The World’s 10 Best Nordic & Scandinavian Restaurants
Explore ten nordic & scandinavian restaurants around the world, from Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsinki, Finland. Discover the restaurants and plan your next dining experience.
Alchemist
Denmark
Alchemist is a restaurant in Refshalevej, Copenhagen, Denmark, operating from Refshalevej 173C, 1432 Copenhagen. The restaurant’s own materials identify chef Rasmus Munk as head chef and describe the venue as a former welding hall at the B&W shipyard, later used by the Danish Royal Theatre for backdrops and sets, which gives the dining room an industrial setting with a strong sense of place. The restaurant is built around a long-form tasting experience rather than an à la carte format. Its official materials say the experience can comprise up to 50 impressions, combining edible courses with purely experiential elements, and is designed to unfold through a sequence of physical spaces during an evening of around four to six hours. Tickets are released in advance through its online booking system, with tables offered for parties of two, four and six. Food at Alchemist is presented through what the restaurant calls holistic cuisine, bringing together gastronomy, theatre, art, science, technology and design. The official experience page notes a full menu and several beverage pairings, including wine-focused and non-alcoholic options, while the reservation pages make clear that drinks are handled separately from the main ticket. The overall approach is staged and immersive rather than conventional restaurant service. The setting and service model suggest a highly controlled, tasting-led visit suited to guests seeking an extended gastronomic occasion. Alchemist also notes that it may not be ideal for business discussions or a first nervous date, reinforcing its character as a deliberately immersive and attention-demanding experience. The restaurant’s official communications and press materials are centred on this singular format rather than broader hospitality facilities or casual dining.
Frantzén
Sweden
Frantzén is Björn Frantzén's flagship restaurant in central Stockholm, offering a seasonal tasting menu grounded in Nordic cooking with Japanese influences. Opened in 2008, the restaurant now accommodates just 23 diners within a townhouse whose three floors shape the progression of the visit. The experience moves between the entrance level, dining room and lounge in the loft, giving the meal several distinct settings. Drinks can be matched through alcoholic or non-alcoholic pairings, while the set menu allows the kitchen to follow seasonal ingredients through a connected sequence of courses.
Maaemo
Norway
Maaemo in Oslo builds a surprise tasting menu around organic and wild ingredients. Chef Esben Holmboe Bang's approach connects wild fish, game and organically farmed produce with preservation techniques designed to use ingredients fully. The restaurant occupies Dronning Eufemias gate in Bjørvika. A high-ceilinged dining room frames a theatrically illuminated open kitchen, while a wall incorporating wool offcuts from Norwegian folk costumes adds a tactile connection to the country. The meal moves through a sequence of seasonal preparations rather than a fixed choice of dishes. Coffee and petits fours are served in a separate lounge, giving the evening a change of setting at its conclusion.
RE-NAA
Norway
RE-NAA in Stavanger builds its tasting experience around seafood and the produce of Norway's south-western region. Sven Erik Renaa and his team draw on the sea, fjords, land, forests and mountains for the ingredients that shape the menu. The kitchen sits close to the tables in an intimate dining room, making the preparation of dinner part of the experience. The open arrangement creates a direct relationship between guests and the team rather than separating cooking from service behind a closed door. Wine and non-alcoholic pairings are both offered, with the sommelier team choosing drinks to follow the tasting menu. The extended format gives the kitchen room to explore the region through a sequence of courses.
AIRA
Sweden
AIRA is a restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, at Biskopsvägen 9 on Djurgården. Its official site presents it as a two-star MICHELIN restaurant led by chefs Tommy Myllymäki and Pi Le. The restaurant occupies a purpose-built structure completed in 2020 and described by AIRA as boatyard-inspired, with a design by Swedish architect Jonas Bohlin. The exterior combines light concrete, glass and rusted metal, giving the waterfront setting a distinctly modern architectural frame. The dining offer centres on seasonal tasting menus served at lunch and dinner, with a shorter prix fixe option available during weekday lunches. Published dishes highlight a Nordic-led approach shaped by ingredients such as langoustine, Kalix vendace roe, scallop, pike perch, guinea fowl and wagyu, alongside global cooking techniques and spices. Beverage choices include matched pairings and a broader wine list, supporting a fixed-menu format rather than an à la carte style. AIRA’s main dining room accommodates parties of up to six, while a chef’s table in the main room seats two to eight guests. The restaurant also provides a private dining room on the second floor, set above the main room and arranged around a single table for up to 14 guests. This room can also use an outdoor space for cocktails in the warmer months, adding a more secluded setting for gatherings. The restaurant’s setting by the water is reflected in the interior concept, which AIRA says takes cues from seasonal changes in the Stockholm archipelago. That sense of place is reinforced by formal table service, controlled menu structure and a design intended to frame the relationship between the dining rooms and the surrounding landscape. AIRA Tailored extends the operation beyond the restaurant itself with bespoke off-site events and full buyouts.
Dill
Iceland
DILL is a restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland, on the second floor at Laugavegur 59. Its own location page describes the room as a beautifully rendered fishing shed with modern comfort, which gives the dining space a distinctive urban setting in the city centre. The business is presented as a focused dining destination rather than a casual all-day venue, and the address and format identify a specific restaurant branch operating under the DILL name. Founded in 2009, DILL says its cooking is inspired by the Icelandic landscape, native ingredients and sustainability. The restaurant describes a kitchen that explores new methods and preparations while respecting raw materials and using as much of each ingredient as possible. It also states that founding chef Gunnar Karl Gíslason is at the helm, which reinforces the impression of a chef-led restaurant with a defined culinary viewpoint and a close link to Icelandic produce. The food offer is framed as Nordic cooking shaped by Icelandic ingredients and traditions. DILL says its menu can be enjoyed with or without drinks pairings, and that it offers organic wines together with mixed beverage and alcohol-free pairings. The restaurant also explains that its menu structure does not allow vegan or milk-protein-free options, while some other allergies may be considered if notified in advance, so the dining format is deliberately narrow and carefully planned. Overall, the verified details point to a restaurant experience centred on technique, local sourcing and a restrained menu rather than wide choice. DILL refers to foraging, fresh ingredients and sustainability when describing its kitchen, and its setting supports an intimate dining room with a strong architectural character. The result is a restaurant whose identity is closely tied to Icelandic nature, seasonal produce and considered preparation in central Reykjavík.
Kadeau Copenhagen
Denmark
Kadeau Copenhagen brings the produce and food traditions of Bornholm to its Wildersgade dining room. The restaurant organises the year around two complementary ideas: the abundance of the growing season and the possibilities of preservation. During the warmer months, herbs and vegetables from its own island garden sit alongside ingredients gathered in the wild, Nordic seafood and meat. The preservation season then explores ways of carrying those flavours through the colder part of the year, using traditional and contemporary techniques. This approach gives the menu a close connection with both place and time. Dinner is the main focus, with a Saturday lunch offering another way to experience the kitchen’s interpretation of the island.
Aquavit
New York
Aquavit is a Scandinavian restaurant at 65 East 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York, operating in Park Avenue Tower between Park and Madison Avenues. The restaurant’s own site identifies it as New York’s premier Nordic restaurant, while the Michelin Guide lists it as Scandinavian, contemporary dining. Its current official pages confirm that it is open for lunch and dinner service and that reservations are taken online or by telephone. The dining room centres on seasonal Nordic cooking presented through lunch and tasting menus, with a separate bar room offering its own menu. The kitchen emphasises seafood, preserved ingredients, cultured dairy and bright produce, reflecting a modern Scandinavian style rather than a broad pan-European approach. Michelin describes the room as sleek and anchored by an open kitchen, which suits the restaurant’s polished, contemporary character. Beyond the main dining room, Aquavit also provides a bar room and private dining spaces for smaller and larger gatherings. Its official private-dining information names the Linné Salon and Nobel Room, both equipped with screen, projector and Wi-Fi, and suitable for seated meals as well as receptions. The restaurant also states that it offers off-premise catering for events across Manhattan, extending its service beyond in-house dining. Practical details on the official site include smart-casual dress in the dining room, wheelchair access, air conditioning and credit card acceptance, alongside a wine list noted by Michelin. Taken together, these details place Aquavit as a structured fine-dining operation with a clear Nordic identity, designed for formal lunches, evening tasting menus and private events in central New York.
Ekstedt at The Yard
London, UK
Ekstedt at The Yard is a restaurant in London, UK.
Finnjavel Salonki
Finland
Finnjävel Salonki explores Finnish food through the techniques and ingredients that shaped it: curing, fermentation, smoking and produce drawn from the country’s forests, waters and farms. Chef and owner Tommi Tuominen turns those traditions into five- or eight-course menus, giving familiar flavours a precise contemporary form. The surroundings continue the theme. Set in Helsinki’s Taidehalli exhibition building, the restaurant has interiors and tableware designed by Finnish siblings Kivi and Tuuli Sotamaa. Round tables suit couples and small parties, with a separate room available for larger groups. Wine pairings accompany the menus, while the changing dishes trace regional food traditions across Finland.