Yesterday, Christopher and I were lucky enough to have lunch at the new NOMA, a restaurant that has been voted best in the world four times. The restaurant is located in a compound, on the water next to Christiania. Christopher and I took the ferry bus there.
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| Taking the Ferry Bus to Noma |
When we arrived at the compound, there was someone to greet us at the gate. He let us enter and we were guided to the restaurant. When we walked into the restaurant, the entire kitchen staff was there to greet us. Such a warm welcome! Everyone was smiling and saying hello. I was playing it cool and didn't take a picture of them. But here is what it looked like (picture from a NY Times article).
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| A Warm Welcome |
It's almost impossible to get a reservation at Noma. Online reservations fill up in a matter of minutes. This is a new location for Noma, which reopened just 3 months ago, in February. So, reservations are especially hot. Christopher worked really hard to get the reservation, and we lucked out by getting in off the wait list.
Right now, the menu is all about seafood. Twenty dishes, all from the sea. Here is the menu.
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| The Menu at Noma |
We started out with a sea snail broth, served in a snail shell. It was lined with edible flowers that were delicious!
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| Sea Snail Broth |
Next, came the razor clams. These were alive, just minutes ago. They sliced them up and hey, presto!
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| Razor Clams with St. John's Wort |
The next dish, "Best of the Mussel" came with a beautiful cover. They make these at Noma. Imaging a little art and craft session at the restaurant after hours. It's a lid that has mussel shells glued on.
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| Noma Arts & Crafts |
Inside were the yummiest Danish blue mussels cooked in butter.
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| Best of the Mussel |
Next, came the Dried Fruits and Shrimps. I was confused and thought that these were fake shrimps glued on the lid. Nope!
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| These are meant to be eaten. |
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| I've never sucked a shrimp head before. Not bad! |
Inside, the shrimp was covered by thin sheets of pastry made with shrimp fat. They were so crisp and screamed UMAMI. There were also pickled dried plums in there which were delicious.
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| Dried Fruits and Shrimps |
The Cured Trout Roe and Eggs was just beautiful. Our two plates looked exactly the same. Think about how much work it must take to make a dish look like this. It looked just like a star fish! The caviar popped in your mouth. The flavor was amazing.
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| Cured Trout Roe and Eggs |
The next dish was the Jellyfish. It was kind of weird but delicious. I especially loved the different types of seaweed that garnished the rim of the plate.
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| Jellyfish |
Our server, Martin was really great. Christopher and I both ordered the wine flight (seven different wines/drinks). We saw him a lot.
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| Martin |
The decor in the restaurant was so warm and inviting. I especially loved the chairs. The wood was so smooth and I was so comfortable.
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| Once in a Lifetime Lunch |
There were a couple of seafood platters that followed. I should mention that a lot of the meal was eaten without utensils, which was kind of different for a fancy restaurant. Here is the first seafood platter, to be eaten using the razor clam shells in the center.
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| Scallops & Mahogany Clams |
When you opened the scallops, you got this beautiful curated work of art, thin sliced sweet scallops decorated with their roe.
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| Scallops |
Next came the Mahogany Clams. We were told that these clams are about 150 years old, maybe older. I felt bad. I mean, after such a long life, shouldn't these clams just be left alone to relax in their old age? I guess being served at Noma is a great clam honor.
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| Mahogany Clam |
150 year old clams are delicious, by the way!
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| Aged to Perfection |
Many of the dishes were brought to our table by the cooks who prepared them. If the chef, Rene Redzepi had been there that day, we would have met him. I'm really disappointed that we didn't get a chance to meet him. Oh well, maybe next time! The next platter came with our Limfjords Oysters and Sea Urchin. I've always wanted to try sea urchin, and this one did not disappoint!
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| Limfjords Oyster |
The sea urchin had flavors of creamy mushroom on top of the beast. Such a great combination!
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| Sea Urchin |
Sadly, I can't remember what the oysters tasted like. I mentioned that we ordered the wine flight, right? Perhaps there was some horseradish in here. I do know that it was delicious. Everything was!
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| Memorable Oysters that I forgot |
The Dried Sea Cucumber was a real surprise. The little bowls pictured below are what we ate. We did NOT eat the huge scary sea cucumber on the right.
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| Dried Sea Cucumber |
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| Do Not Eat |
The Dried Sea Cucumber was amazing because it tasted exactly like a seafood chicharone, if you can imagine that.
The Squid in Seaweed Butter was so meticulously constructed. Zoom in if you can.
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| Squid in Seaweed Butter |
The next dish, Sea Snails and Roses was served in a cup made out of beeswax.
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| Beeswax Container |
It was sort of like a salad.
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| Sea Snails and Roses |
"Head of the Cod" was next. Honestly, if they had just called it "Cod" I probably would have enjoyed it more. It was so satisfyingly meaty, and the three different dips that came with it were excellent.
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| Head of the Cod |
No idea what this is. Absolutely no idea. At this point I had probably had like 7 cocktails.
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| Maybe Cod |
Time for dessert! The Pear and Roasted Kelp Ice Cream was served in an edible shell.
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| Pear and Roasted Kelp Ice Cream |
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| Eating Ice Cream with His Hands |
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| Ice Cream Inside! |
The Cloudberries and Pine Cones was my favorite. The pine cones were so chewy and delicious. I have no idea how they got them that way. I've never had anything like it before.
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| Cloudberries & Pine Cones |
I'm pretty sure these were the sugar kelp tarts.
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| Sugar Kelp Tarts |
And of course, because every meal needs a 4th dessert, we ended with the Plankton Cake. We shared this cake.
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| Plankton Cake for Two |
Lunch lasted about 2 1/2 hours. I took a brief moment and snapped some pics of the restaurant.
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| Sea Creatures |
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| The Kitchen! |
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| This is Where the Magic Happens |
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| Everyone Working at Noma is Young and Hip |
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| Paying the Bill |
After our meal, we were given a little tour of the restaurant and led outdoors. It was really neat to see into the kitchen. The building is really beautiful.
So that was our lunch at Noma. Definitely one for the books!
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| The End |
På Gensyn!
