Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.08.2005, Blaðsíða 33

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FOREIGNER’S GUIDE TO VEGETARIAN EATING
The Grapevine Celebrates Capitalism
The rumour has long been that it’s a dedicated (or fabulously wealthy) soul
who decides to eat vegetarian in Iceland. As most fruits and vegetables
have to be imported, they tend to be more expensive than locally raised,
grass-fed meat-makers – even more so if you want organic. But you needn’t
necessarily take out a six-figure loan just to do a week’s vegetarian grocery
shopping, provided you know where to shop.
Shopping
On the low end of vegetarian shopping, there’s always our
favourite standby, Bónus. At the time of this writing, whole
wheat flour is going for 68 ISK/kg, loose potatoes for 47 ISK/
kg, and onions are going for a laughable 1 ISK/kg. A kilo of
onions for a single króna – don’t let anyone tell you that you
can’t live the high life in this country.
On the higher end is Heilsuhúsið. This corner store is a
hybrid of vegetarian shop, vegan shop, gourmet shop, miniature
library and small pharmacy. Here you’ll find more than the
standard bird-and-rabbit food fare of most vegetarian shops: for
those uncertain how to eat healthier – vegetarian or otherwise
– there are a few shelves of books on the subject to choose
from. At the same time, there are multiple shelves of vitamins,
minerals and other supplements. The current meat alternative
– soy meat – is for sale there for 350 ISK/500g. We’ve had
soy meat before, and you don’t need to worry: it’ll taste like
whatever you cook it with/in, so we personally recommend
using it in pasta dishes. Organic fruits and vegetables are
also available, but with grapefruits going for 622 ISK/kg and
oranges for 422 ISK/kg, you might be better off just eating the
pesticides on regular fruit and hoping for the best.
Dining Out
Through some New Age twist of fate, three of Reykjavík’s
vegetarian restaurants are located within a few second’s walk
from each other.
Grænn Kostur boasts heaping portions of both vegan and
vegetarian fare with most meals under 1000 ISK. When the
weather’s nice, they set up tables outside so you can enjoy the
view of the neighbouring parking garage. Two blocks away is Á
Næstu Grösum, a restaurant that might change its menu now
and then but always has the same prices: 1200 ISK for lunch,
1490 ISK for dinner, and 550 ISK for soup. Not too shabby,
especially with unlimited bread and hummus to go along with
it. Across the street is Kaffi Hljómalind, which advertises
itself as a “non profit” organic café. Meals there hover around
1000 ISK while offering sidewalk dining in nice weather,
which makes for great people-watching as this restaurant is on
Laugavegur. Not only can you watch people from your perch
at Hljómalind, you can judge them as inferior, both for eating
meat, and for eating for profit.
Outside of the cosmic vegetarian block, in the more distant
but just as worthy Borgartún, is Maður Lifandi, a combination
vegetarian restaurant/health food store. The vegetarian dining
is consistent there, but most of the clientele—typically a rush
around lunch and early dinner-- are interested in the organic
chicken, said to be the only not sugar-saturated chicken in
Iceland.
Not to be ethnocentric, it should be remembered that Asian
people had perfected vegetarian cuisine long before Dr. John
Harvey Kellogg invented granola. To this end, we recommend
checking out three places of interest.
Shalimar is an Indian restaurant with an extensive vegetarian
menu. There you can eat your fill for between 1200 ISK
and 1500 ISK. A little further west is Krua Thai, which we
personally consider to be the best Thai restaurant in town:
large portions and limitless rice, with most meals under 1000
ISK. Smack-dab in the middle of downtown is Indokína, a
combination Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant with a number of
soy, noodle and vegetarian dishes that are all reasonably priced.
So there you have it. With all these shopping and dining
options, you now have no excuse to buy that cheeseburger... you
murdering bastard!
Bónus, Laugavegur 59, 562-8200
Heilsuhúsið, Skólavörðustígur 12, 568-9266
Grænn Kostur, Skólavörðustígur 8, 552-2028
Á næstu grösum, Laugavegur 20b, 552-8410
Kaffi Hljómalind, Laugavegur 21, 517-1980
Maður lifandi, Borgartún 24, 585-8700
Shalimar, Austurstræti 4, 551-0292
Krua Thai, Tryggvagata 14, 561-0039
Indokína, Laugavegur 19, 552-2399
By Paul F Nikolov
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