Tårnet – ‘The Tower’ – has no long history as a restaurant, but the building is iconic and its foundation dates back to 1167. The castle it is a part of, Christiansborg, used to be the king’s residence, but since 1849, it has been the seat of Denmark’s parliament and supreme court.
The environment of this restaurant is unique. It is situated in the top of a tower with massive slabs of rock as the walls and floor, lending a very special atmosphere to this otherwise modern restaurant. The present restaurateur is a large catering contractor, Meyers, so it may be risky to place this restaurant as one of my favourites. Nevertheless, I take a leap of faith thanks to head chef Maria Junker, one of the young rising stars in the Danish smørrebrød universe. She has previously worked at the classic top restaurant Schønnemann, and created her own style which is modern and extremely delicious.
However, the restaurant has one drawback: since it shares walls with parliament, you need to pass through a security check similar to that at an airport to enter the restaurant. But your reward is wonderful smørrebrød and access to the top deck of the tower with a great view of inner Copenhagen.