Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.09.2009, Qupperneq 29

SHoP AND EAT:
NEWLY oPENED
1 DRYKKJABARINN
The Bankastræti ‘Drinks Bar— opened
in late July by local coffee empire Te og
Kaffi—offers take away smoothies and
skyr-boozts and of course, coffee. Try the
exotic ‘suðrænn og seiðandi’ (590 ISK)
with an extra shot of ginger (50 ISK).
Bankastræti 10
2 BAKKUS
A different kind of ‘drinks bar’, Bakkus,
next door to rock venue Sódóma, pours
a beer for 600 ISK and is home to one of
the most impressive vodka selections in
town – with peanuts and salami sausages
on the nibbling menu. The small, laid-back
bar also plays host to foosball and pinball
tables. On Wednesdays, KinoKlúbbur
screens films with popcorn on the house.
On Sundays, the music takes a country
twang. Also, some of Iceland’s music
legends have been known to DJ there at
times, nudge nudge.
Tryggvagata 22
3 DANSKE KRO
Opened a month ago in place of the
late gay bar Q Bar, Danske Kro stocks
Akvavit, Gammel Dansk (500 ISK for a
shot), Tuborg and - the rarest of drinks in
this town - apple cider. They also feature
a small smörrebröd bar menu. There
are pub quizzes, football screenings
and troubadours in the plans, and on
weekends, the doors stay open until 3.
Þingholtsstræti 11
4 MMMMM
The main street Mmmmm is a two-part-
deal: The corner deli serves healthy
lunches and takeaway sandwiches for a
reasonable price (1290 ISK for portion of
the day/690 ISK for soup/600 ISK and up
for sandwiches), while the sit-in restaurant
next door has a separate menu with skyr
boozts and juices squeezed out on spot.
Corner of Laugavegur and
Frakkastigur
5 AUSTUR
Lounge-bistro-bar Austur has it all:
brunch, lunch, dinner; Champagne and
strawberries, margaritas and nachos;
Icelandic lobster and a purported New
York atmosphere. Stylish as hell, the decor
is by DJ-musician-hairdresser polymath
Jón Atli Helgason and designer Hrafnhildur
Hólmgeirsdóttir. During the weekends,
Austur stays open well into the party hours
Austurstræti 7
For full restaurant and food listings
and venue finder visit
www.grapevine.is for detailed
information. VEGETARIAN CUISINE
Skólavörðustígur 8 b, tel. 552 2028
Open from 11:30 am–21:00 pm
www.graennkostur.is
A couple of months after opening,
The Fish Company caters its fusion
kitchen to full cellars (reserve ahead).
Despite the name, it serves up both
sea and land based raw materials.
The portions are built around herbs
and spices selected from all over the
world, married to produce from the
home base. The most popular choice
on the menu is the Around the World
(7900 ISK) surprise menu served for
the entire table, but we chose to go a
la carte.
Our meal was preceded by a little
surprise from the kitchen, arctic char
with coriander paste and a touch of
orange served in a cute glass jar.
While German tourists were
performing advanced Euro to Króna
calculations at an adjacent table, we
went on to the appetizers. My fish
soup (1790 ISK), inspired by coconut
milk from Fiji, came with bonito foam,
water cress, mussels and lobster.
Hearty, sweet and delicious with a
glass of chardonnay (950 ISK) and
freshly baked bread with skyr butter.
My date chose pork belly with
Serrano ham, gnocchi and black
olive sand (1870 ISK). The morsels of
slow-cooked pork were buttery light
and the black olive sand added a great
texture contrast (think caviar without
the ick factor). The only miss on the
plate were the cubes of Serrano ham,
saltily overpowering anything else in
the mouth.
To go with the belly, he would’ve
liked a nice local beer, but had to sip
down a bottle of Víking. Why does the
Fish Company bar not stock any of the
Icelandic micro-brewery beers?
My truffle-inspired main course
(4530 ISK) had a lot going on: the
portion featured fried breast of duck,
goat confit, foie gras, half-potato-
mustard-mash-croissant, peach
sauce and Camembert. The duck
was excellent, the goat melted in
the mouth, the fried foie gras was
wonderful. Everything (except for
the fun but not so tasty mustard-
croissant) worked beautifully together.
My date sat opposite me in
jealousy. His baccalo was more jelly
than salt, the broth it swam in a
lukewarm challenge. Luckily, the squid
and accompanying vegetables were
quite delicious, soft and toothsome.
The dessert—a shared plate
of honeymoon cake—didn’t quite
seal the deal: the enormous pile of
deconstructed cake (=flakes of cake
crust) lacked taste, as did the carrot
ice cream. The plain cream cheese
was not rich enough to work. To
the portion’s rescue were the lovely
wild strawberry ice cream and fresh
strawberries. Greedy as I am I ate
anyway—and spent the night with my
bursting belly as punishment.
- SARI PELTONEN
Fishy Business
Flavour: Fusion with focus on
ingredients
Ambiance: Upscale cosy
Service: Polite
Fiskifélagið
Vesturgata 2a
What we think: Fun, interesting
and ambitious
GRAPEVINE FOOD REVIEW KEY
0 God-awful
Awful
Passable. Much room for improvement
Good, but not great.
Really rather good
Extraordinary
The food is rated in three categories:
Fast food: Pizza, pylsa and kebab, food on
the go (0-2000 ISK)
Mid-range: Everyday eateries, sit-in. (mains
2000-4000 ISK)
Fine dining: Fancy, expensive-type food.
(3-course dinners 6000 and up)
To best judge the restaurant experience,
the Grapevine conducts its reviews anony-
mously. The sole exception is the payment
method: When the bill arrives, the reviewer
presents a written statement, previously
signed by the restaurant management,
allowing the reviewer and one companion a
meal on the house for review purposes.
Using this approach, we aim to best
preserve the reviewer’s objectivity (and the
restaurants’ consistency), within the humble
means of a free newspaper.
The Grapevine does not favour foie gras
over fast food. Restaurants are reviewed
for what they are; both burger and beluga
can be extraordinary in their own right.
In all evaluations, the food is key: Does it
taste good? Is it properly prepared? Are
the ingredients fresh and of high quality?
Secondary considerations include setting,
service and value for money.
All opinions expressed are the critic’s
own. SP
Enjoy weekend brunch
or delicious buffet
for a quality price
Experience great cuisine
accompanied by a breathtaking view
Smáratorgi 3
next to Smaralind mall 201 Kópavogi Tel. 575 7500 veisluturninn@veisluturninn.is www.veisluturninn.is
Open everyday from 11 AM - 2 PM
…in the tallest building in Iceland