OMAR — Restaurant in Copenhagen Municipality

My new favorite restaurant in Copenhagen. Been many places and tried many different things but Omar is the best, no doubt.

I called in on a Friday evening asking if there were any cancellations tonight, luckily for us there were. They had two seats available if we could come now and since I live 2 minutes away that was quite easy. Even though I live so close I had never been there. What a shame, but thankfully I went!

You’re served 8 different courses, all with their own charm. You start of with some arancini’s with cacio Pepe inside served on a bed of spinach pure I think it was. Super super delicious! Then you get their homemade straciatella with some pickled red onions and other stuff on top, super simple but fit really nicely with everything else. Together with those two serving you got a ceviche in a vinegary sauce, really nice but not my favorite. My girlfriend loved it however. Together with these three dishes we got two buns accompanied by whipped butter, definitely also great.

Next serving was the best however! Beef on a bed of mashed potatoes, fish with tomato sauce and lentils on top of hummus I think. The beef was 10/10 and honestly the fish in tomato was just as good. I really really loved the fish, it was super crispy and flaky and the tomato fit so nicely. Also the beef had gherkins and mustard seeds on top, something I thought was weird when the waiter presented it, but it really worked so well. The lentil salad was super nice, it was acidic and tasted really different from what I expected. All three were amazing, really hard to pinpoint what was best.

The desserts was also 10/10. I think it was some kind of cardamom, coconut ice cream with some kind of rum mixture in the bottom. Idk, but what I do know was that it was crazy good. Perfect finisher for the meal.

Next to all of this we had a German wine, can’t remember which one, but I do remember it was one liter and that made me happy. Everything just made me happy, it was such a nice experience. The waiters were nice, the atmosphere was nice and none of the dishes except for maybe the ceviche (at least for me) was subpar. 100% one of the best places in the city and somewhere I will come back too in the future. Omar deserves...

A great evening … until it was not. Recently I turned 40 and some friends invited me to go here. We were warmly welcomed, and the place was simmering in a really good way. We went for the 8 dishes shared menu, and matching wines along the way. The person serving us in the beginning was very knowledgeable about the menu, wine, recommendations and helpful when informed about my food allergies. Most dishes are served cold, and 4 out the 8 servings were outstanding. The other 4 straight up good. I would go and eat here again had it not been for the following. After dinner we were asked about coffee. The young person taking the order didn’t really seem to know what was on the card, couldn’t give any recommendations and he failed to remember the order correctly. An earnest mistake that shouldn’t impact the rating of the place. The follow up however shocked us. Another person followed up with a bucket full of aggression, when she came to take the follow up order to correct the mistake. She was furious in attitude and seemed mad at us - rating down to four stars. We got our coffee and our liquor on the side. Good coffee. When paying the bill we were asked about the evening, I explained that we really appreciated the food, wine and had a short elaborate talk on the best dish which I thought was either the Swordfish or the Plaice in beurre blanc. And then briefly mentioned that is was a bit weird to be lashed out at by the waiter before. The bill was settled with tips included and while picking up the payment terminal the waiter promptly and cold replied, “you are also to old for this concept” and he turned on his foot and walked away. A motto of OMAR is written on the menu: “this is a safe place” - yet we got hard core age shamed. Now down to two stars.

In conclusion, go here for good value pescatarian food and organic wine. Take the early seating where the waiters are not tired, look at the menu yourself and don’t expect to be guided in you choices, and be younger than 40 … or you are simple too old.

This could easily have a been a five...

I rarely write reviews for restaurants but needed to get this off my chest: this was the best meal I’ve had so far after a month of traveling around western Europe (Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Amsterdam). Maybe I’m biased because I had a rather disappointing 9 course fine dining experience the night before and this 8 course menu for 1/3 of the price and twice the amount of food just blew me away by comparison. It’s not even that the food was groundbreaking per se, but each dish had at least one interesting/unique component and was just so flavorful and well executed with a good variance of textures. Simply delicious and beautifully presented without being pretentious. I loved that they brought it out in 2 phases of 3 dishes then 2 desserts (I love eating multiple things at once and moving back and forth through various dishes). I’d say the yellow beets, monkfish, pork neck, cucumber sorbet and milk ice cream with black currants were standouts to me so if you don’t do the 8 courses at least consider these a la carte. Vibes were immaculate too, there was jazzy old school sounding rap playing and the place was clearly a favorite of locals, chefs were laidback and having fun with each other and the waitresses. I wish I lived here and could try every new menu these guys put out, definitely feels like a hidden local gem. Highly recommend if you’re in the area and if you’re not, it’s worth the trip for a cozy, vibrant meal for...