Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.05.2009, Page 21

Silfur Litla Kaffistofan
Reykjavík may be famous for its café
culture, but out of town, coffee is in
a league of its own. Usually tanked
at gas stations, pit stops for tired
and thirsty drivers and their cars,
truck-driving coffee is the real fuel for
travelling around the island.
Amongst the legion of boring,
modern service stations, there are a
handful that have served for decades
as more homey breaks on long drives.
Right outside Reykjavík, along the
southbound ring road and surrounded
by lava, you can find the oldest.
Double-roofed Kaffistofan,
painted in the [now defunct] Olís
station brand colours a little too long
ago, marks the end of Reykjavík and
your entryway to the countryside.
Inside you’ll find a small, cosy
roadside café with a quaint sense of
time standing still – coffee and kleinur
have surely been the corner stones of
the menu since the swingin’ 60s – and
the incredible collection of football
memorabilia that must have been in
the making since then as well.
"It’s my father, he is a big fan,"
says the girl by the service desk with
a smile, explaining the accumulation
of football relics. Indeed, the place
is lined with team portraits, football
shirts, banderols, scarves, newspaper
clips and pretty much anything else
you might stick a football team’s logo
on.
The strong cup of black Rúbin is
the epitome of gas station coffee, and
at the back room of Litla Kaffistofan
you get to gulp it down whilst counting
the individually framed football players
who adorn the wooden panelled walls
in neat rows.
I got to 164.
—SARI PELTONEN
Score Coffee at
Litla Kaffistofan
Opened in 2006 at the art deco
Hótel Borg, restaurant Silfur initially
served French cuisine, but has
recently updated its menu to offer
modern Icelandic fare in the spirit of
the current local food trend and the
financial situation.
Bankers may have vaporised, but
Silfur’s over-the-top modern luxurious
décor sadly remains, a fossil from a
time when you didn’t need style so
long as you had enough money to
swim in.
While design is not a strength,
Silfur has made a name for serving
some of the best food in town under
the guidance of Chef Hafþór Sveinsson
(who should also be spared from the
style judgements – the portions looked
good throughout our meal).
My date chose “Country” (6700
ISK) from the “Flavors” set menu
selection. I freestyled, starting with
Icelandic langoustine ‘three ways’
(2900 ISK): a traditional fried tail, an
excellent bake with almonds and a mini
burger with chorizo and grape tomato
jam.
His hangikjöt carpaccio arrived
with an upturned glass of smoke and
disappeared just as fast. The fine
slices provided a surprisingly delicate
experience of the smoked meat,
complimented by the beetroot salad.
Minke-whale sashimi was refreshingly
light on the gaminess that often blights
the controversial meat.
For a main, I chose smoked duck
with mango, oranges and a bed of
wild mushrooms, onions and fresh
radish (4900 ISK). Stodgy sweet potato
croquettes were an unnecessary
addition, otherwise the range of
flavours well accented the endless pile
of meat sufficient for three women my
size—not all fine dining means small
portions. My date’s lamb fillet, lamb rib
and beef tenderloin were good, juicy
and moist, though an overly generous
dollop of buttery lobster hollandaise
drowned the beef and there could
have been more of the lovely Icelandic
potatoes.
For desert, my date’s set menu
included skyr mousse with blueberry
ice cream, while I tried the signature
desert (1500 ISK) with chocolate cake,
vanilla and raspberry sorbet, chocolate
parfait and fresh raspberries: all
excellent.
Service was professional and
pleasant and through the course of
the meal we were surprised with extra
offerings: first, with lovely battered
scallop “cigars” and horseradish
sauce; and before dessert, with layered
shot glasses of mango mousse and
passion fruit soup. I wish all shots in
this town were as good.
—SARI PELTONEN
Dine Over
Design
Pósthússtræti 11
www.silfur.is
Road 1 between Reykjavík and
Hveragerði
Burgers
1 Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar
Geirsgata 1
Grapevine pretty much subscribes to the
Búlla burgers for sustenance while creating
the paper you are now reading. Not only is
it an extremely tasty, meaty and succulent
burger, it comes for a very fair price, too. And
the staff-members are all super friendly. This
is the place to go for burgers downtown,
unless you want a blue-cheese special, in
which case you should visit...
2 Vitabar
Bergþórugata 21
A steady local favourite for many, many
years, Vitabar is bursting with character and
a quaint charm that makes it a destination
in and of itself, regardless of their awesome
burgers. And since their burgers are, well,
awesome, you ought to wonder why you
aren’t there RIGHT NOW. Go for the Forget-
me-not Bleu cheese burger, some fries and
a large beer. Now. Why are you still reading
this anyway?
3 Drekinn
Njálsgata 23
Well, since you’re apparently not interested
in Vitabar, we might as well tell you that
nothing beats Drekinn for cheap eats in
101 Reykjavík. Nothing. Their burgers are
ludicrously inexpensive, and surprisingly
tasty. And they have that awesome chilli-
ketchup that makes anything worth eating.
Coffee
1 Babalú
Skólavörðustígur 22a
We quite enjoy the kitschy and cosy
atmosphere of Babalú for chilling with a
caffeinated beverage and a tasty baked
goods. The folks that work there are
genuinely welcoming and friendly too,
so it’s a comfortable place to spend
numerous hours with friends or your
laptop. They even have live music from
time to time, which is an added treat.
2 Hressingarskálinn (Hressó)
Austurstræti 20
Hressó is a fave for one really big reason: the
patio. The covered patio area is wicked for
drinking, smoking and being merry in lousy
weather and the spacious outdoor patio is a
gorgeous retreat on sunny days. The coffee
is hot and potent (black coffee comes in
a thermos of multiple servings so there’s
no need to wait on refills) and the staff is
friendly as well.
3 Kaffi Hljómalind
Laugavegur 23
There are many reasons to like this place.
For starters, the international staff is super
laid back and friendly and seem to attract a
similarly disposed clientele. Also, the coffee
is good, refills are free and there are lots
of comfy places to sit and drink. The fresh
vegan baked goods compliment the caffeine
nicely.
Cheap Eats
1 Núðluhúsið
Laugavegur 59
Núðluhúsið offers up a mean plate of Pad
Thai, big enough to comfortably serve two
and just right in the taste department. We’d
surely recommend some of their other dishes,
but frankly we’re too tempted to just get the
Pad Thai every time we go there. As an added
bonus, the place is as close to dirt-cheap as
you get in Reykjavík.
2 Santa María
Laugavegur 22a
This place was a revelation to the good
people of Reykjavík when it opened its doors
just over a year ago, and it’s pretty much
been filled to the rafters ever since. With a
solid and admirable price policy of “nothing
over 1.000 ISK” (which might actually have
gone up a couple hundred krónur when you
read this), Santa María’s low prices are only
beat by their nice service and tasty take on
authentic Mexican food.
For full restaurant and food
listings and venue finder visit
www.grapevine.is for detailed
information.
What we think:
Fine Icelandic dining in a pre-
financial crisis setting
Recommended:
Coffee and a pancake 420 ISK
4 out of 5 stars
3,5 out of 5 stars
Glæsibæ - tel: 553 7060
Selection of elegant Gabor shoes
and bags.
Quality and good price.
Á l f h e i m u m 7 4 - 1 0 4 R e y k j a v í k
Licensing and
registration of travel-
related services
The Icelandic Tourist Board issues licences to tour operators and travel agents,
as well as issuing registration to booking services and information centres.
Tour operators and travel agents are required to use a special logo approved
by the Icelandic Tourist Board on all their advertisements and on their Internet
website.
Booking services and information centres are entitled to use a Tourist
Board logo on all their material. The logos below are recognised by the
Icelandic Tourist Board.
List of licenced Tour
Operators and Travel
Agencies on:
visiticeland.com