Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.01.2008, Page 26

Located on Vitastígur, (a side street off Laugavegur), Valencia Tapas
Bar opened its doors a little over a month ago. As the name im-
plies, the place celebrates the beloved Spanish tapas culture and is
owned by a perky Spaniard, Diego Valencia, who not only manages
the place but serves as the chef as well. Diego is a man of many tal-
ents and proudly told my companion and me that when the mood
feels right, he offers his guests live music as the singer of a notorious
flamenco duo.
At Valencia, there is no written menu. The daily specials are
pre-prepared and the selection consists of around ten tapas classics
(two vegetarian and one meat dish cost 1700 ISK.) We grabbed a ta-
ble upstairs and sampled a mix of six different dishes. The dancing
flames from the fireplace not only warmed our freezing hands but
created a pleasant atmosphere while all the colourful paper fans
adorning the walls let our minds wander to the warmer South.
Our favourite was the Spanish omelette, a recipe that never
fails to please. With chunks of potatoes, onion and red peppers it
was delicious, as was the Andalusian salad with salted cod, pota-
toes, boiled eggs, onion and oranges. The salad was especially fresh,
although it could have benefited from a little more fish. Mushrooms,
sautéed in lime-juice scored highly and the artichokes with olives,
basil and parmesan cheese more than satisfied. We later used the
bread served on the side to soak up all the flavourful oil left on the
plate and washed it down with our San Miguel. We found the pieces
of chicken breasts in olive oil and garlic a bit boring though, and the
tuna salad was sadly not very interesting.
Valencia is best described as a cosy bar that offers light ap-
petizers and is recommended for both relaxed evenings or as a
first stop before bar-hopping. If in the mood to sample some food
to accompany your drink and to share with your company, as is so
popular in Spain, the place is worth a try. Expect to get basic and
unpretentious tapas where the combinations are simple yet flavour-
some.
Address:
Vitastígur 10a
101 Reykjavík
Reviewed by
Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Valencia Tapas Bar
The Thai restaurant Síam in Hafnarfjörður has a long history. Al-
though several name and location changes make the trail hard to
follow, it has evolved from the restaurant Bangkok which claimed
to be the first Thai restaurant in the Nordic Countries, founded in
1985.
The restaurant has recently gone through a change of owner-
ship, and is now in the hands of the owners of the Mexican themed
Serrano fast-food chain, which incidentally happens to be my favou-
rite stop for a quick meal. Therefore, I was excited to see how they
would approach Thai culinary traditions.
For most Reykjavíkians, Síam faces a giant problem: its loca-
tion. Situated in Reykjavík’s neighbouring town of Hafnafjörður, it is
not somewhere you tend to drop in without making a trip out of it.
Obviously, the locals in Hafnarfjörður might reap the benefits, but I
am too egocentric to care.
Síam is somewhat cursed with the ‘tweener status. That is, it
lies somewhere between being ‘a place to eat’ and an actual res-
taurant in many respects. The price falls somewhere between what
you would expect to pay for fast food, and what you would expect
to pay for a meal at a regular restaurant. There are waitresses roam-
ing around taking orders and there is a wine-list, but the setting is
more like what you’d expect from you local video rental. Plastic
and cheap. It is not a pleasant dining area that invites you to sit for a
while and enjoy your company after finishing a meal.
The food, however, is good, and that is what we came for after
all. We sampled two different kinds of meat: traditional red curry;
and a course called ‘heavenly meat,’ prepared in soya and corian-
der seeds, which gave it a very sweet and special taste. A surprising
course that is highly recommended.
I believe that if Síam paid more attention to its accommoda-
tions, dining there would be a truly pleasant experience. But as it is,
it falls just short, or, more accurately, somewhere in between pleas-
ant and indifferent.
Síam
Address:
Dalshraun 11
2200 Hafnarfjörður
Tel.: 555 4435
Reviewed by
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Photos by GAS
B10 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 01 2008 | Reviews
Ivanovby Anton Chekhov
Direction and adaptation: Baltasar Kormákur
See and hear more on www.leikhusid.is
An unforgettable performance
ÞJÓÐLEIKHÚSIÐ
The National Theatre of Iceland