Two Michelin stars, ten weeks after the doors opened in April 2023 — no Copenhagen kitchen has ever climbed faster. Koan is Kristian Baumann's argument that Korean cooking belongs in the same conversation as the Nordic tasting rooms that made this city famous, and the inspectors agreed almost immediately. The format is a single set menu, priced at DKK 3,000, served in a glass pavilion on the Langelinie quay with the harbour at the windows.
The Kitchen
Kristian Baumann was born in South Korea, adopted as an infant and raised in a Danish family outside Copenhagen; he cooked at noma before spending years travelling Korea to learn the cuisine of his birth. Koan, at Langeliniekaj 5, is where those two lines meet. The menu reads Korean in technique and Nordic in produce: a twisted-doughnut kkwabaegi brushed with sesame butter and ginseng-infused honey opens the meal; a course of langoustine and magnolia and a pine-nut tofu with caviar sit at the centre; the meal closes on a ganjang-caramel dessert that turns soy sauce into pastry with salted brown-butter ice cream and black sesame. The tasting runs DKK 3,000, with pairings from a non-alcoholic flight at DKK 1,100 to a sool pairing of Korean rice spirits at DKK 1,600 and a prestige wine pairing at DKK 3,800. The two stars, awarded in the 2023 Danish selection, still stand in the current Michelin Guide.
The Room
Koan sits on the Langelinie waterfront, a low glass pavilion that faces the harbour rather than the street, so the light shifts with the water through the long northern evening. It is an intimate counter-and-table room built for one seating that unfolds slowly; service is precise and quietly informed, the kind that explains a soy-aged course without lecturing. Come for the food and the calm, not for a scene — the room is the opposite of a see-and-be-seen dining hall.
Best for an Anniversary
Book this room for an anniversary because the meal is engineered for a long, undistracted evening: one set menu means no negotiating over what to order, the harbour-facing pavilion is genuinely calm, and the pacing leaves room to talk between courses. The sool pairing gives the night a thread of its own, moving from rice spirits to wine as the courses turn from snacks to the ganjang-caramel finish. It is a meal you will still be describing on the next anniversary.
Not for
Not for a quick dinner or the budget-conscious: it is one long tasting menu at DKK 3,000 before pairings, dinner only, with a single seating that runs the full evening.
Practical information
Affiliate disclosure: RFK may earn a commission on bookings made through partner links, at no cost to you. Scores and verdicts are editorial and never paid for.
Frequently asked questions
Is Koan worth it?
Yes, if a long tasting-menu evening is what you want. Koan earned two Michelin stars within ten weeks of opening in 2023 and holds them today, and Kristian Baumann's Korean-Nordic cooking is among the most distinctive in Copenhagen. At DKK 3,000 it is a serious outlay, so treat it as a destination meal rather than a casual booking.
How hard is it to book Koan?
Harder than most Copenhagen rooms. Koan releases seats in batches through its own calendar at koancph.dk rather than a third-party platform, and the single nightly seating means capacity is limited. Book as far ahead as the calendar allows, watch for newly released dates, and consider a weekday for a better chance at the table you want.
How much does a meal at Koan cost?
The set tasting menu is DKK 3,000 per person before drinks. Pairings range from a DKK 1,100 non-alcoholic flight to a DKK 1,600 sool pairing of Korean rice spirits, a DKK 1,800 wine pairing, and a DKK 3,800 prestige pairing. Budget realistically for the tasting plus a pairing when planning the evening.
Is Koan good for an anniversary?
Yes. The single set menu removes any ordering friction, the harbour-facing pavilion on Langelinie is calm enough for real conversation, and the slow pacing of one seating suits a celebration. For other ideas, see our guide to the best restaurants for an anniversary and the wider Copenhagen dining guide.
What should I order at Koan?
There is no à la carte — Koan serves one tasting menu, so the only real choice is the pairing. The kkwabaegi doughnut, the langoustine and magnolia course, and the ganjang-caramel dessert are the dishes regulars single out. Add the sool pairing if you want the Korean side of the cellar rather than a conventional wine flight.
Related restaurants in Copenhagen
Featured in
Koan appears in our 20 best tables in Copenhagen for 2026, alongside the wider rankings for the best Korean restaurants worldwide and the best tasting menus worldwide.