Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.06.2005, Síða 33

33
Sitting on a barrel inside the Sægreifinn fish shop, staring up at
the stuffed seal and stuffed ram’s head, having owner Kjartan
shuffle by to serve another customer and repeating with a broader
and broader smile “Vínurmín” (My friend) I acknowledged that
even if the humarsúpa (lobster soup) didn’t taste good this store
would still be worth a visit for anybody interested in local flavour.
Of course, the soup does taste good. A heavy, curry-flavoured
bisque with large chunks of lobster, Kjartan laughs and nods at
the idea that this is Bezt í Heimi (best in the world), of course it
is.
If you’re wondering at this point why there is so much
Icelandic, I must warn you that Sægreifinn is one of the charming
locales in Reykjavík where English doesn’t pop up at all. It is a
shop for locals, and the lobster soup, at 650 ISK, is a cherished
secret.
Okay, so here is what you need to order your soup. Góðan
dag. Ég ætla að fá humarsúpu og borða hana hér. Takk fyrir.
Any anxiety you may feel about speaking a foreign language
will be settled as soon as you take a sip of the soup.
Sægreifinn, Verbúð 8. Geirsgata. 101 Reykjavík.
Open from 8:00 until 18:00.
by Bart Cameron
Restaurants
Previous Bezt í Heimi winners:
LOBSTER SOUP AT SÆGREIFINN
For many visitors to Iceland, it can be
very confusing to see a dish labelled as
hot only to discover this means it’s been
dusted with black pepper. Fortunately,
you’ll never have that problem at
Shalimar.
Shalimar
This is the kind of restaurant
where you compliment the chef
and tell yourself that if you ever
really make it, you will send him
a Cadillac, where you feel that
you and the maitre d’ really know
something the rest of the world
doesn’t.
Argentína
Frím
ann
Taking our guidelines from an 8th grade
health book published in Cleveland, Ohio
in 1981, we can safely say that Pizza
King will turn everyone who eats it into
the next Bruce Jenner.
Pizza King
When it comes to lunch, Hótel Holt is
one of the best-kept secrets in Reykjavík.
They offer a two-course lunches for 2200
ISK and three-course lunches for 2700
ISK. Not too bad a price, which gets even
better when you consider the courses are
classical French cuisine.
Hótel Holt
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
traffic augl3.eps 6/7/05 10:52:45 AM
Ísbúð Vesturbæjar
Serving the old (gamli) style
ice cream, which, according to
the customers in line, is water-
based, this is the favourite of
every local who truly knows
Reykjavík.