Noma: Game and Forest Season 2023

Diving into Rene Redzepi’s Scandi funhouse

Many things come to mind when one hears the name “Noma”: Iconic, pretentious, influential, overhyped, the world’s best restaurant... Some may even vividly recall scenes from last year’s dark comedy “The Menu,” which bears some striking parallels to the real-life Noma (though thankfully we all left alive at the end of our own dining experience).

Noma brings to the forefront all that people both love, and hate about fine dining. But no matter which side of the coin you fall on - whether you despise the pretentiousness of michelin-star dining, or live for it - a dining experience at Noma is nothing short of memorable.

Here I’ll take you through my own wild journey during Noma’s Game and Forest Season in February 2023.

Entering the belly of the beast. The walkway leading to the restaurant is absolutely magical. The dramatic entrance got me hyped for what was waiting inside.

A hello from the heart

First up we have a small slab of grilled reindeer heart, served simply over a bed of forest branches (the latter is not edible - don’t try).

I’ll be honest, starting off with a bloody heart was definitely a power move on their part, but it gave me a good sense of what I was going to be in for on the next 15 courses. I ate the heart and buckled up for more.

Starting off with a bang — I mean, BRAIN

Course #2 is served in this little - but imposing - skull. Flip it over and you’ll find the inside full of minced reindeer brain in a jelly-like custard, covered in bee pollen.

Here’s a closer look at the flip side of it…this course was already testing my limits (you can hear me saying “I don’t know about this” at the end of the video lol), but I did end up eating it. After all, this dinner was prepaid, and I knew I was in for something very unique, so I bit the bullet and started biting the brain.

Next up: Dried fruits and Rabbit Oil. I don’t exactly know where the oil was in here (the sauce was thicker than oil) or how one makes oil from rabbits, but this dish was the easiest of the 3 given to me so far so I was glad for a reprieve.

Sweetbreads in Crispy Moss. Ok — It’s getting easier now!

A little deer sandwich (the deer aged in beeswax).

Forest broth, a nice little palate cleanser in between all the meat.

Now for a real sucker punch - a lovely reindeer penis ragout. These people were not kidding when they said “game” and forest season — It almost feels as if they’re laughing in the kitchen while making us eat every vital organ of a reindeer.

Quail Egg Wrapped in Pickled Ransom

Now this was fantastic in both texture and flavor - one of the standouts of this menu for me, Cooked Pumpkin with White Currant

Adding a little levity with some Bear Æbleskiver

Rosehip berries with scoby and apple. Yep you heard right - scoby as in the living bacterial/yeast culture used to make Kombucha. It may sound really weird, but this was actually my favorite dish of the entire tasting menu. The scoby was thinly sliced like sashimi and rested in a vinaigrette of some sort that was tart and refreshing. If no one had told me what this was, I might have mistaken it for a real crudo.

Mother scoby herself makes an appearance at our table!

We’re getting towards the end now - and another hunk of meat! Although this one came with a touch more umami on the side - Wild Deer and Truffle Tart

Here we have the Cloudberries and Plum. Now this one was a little like the Cooked Pumpkin with White Currant above in terms of presentation, but where that dish was savory, we are now moving out of the main courses and into the realm of dessert — now, this is still Noma so there’s no sugary-sweetness to be had here, but it was still a nice diversion.

Now this was probably as close to “normal” as anything you’ll ever get at Noma, and while it may have pained them to throw one in for the normies like me, this was an absolutely delicious dish. Saffron ice cream with poppy seeds.

Of course they couldn’t let us go without throwing in one last bizarre surprise to finish us off - And for the finale, here is the Reindeer blood caramel.

Here’s what it looks like when the candle is out! (Ignore my massive and unvarnished thumb).

And that’s a wrap folks!!
Noma Game and Forest Season 2023.

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WAIT OKAY, I’ll give you a bit more. Here’s a behind the scenes look at Noma - I even managed to find the famed brain custard skulls 😈

Okay now THAT’s a wrap.