Where to Find the Best Butter Chicken in Copenhagen

Where to Find the Best Butter Chicken in Copenhagen

By the Indian Bites kitchen team, Pustervig 4, Copenhagen. Reviewed for accuracy on 3 August 2026.

If you are searching for the best butter chicken in Copenhagen, the honest answer is that the dish is easy to serve and hard to get right. A good butter chicken is not just a mild orange sauce. It is tandoor charred chicken, a tomato base cooked down slowly until the sharpness disappears, and dried fenugreek leaves crushed in at the end. We have served more than 200,000 guests across our locations, and butter chicken is still the plate that leaves our kitchen most often. This guide explains what separates a great version from an average one, what we do differently at Pustervig 4, and how to order it.

What Makes the Best Butter Chicken in Copenhagen?

Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, comes from Delhi in the 1950s, where it was created as a way to use leftover tandoori chicken by simmering it in a tomato and cream gravy. That origin story matters, because it tells you what the dish is supposed to taste like. The chicken should carry smoke from the tandoor. The sauce should support it, not drown it.

When you are judging a butter chicken, four things tell you almost everything.

1. The chicken is cooked before it meets the sauce

Proper butter chicken uses chicken that has been marinated and grilled first. If the meat has simply been boiled in the gravy, it will be pale, soft and one dimensional. Charred edges are a good sign, not a mistake.

2. The sauce is sweet from tomato, not from sugar

A tomato base needs time. Cooked down slowly, tomatoes lose their acidity and turn naturally sweet. Rushed versions compensate with sugar, and you can taste the difference immediately: the sweetness sits on top instead of running through the sauce.

3. Kasoori methi is present

Dried fenugreek leaves, kasoori methi, are the signature note in butter chicken. They give a slightly bitter, savoury aroma that balances the cream. A butter chicken without it tastes flat, no matter how much butter goes in.

4. The sauce is glossy, not split

Cream added at the wrong temperature separates and leaves an oily film. A well made butter chicken should look smooth and coat the back of a spoon.

How We Cook Butter Chicken at Indian Bites

In our kitchen the chicken goes into its marinade the day before service: thick yoghurt, ginger, garlic, cumin, garam masala and Kashmiri chilli for colour. Overnight, the yoghurt tenderises the meat and the spices work past the surface. The next day it is cooked in the tandoor until the edges char, and only then is it set aside for the sauce.

The gravy is built separately each morning. Tomatoes, onion, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves are simmered until they collapse, then blended smooth and passed through a sieve. That base waits. Each portion is finished to order in a pan with butter, a measure of cream and kasoori methi crushed between the palms, which is why it arrives glossy rather than separated. It is a small step that costs us time and is the main reason our guests reorder it.

Two other things we adjust without being asked. For children we hold back the chilli entirely, since butter chicken is already the gentlest dish on our menu and works well as a first Indian meal. For takeaway we pack the sauce and the basmati rice in separate containers, because rice sitting in gravy for twenty minutes turns soft and loses its grain. Our spices are imported directly from India, which matters most in a dish this simple, where there is nothing to hide behind.

What to Order With It

Butter chicken comes with basmati rice, and it sits in our mains range of 125 to 149 DKK. Most guests add bread: plain naan from 25 DKK, garlic naan, or cheese naan if you want something richer. Naan is the better tool for the last of the sauce, and there is always sauce left.

If you are ordering for two or more, a common pairing is butter chicken with palak paneer, our spinach and fresh cheese dish, which brings an earthy, green contrast to the sweetness. Start with samosas from 49 DKK, crisp pastry filled with spiced potato and peas. To drink, a mango lassi at 39 DKK is the traditional choice and works well if anyone at the table is sensitive to spice.

Where to Eat the Best Butter Chicken in Copenhagen

You will find us at Pustervig 4, 1126 København K, in Indre By, a few minutes on foot from Norreport and Stroget. We are open every day from 11:00 to 20:30 for dine in and takeaway, and delivery is available through Wolt. All our meat is halal certified. Our guests have rated the restaurant 4.7 stars across 634 Google reviews.

Book a table or order butter chicken for takeaway at Indian Bites

Feeding a larger group? We also cater across Copenhagen and the surrounding region for 20 to 500 guests, and butter chicken is on almost every menu we send out. See our catering options or write to atamjit@indianbites.dk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find the best butter chicken in Copenhagen?

Indian Bites at Pustervig 4 in København K serves butter chicken made the North Indian way: chicken marinated overnight in yoghurt and spices, charred in the tandoor, then finished in a slow simmered tomato and cream sauce. The restaurant holds 4.7 stars from 634 Google reviews and is open every day from 11:00 to 20:30.

What does butter chicken cost in Copenhagen?

At Indian Bites, butter chicken sits in our mains range of 125 to 149 DKK and is served with basmati rice. Naan starts at 25 DKK and a mango lassi is 39 DKK, so a full meal for one person typically lands between 150 and 210 DKK.

Is butter chicken spicy?

No. Butter chicken is the mildest curry on most North Indian menus. The heat comes from a small amount of Kashmiri chilli, which gives colour rather than burn, and the cream and butter soften it further. It is the dish we most often recommend to children and to first time guests.

Is the butter chicken at Indian Bites halal?

Yes. All meat served at Indian Bites is halal certified, both at our Copenhagen city centre restaurant and at our Bakken location in Klampenborg.

What is the difference between butter chicken and chicken tikka masala?

Both start with tandoori chicken, but butter chicken uses a smoother, sweeter sauce built on tomato, cream, butter and dried fenugreek leaves. Chicken tikka masala is spicier and more savoury, with onion, garlic, ginger and a heavier hand on the garam masala. Butter chicken is the milder of the two.

Can I get butter chicken as takeaway in Copenhagen?

Yes. You can order takeaway on our website or in the restaurant at Pustervig 4, and delivery is available through Wolt. We pack the sauce and the rice separately so the rice does not go soft on the way home.

Do you have a vegetarian version of butter chicken?

Yes. Butter paneer uses the same sauce with cubes of fresh Indian cheese instead of chicken. It is a good option if you want the flavour of butter chicken without the meat.

Last updated: 3 August 2026. Indian Bites, Pustervig 4, 1126 København K. Open every day 11:00 to 20:30. Phone +45 53 69 91 77.