A bodega first, a jazz bar second. Order smørrebrød at the counter, take a cold beer, and stay for the Sunday session.
Palæ Bar sits at Ny Adelgade 5, a short street between Kongens Nytorv and Strøget, two minutes from Nyhavn. It has poured since 1984. The bar's own site frames it as a classic Copenhagen bodega, and that is the right word: dark wood, brass, decades of collected signs, and a counter where you choose your smørrebrød by sight.
The room reads older than its years. It keeps the format of a traditional Danish drinking house in a part of the centre that has otherwise turned to chains and tourist cafes. That continuity is the draw, along with one of the better open-faced sandwich counters near the harbour.
The room
The space is low-lit and warm, with worn wood and walls thick with memorabilia. It is not large, and it fills on jazz nights and Friday evenings. The bar runs from late morning, which makes it a lunch room as much as a night one. Regulars treat it as a neighbourhood fixture, not a destination, and the staff know them by name.
The food and drink
Smørrebrød is the kitchen's reason to exist. The open-faced sandwiches come out from 11am and are chosen at the counter, the old bodega way. The drink list runs to cold Danish beer, aquavit, wine, and straightforward cocktails. This is not a craft programme; it is a bodega card, kept honest and kept cheap relative to the surrounding streets.
What to order
Order two pieces of smørrebrød, a cold pilsner, and a snaps to follow. The herring and the roast pork are the safe picks from the counter. Skip the cocktails if you want the room at its best; the beer-and-snaps order is what the regulars run, and it suits the bodega format better than anything shaken.
The jazz
Jazz is the second identity. Palæ Bar hosts live sessions and has run its own jazz prize, the Palæ Bar Jazzpris, every year since 1990. The bar is a fixture of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival each July, when the room turns into one of the city's reliable small-stage stops. On a normal Sunday the music is the reason to arrive early and hold a seat.
Who it is for
It is for anyone who wants a real Danish lunch room near the harbour, or a low-key jazz night without a cover at a club. It works for an early smørrebrød, a slow afternoon beer, or a Sunday session. Skip it if you came for a modern cocktail list. For more of the genre, see Copenhagen's pubs and live music bars.
Best time to go
It opens at 11am most days, later on Sunday, and runs to 1am or 3am depending on the night. Lunch is the window for the smørrebrød counter at its freshest. Evenings and jazz sessions are the window for the room at its fullest. For more of the city, start with our Copenhagen bar guide and the best bars in Copenhagen.
Sources: Palæ Bar official site (2026); SpottedByLocals Copenhagen; Tripadvisor; Yelp; The Jungle List; Google Maps reviews.
