RFK Rankings · Copenhagen
Best Counter-Only Restaurants in Copenhagen 2026
Counters & chef's-counter rooms · Copenhagen · 6 ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Sushi Anaba has eight seats and no tables at all. That is the purest version of what this list is after: a room built around a counter, where you sit facing the kitchen and the cooks work in front of you. Copenhagen has only a couple of true counter-only rooms and a handful of counter-led ones where the best seat is at the pass. Below are six, ranked, with the format spelled out for each and the best for a solo seat noted.
1.Sushi Anaba
The city's only true counter-only sushi room, eight seats facing chef Mads Battefeld. Book months ahead for Copenhagen's best omakase.
Sushi Anaba at Sandkaj 39 in Nordhavn, in a restored 1916 customs house, is the most genuine counter-only room in Copenhagen: eight seats at a Douglas-fir counter and no tables at all. Chef-owner Mads Battefeld trained in Ginza under Hiroyuki Sato, and his Edomae omakase, served on three-vinegar rice at body temperature, runs around 1,785 kroner, about 255 dollars, prepaid for every guest. It earned a Michelin star in 2025, held in 2026. This is the city's best sushi counter and its purest counter experience.
Book the moment the window opens, weeks ahead, and arrive on time, since the omakase starts together for all eight seats.
Book on the Sushi Anaba site as soon as dates release.
2.Akmé
A sixteen-seat chef's counter for Japanese-French omakase, promoted to a star in 2026. Reserve it for langoustine and bluefin steps from Sushi Anaba.
Akmé sits in the same Sandkaj 39 complex in Nordhavn as Sushi Anaba, a sixteen-seat chef's counter, with a couple of small tables, run by chefs Emil Hassan Lyngbæk and Valdemar Junge Norvang. The fourteen-course Japanese-French menu costs 1,300 kroner, about 185 dollars, with a pairing from 900, on dishes such as grilled Danish langoustine with bisque and Portuguese bluefin with a Breton oyster. It opened in February 2025 and was promoted to one Michelin star in the 2026 guide. The counter is the seat to take.
Reserve a counter seat ahead and pair it with a visit to its neighbour for a full Nordhavn counter night.
Book a counter seat on the Akmé site; take the pairing.
3.JATAK
Jonathan Tam's one-star room where the extended menu is served only at the kitchen counter. Book the counter for char siu and a 24-micro-season tasting.
JATAK at Rantzausgade 39 in Nørrebro is chef-owner Jonathan Tam's room, where the marquee seat is the kitchen counter: the extended tasting menu is served only to those facing the pass, while tables get the shorter version. Tam, who came up at Noma, cooks a Cantonese-meets-Nordic Solar menu of 24 micro-seasons at around 1,250 kroner, about 179 dollars, with a char siu of organic Danish pork as a signature. It has held one Michelin star since 2022. Take the counter and the long menu.
Book a counter seat specifically and order the extended menu, which only the counter can have.
Book the counter on the JATAK site; take the extended menu.
4.Goldfinch
A U-shaped counter facing the wok station for serious Cantonese cooking from an ex-Geranium chef. Sit at the counter for dumplings and roast meats.
Goldfinch at Kongens Nytorv 8 in Indre By is built around a U-shaped counter facing the wok station, the seat that makes it a counter room, with group booths behind. Chef Will King-Smith, who cooked at the three-star Geranium and at Mielcke & Hurtigkarl, turns out serious Cantonese cooking, dim sum, roast meats and wok dishes, with sharing plates from around 150 to 300 kroner. It opened around 2023 as the city's first proper Cantonese counter. For a solo seat or a pair, the wok counter is the booking.
Ask for a counter seat when you book, and order across the dim sum and the wok station.
Book a counter seat at Goldfinch; order dim sum and a wok dish.
5.Esmée
A four-seat kitchen counter facing the rotisserie inside a grand French brasserie. Reserve the counter for a solo seat with a front-row kitchen view.
Esmée at Kongens Nytorv 8 in Indre By, in the former Geist space, is a large French brasserie with a four-seat kitchen counter facing the open rotisserie, designed for single diners who want a front-row seat. Chef Andreas Bagh, formerly head chef at Marchal, cooks rotisserie meats, seafood platters and truffle gougeres to an à la carte menu of around 200 to 400 kroner a plate. The counter is a small part of a big room, so it is the lightest counter claim here, but it is a fine solo perch in a grand setting.
Reserve the kitchen counter specifically, since the four seats go fast, and watch the rotisserie work.
Book the kitchen counter at Esmée for a solo seat.
6.Iluka
Beau Clugston's seafood bar with bookable counter seats facing the prep. Pull up a counter seat for Nordic shellfish and natural wine.
Iluka at Peder Skrams Gade 15 in Indre By is the seafood room of Australian chef Beau Clugston, who spent ten years at Noma before opening it in 2018. It has bookable bar and counter seats facing the prep, the seat to take for a solo or two-person dinner, alongside its tables. The cooking is Scandinavian seafood, Danish crayfish, Faroese shellfish and Norwegian scallops, with a natural-wine list, and it sits on the World's 50 Best Discovery list. Note the kitchen takes a winter break from 1 to 24 February.
Reserve a counter seat ahead, lean on the floor for the wine, and let the kitchen steer the seafood.
Book a counter seat at Iluka; ask the floor to pour natural wine.
Not a counter room
Open kitchen, but table service
Koan. Kristian Baumann's two-star Korean-Nordic room has a beautiful open kitchen, but it is a table-service restaurant, not a chef's counter, so it does not fit this list. Book it for the 17-course tasting, just not for a counter seat.
Studio. Its kitchen-counter format was a genuine draw, but it served its last covers in October 2025. Do not plan a counter night there, whatever older guides still suggest.
How to book a Copenhagen counter
These counters are small, eight to sixteen seats, and they sell out weeks ahead, so book the moment the booking window opens and set a reminder for the date drops at Sushi Anaba and Akmé. Both of those are in Nordhavn at the same Sandkaj address, so you can pair them across two nights for a full counter trip.
At JATAK, book the counter specifically rather than a table, since only the counter gets the extended menu, and at Goldfinch and Esmée ask for the counter seat by name when you reserve. Counters are the best seat in the house for solo diners, so they double as the city's strongest solo-dining bookings.
Frequently asked
Which Copenhagen restaurant is a true counter-only room?
Sushi Anaba at Sandkaj 39 in Nordhavn is the purest one: eight seats at a single counter and no tables at all. Chef Mads Battefeld serves an Edomae omakase at around 1,785 kroner, and it holds a Michelin star. Most other Copenhagen counters, such as Akmé and JATAK, are counter-led, with a counter as the main seat alongside a few tables.
Where is the best omakase in Copenhagen?
Sushi Anaba in Nordhavn, an eight-seat counter where chef Mads Battefeld serves an Edomae omakase on body-temperature rice for around 1,785 kroner, is the city's best and holds a Michelin star. Nearby Akmé, at the same Sandkaj address, runs a Japanese-French omakase at a sixteen-seat counter for 1,300 kroner and earned its own star in 2026.
Are counter restaurants good for solo dining in Copenhagen?
Yes, counters are the best solo seats in the city, since you sit facing the kitchen with the cooks for company. Sushi Anaba, Akmé and JATAK all seat you at a counter for a full tasting, and Esmée's four-seat kitchen counter and Iluka's bar seats are designed with single diners in mind. Book the counter seat by name when you reserve.
How much does a counter dinner cost in Copenhagen?
It ranges with the room. The omakase counters are the top end: Sushi Anaba is around 1,785 kroner, about 255 dollars, and Akmé is 1,300, about 185. JATAK's extended counter menu runs around 1,250 kroner. Goldfinch, Esmée and Iluka are à la carte, where a counter dinner of a few plates lands lower, roughly 400 to 700 kroner before drinks.
Do you need to book Copenhagen counter restaurants in advance?
Yes, and well ahead. These rooms have only eight to sixteen seats, so they fill weeks out. Sushi Anaba and Akmé release dates that go quickly, so book the moment they open. At JATAK, reserve the counter rather than a table to get the extended menu, and at Goldfinch, Esmée and Iluka ask specifically for a counter or bar seat.
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