbals a bit, but this wasn't bad at all 17.
The following dessert was introduced as a “Frozen Canelé”. In reality, it was a white chocolate mousse served in a canelé shape, seasoned with woodruff, an almond sauce and a vanilla miso. All of these ingredients added a bit of an herbal note to the chocolate mousse. Fine, but not mind-blowing - and I really missed having a real canelé at this point 15.
A little plum tartlet sat on a crunchy base made from bitter malt. Its toppings included plums and an umeboshi purée, miso caramel, shiso juice and Sichuan pepper. The plums were not very sweet, in fact the cream under the plums added more sweetness, and the dish also had some chocolate notes. Not bad 16.
The last two bites were served at the same time. First, a rose made out of beets incorporated a raspberry-rosehip jelly and was drizzled with 100-year-old balsamic vinegar from Modena. Despite all of these ingredients, though, the main flavor still came from the crunchy beets 16. Second, we got a little cone filled with a sunchoke/chocolate mousse, pine oil and a little pine cone on top. This was a pretty heavy, dark chocolaty bite to finish our dinner. There was an aftertaste of pine, and the dish felt a bit sticky. Ok, but lighter might have been better at this point 15.
The service throughout the evening was excellent, with all servers (including the chefs moonlighting from the kitchen), describing the dishes not just in detail, but (for the most part) also doing so slowly and clearly enunciated - great for taking notes (and all remaining mistakes are my own).
Overall: Scandinavian cuisine that was surprisingly bold in its flavors. Especially during the first half of our dinner, dishes were bursting with flavors, but remained well-balanced, allowing one to discern even multiple ingredients clearly. It was tempting to compare this meal to the one we had had at three-starred Geranium just one day prior. At a high level, one might consider these two meals comparable in quality, but maybe geared towards different personal preferences: Geranium was more elegant and subtle in its use of flavors, while a|o|c often swung for the fences flavorwise. Personally, I generally prefer the latter 18.
