Iluka

Iluka is a seafood restaurant on Peder Skrams Gade in central Copenhagen, opened in 2018 by the Australian chef Beau Clugston. Its name means near the sea.

Clugston came to Denmark from London, where he had cooked at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and joined René Redzepi at Noma before setting out on his own. Iluka carries something of both kitchens: careful technique, but little decoration on the plate, and a close eye on where each ingredient comes from. Opinionated About Dining has put it on its European list for three years in a row.

The cooking keeps close to the fish. Much of it comes from the brackish waters around Copenhagen, chosen with sustainability in mind. Sea urchin from the Faroe Islands is the dish regulars return for. Raw Norwegian scallops sit in clarified tomato water, squid is cured with elderflower, and pike perch is marinated in rose vinegar. King crab and shrimp are cut as sashimi and served in a sharp citrus sauce. Flowers, fruit and acid do the work that butter and cream might do elsewhere, so each piece of seafood keeps its own taste.

Diners choose from a short à la carte list or a set menu called A Taste of Iluka, with wines paired to it. The room is plain: wooden tables and chairs, walls of pressed red and heavy curtains, which leaves the attention on the plates. For a while the kitchen also sent out Iluka at Home, comfort dishes to be finished in a home kitchen. Whether ordered dish by dish or as a set, the meal follows one idea from start to finish: seafood first, everything else in support.