Smør – A Taste of Denmark in East Village

For years, I’ve been complaining about the lack of good Danish casual restaurants in NYC. Yes, there are a few places serving Nordic food, but they tend to lean more Swedish or fall into the fine-dining, super-expensive category. I’ve been waiting for something more accessible—something that feels genuinely Danish without the hefty price tag. And along came Smør in East Village.

Smør is a tiny eatery founded by Sebastian & Sebastian, two Danes who saw a gap in the NYC food scene for authentic, high-quality Nordic-inspired dishes. With only limited, somewhat crowded seating inside, it’s more of a quick-bite kind of spot, and the clientele, at least when we were there for brunch, was mainly 20-somethings.

Their menu includes some serious Danish classics, and I was thrilled to see smørrebrød with pickled herring, Danish pancakes, and even a Danish hotdog—all essentials in any proper Danish food lineup.

I went for the pickled herring smørrebrød, and it was delicious, and exactly how I would expect it to taste back in Denmark. Danish pickled herring is pickled in a vinegar-based brine with sugar, onions, and spices, giving it a sharper acidity than most other kinds of pickled herring I’ve tried. The tangy, sweet and sour flavors pair perfectly with Danish sourdough rye bread and Snaps (Danish aquavit), but unfortunately, the latter isn’t on the menu at Smør. I also tried the Danish hotdog, which came with the classic remoulade, fried onions, and Danish-style pickled cucumbers. Danish hot dogs are typically rather thin and long, and they always have a casing. This one tasted and looked exactly like one of the better hotdogs in Denmark, so I think it was imported, as I haven’t found hotdogs like that at other places outside of Denmark. If you’ve ever had a real Danish hotdog, you know how important those elements are.

Steve had the brunch platter, which was also very Danish: rye bread, salad, a poached egg, brie, and pickled onion. In Denmark, we want our brunch to consist of many smaller dishes, not just one big dish which is more common in the US, so the brunch platter at Smør is pretty much how a solid brunch platter would look in Copenhagen. He also had the fries with tarragon aioli, which tasted a bit like bearnaise sauce, and which were so good you just couldn’t stop eating them.

Smør is a great place for authentic and reasonably priced Danish food. I’m so glad that I’ve found this place and I’ll definitely be back to check out their dinner menu (they have Stjerneskud, a smørrebrød classic with fish fillet and shrimp, which I’m very curious about).

Smør, 441 E 12th St, New York, NY 10009