the gluttonous goat: the king of scandinavia & perhaps the world?

Let me warn you now. This post is going to be a long one (well more than my usual two paragraphs). If you have a short attention span, just tune out now. It's certainly taken me a long time to get around to blogging about it and that's because I knew I needed to be in the right frame of mind in order to give it the attention it deserves.

128 days ago, I was so excited I couldn't sit still all day. I had managed to secure a table for four at the famed NOMA restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark - considered the world's best restaurant three years running.

Food, like wine is so subjective. Some people eat to live, but myself and many others I know live to eat. That's why we're friends...we share the same passion for food and discovering new and exciting places to feast at.

I'd arrived in Copenhagen on a chilly yet surprisingly sunny April afternoon. I'd recently completed a two week visit of home (Sydney), followed by three days in London (all sans Mr GluttonousGoat). I was also sick and extremely irritable. I had lost most of my tastebuds and was depressed by the thought of not being able to taste anything at lunch. Mr GluttonousGoat arrived several hours later - also ill but with his tastebuds intact. We met up with our fellow eating buddies (Mr & Mrs Wong) that evening for a night cap. On Mr Wong's advice, I downed two Jägermeisters (originally developed as a cough remedy in Germany) - I felt marginally better, but not hopeful that my tastebuds would be restored in 12 hours.
Miraculously, I awoke the next morning, feeling somewhat more alive and by the time I sat down to breakfast, realised that I was able to smell and taste everything I ate. Bless the Jägermeisters! I was cured - well sort of. At least I got my tastebuds back!

We arrived for our reservation 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. Were we eager? Perhaps just a little. Before we could all pile out of the taxi, one of the kind lads from the welcoming brigade was holding the door open to the restaurant. Excitedly, we all entered, one by one, only to be greeted by what was perhaps the world's largest welcoming brigade - complete with none other than Rene Redzepi himself. We were all pretty star struck to say the least. It's quite common for the chef patron to visit the table at least once during the meal, but to form part of the welcoming brigade (and there must have been at least 8 of them) was quite the treat. They even knew straight away who we were (not our individual names of course but the booking name).

We were seated at a round table closest to the exit, the room of the restaurant holding no more than 10 tables at most. "We have no menus" declared the first waiter that served us. There will be "snacks" in quick successions followed by "mains" which will be paced appropriately. We were all rubbing our hands in glee - the remnants of meeting Gastronomer Redzepi still fresh in our minds.

the exterior of Noma

loving the exposed wooden beams inside the restaurant

our first 'snack': malt flat bread & juniper,

moss & cep

I had read somewhere that the first snack would already be sitting on our table rather than served. Lo and behold...it came in the form of a floral arrangement. I tried to eat everything, but apparently only the darker sticks shown in the above picture could be consumed.

crispy pork skin & black currant

cookies, cheese, rocket & stems

blue mussel and celery

fjord shrimp & browned butter - these were still alive!

When a clear jar was placed in front of us, we were given strict instructions to open the jar, grab the shrimp, dip it quickly in the brown butter sauce and down it in one gulp. No hesitation was allowed. We then realised why - these shrimps were still alive! The boys had a fun time trying to grab hold of these slippery little suckers, one even jump out of reach and wriggled onto the table. After 3 of us had consumed the shrimps, we looked to our friend Mrs Wong who was still trying to come to grips with the poor creature. Eventually, she managed to grab hold of one, drowned it in brown butter and victoriously held up her prize for the table to see. Unfortunately, the shrimp chose that moment to wriggle furiously splashing brown sauce all over her hair. The moral of the story? Listen to instructions and eat quickly. Although a very bemused Rene Redzepi did wander over to see what the commotion was all about. Needless to say, Mrs Wong was star struck all over again!

caramelised milk & cod live

rye, chicken skin & lumpfish roe

potato & chicken liver

big fat quail egg with a surprise inside

pickled & smoked quail eggs

radish, soil & grass - my favourite was the soil

herb toast & smoked cod roe

very delicious sourdough with buttermilk & pork lard

Once the "snacks" were done with, in rolled the mains...

peas & fermented peas - a new experiment for the month

razor clam & parsley, dill & horseradish

dried scallops & beech nuts, biodynamic grains & watercress

our very beautifully presented fourth course...

limfjords oyster & seaweed, gooseberry & buttermilk

cauliflower & pine, cream & horseradish

pike perch & cabbages, verbena & dill

pickled vegetables & bone marrow, browned butter & parsley
- my favourite dish of the day

one of the chefs displaying the turbot that
we were about to consume

anyone for turbot?

roasted turbot & bitter greens, celeriac & mushroom

And finally for desserts...

brown cheese & rhubarb

pear tree! - the 'sponge' just melted in our mouths

petit fours : caramel 'bone' marrow

petit fours: choc fennel chips

petit fours: rude looking marshmallows

I can clearly see why Noma has claimed the number 1 spot in the world. The execution and presentation of the food was faultless. The service - impeccable and extremely personable. At the end of the meal, we were treated to a tour of the working kitchen as well as the creative labs upstairs - where we caught another glimpse of Rene - but alas, he was busy with some journalists from America.

I really enjoyed our experience at Noma and wouldn't hesitate going back again - maybe for dinner this time around. From what we were told, they try to create 4 new dishes each month and repeat visitors would not consume the same main dishes...Noma in summer 2012 - anyone?