Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.02.2010, Page 23

Food & Drink | Venue finder
3 Frakkar
Baldursgata 14 | F9
Aktu Taktu
Skúlugata 15 | K8
Alibaba
Veltusund 3b | E3
American Style
Tryggvagata 26 | E5
Argentína Steak-
house
Barónstígur | I8
Austurlanda-
hraðlestin
Hverfisgata 64A | H7
Á Næstu Grösum
Laugavegur 20B | G7
B5
Bankastræti 5 | F6
Bakkus
Tryggvagata 22 | D3
Basil & Lime
Klapparstíg 38 | G7
Babalú
Skólavörðustígur 22A
| G8
Balthazar
Hafnarstræti 1-3 |
D6/E6
Bæjarins Beztu
Tryggvagata | E6
Brons
Pósthússtræti 9 | E6
Café Cultura
Hverfisgata 18 | G6
Café Loki
Lokastígur 28 | G9
Café Paris
Austurstræti 14 | E6
Café Roma
Rauðarárstígur 8 | J9
Domo
Þingholtsstræti 5 | F7
Einar Ben
Veltusundi | E6
Eldsmiðjan
Bragagata 38A | G9
Fiskmarkaðurinn
Aðalstræti 12 | D6
Geysir Bar/Bistro
Aðalstræti 2 | D6
Garðurinn
Klappastigur 37 | G7
Glætan book café
Laugavegur 19 | F5
Grái Kötturinn
Hverfisgata 16A | G7
Grillhúsið
Tryggvagata 20 | E5/
E6
Habibi
Hafnarstræti 20 | D5
Hamborgarabúlla
Tómasar (“Bullan”)
Geirsgata 1 | D5
Hlölla Bátar
Ingólfstorg | D6
Hornið
Hafnarstræti 15 | E6
Hótel Holt
Bergstaðarstræti 37
| F7
Humarshúsið
Ammtmanstígur 1 | E7
Hressó
Austurstræti 20 | E6
Icelandic
Fish & Chips
Tryggvagata 8 | E5
Indian Mango
Frakkastígur 12 | G6
Jómfrúin
Lækjargata 4 | E6
Kaffi Hljómalind
Laugavegur 21 | G7
Kaffitár
Bankastræti 8 | F6
Kaffivagninn
Grandagarður 10
| D1
Kebabhúsið
Austurstræti 2 | E6
Kofi Tómasar
Frænda
Laugavegur 2 | F7
Krua Thai
Tryggvagata 14 | D5
La Primavera
Austurstræti 9 | E6
Lystin
Laugavegur 73 | H7
Mokka
Skólavörðustígur 3A
| F7
Nonnabiti
Hafnarstræti 9 | E6
O Sushi
Lækjargata 2A | E6
Pisa
Lækjargötu 6b | E6
Pizza King
Hafnarstræti 18 | E6
Pizza Pronto
Vallarstræti 4 | D6
Pizzaverksmiðjan
Lækjargötu 8 | E6
Prikið
Bankastræti 12 | F6
Ráðhúskaffi | D7
Tjarnargata 11
Santa Maria
Laugavegur 22A, | F7
Segafredo
Lækjatorg | E6
Serrano
Hringbraut 12 | I3

Shalimar
Austurstræti 4 | E3
Silfur
Pósthússtræti 11 | E6
Sjávarkjallarinn
Aðalstræti 2 | D6
Sólon
Bankastræti 7a | F6
Sushibarinn
Laugavegur 2 | F7
Svarta Kaffi
Laugavegur 54 | H8
Sægreifinn
Verbuð 8, Geirsgata
| D5
Tapas
Vesturgata 3B | D5
Thorvaldsen
Austurstræti 8 | E6
Tíu Dropar
Laugavegur 27 | G7
Tívolí
Laugavegur 3 | F7
Vegamót
Vegamótastígur 4
| G7
Við Tjörnina
Templarasund 3 | E7
Vitabar
Bergþórugata 21 |
H9
EAT And dRInK:
3 x SANDWICHES
1 SANDHOLT
Laying eyes upon the fresh baguette
sandwiches and selection of wraps in the
glass display is like taking in the offerings of
a quaint Parisian patisserie. The sandwiches
are delicious, too, especially when enjoyed in
Sandholt’s cosy eating area. Laugavegur 36
2 TE OG KAFFI
This chain boasts a selection of focacce that
are tasty on their own but get amped up a
notch after spending a couple of minutes in
the sandwich press. The star of the show is
the grilled chicken, sun-dried tomato and
mozzarella variety, with bonus sun-dried
tomatoes baked into the bread. Austurstræti
18 (in Eymundsson)
3 SuBWAY
Sizeable, fast, filling, stuffed only with the
stuff you’re craving. It’s far from gourmet, but
sometimes that’s just how a sandwich should
be. Austurstræti 3
3 x AMERICAN BREAKFAST
1 GRÁI KöTTuRINN
The Truck is the very embodiment of the
all-American breakfast – larger than life and
gluttonous to the extreme. Grái Kötturinn
does the dish right, with fluffy pancakes,
eggs done the way you like’em, bacon, toast
and home fries stacked high, and served
with complimentary coffee. If you wake up
dying of hunger, you know where to go.
Hverfisgata 16a
2 PRIKIð
Not to be outdone, Prikið’s got a Truck
of its own – bacon, eggs, pancakes,
potatoes, toast – to stop hunger in its
tracks. For those of the British persuasion,
the Station Wagon has your hankering for
baked beans covered. Bankastræti 12
3 HRESSÓ
While the big-breakfast item on Hressó’s
menu is called “English Breakfast” it’s the
size that counts where American breakfasts
are concerned and this is big enough to get
the job done. Bacon, eggs, toast, satisfaction.
Austurstræti 20
3 x STuFF YOu CAN’T GET
AT BÓNuS
1 MAI THAI
If you’re looking for a clean break from gaudy
yellow wrappers, pink pigs and Euro Shopper,
and your diet could use a flavour infusion,
look no further than Mai Thai. Chilli paste?
Check. A selection of fish sauces? You got
it. Fun labels with jovial, smiling Buddha’s on
them? Of course! Laugavegur 116
2 NÓATúN
Nóatún has got you covered on that
all too familiar occasion when you find
yourself desperately in need of artichokes
and canned mussels, or one of the many
other “specialty” items not stocked in the
ubiquitous grocery chains. Hringbraut 121
3 OSTABúðIN
Cheese and meat aren’t meant to be vacuum
packed. Ostabúðin gets that. It’s nice to
see cheeses on offer other than goudas of
varying fat content and the odd havarti, and
it’s even nicer to see it smack dab in the
middle of 101. Skólavörðustígur 8
I know we Icelanders tend to think of
Muslims as the people who only came here
to steal our Westman Islands and custody-
battled children, though it’s not like our
ancestors didn't do their share of kidnapping.
Anyway, now it's time to put our kidnapping
sacks to good use and plunder each other's
culinary traditions (I'm sorry Algeria, I
guess you pulled the rotten shark straw).
Let North Africa light up our malnourished
souls in the coming months, after everyone
has lost their jobs and become The Road-style
cannibals roaming Ísafjörður looking for
tender toddlers.
It’s a common misconception
that religion is the main divide between
Scandinavia and the Middle East, but we can
skip and hop over that puddle in the next 10
years as the coming generation embraces
consumer culture and starts doodling deities
left and right. No, the real problem is going
to be the cuisine. We like our cinnamon on
sweet rice puddings—they like it in lamb
stews. This savoury vs. sweet divide is not to
be tolerated any longer.
It's stranger how a culinary culture
coming from the sandy equator has
pioneered the use of the perfect winter
spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms) and
the Christmas pudding essentials (dried
apricots, figs, dates, raisins), even the perfect
precursor to a heavy winter meal (gargantuan
amounts of black afghan). And yet snowy
winters are hardly the scourge of the Berber
countries and Christmas is just a Thursday.
Berber food is based on core food items
that are readily available in Iceland: lamb,
root vegetables and grain. The only thing
missing is the assortment of spices (saffron,
coriander, cumin, cardamoms, etc.), nuts,
dried fruit and couscous. Here's where it gets
really sweet. According to Icelandic customs
law, tea, coffee, spices, most cereals/grain,
nuts can be brought into the country without
much limitation. So the trick is to stock up
when you go somewhere that has a good
Arabic neighbourhood or genuinely cheap
(I'm looking at you Bónus—you drunken
swine) supermarkets that sell in bulk. A kilo
bag of almonds will never be cheap, but it will
be a fraction of what it costs in Iceland and
will last you a while.
This oversupply of lamb is due to
ridiculous subsidies, I know. But the fish is
running out too, so we’ll need to embrace
a cuisine that incorporates these two main
protein sources along with root vegetables
and preserved, easy-to import side items (a
nation that pickles its lemons should become
our immediate allies).
Young people in Iceland seem to have
an undying love affair with Italian cuisine.
I get it, pizza is good, pasta is good, pesto is
great. The problem is that Italian cuisine has
three rules: 1. Quality ingredients 2. Quality
ingredients 3. Mama Mia! And you won't
find those ingredients growing or grazing in
Iceland's arid landscape. The reason Italian
cuisine works so well is because it's in Italy.
Hell, Iceland can't even get the tomato right,
what hope is there then?
Pasta takes ten minutes to cook—
couscous is essentially ready in a third of that
time. Couscous also has approx. three times
the calorie count, three times the protein and
three times the fibre.
Restaurant Saffran has already started
a methadone program for weaning the basil
addicts out there with their amalgam of
Arabic and Italian food (although someone
needs to slap them for that tahini-less muck
they dare call Hummus), and people are
losing their tiny Viking minds over it. Iceland
is ready to go cold turkey.
A good first step for home cooking
would be harira, since it’s basically an
Icelandic meat soup with some fancy spices.
Then you can move on to tagine, which is
mostly onion, carrot and lamb. Chermoula is
the perfect marinade for baked fish.
And although Ghee (clarified butter)
is more likely to be found further south near
Egypt, it would fit Icelandic cuisine well.
Olive oil is expensive, boiled butter that can
store forever at room temperature is a much
better fit for Iceland (also healthier).
There are probably few places
Icelanders would think they have less in
common with than North Africa, so for all
your xenophobic bastards out there: Hah! I
told you immigration would pay off in the
long run! Now go find someone with dark
hair and a funny accent and ask him how to
make tabouleh. If he answers "che cosa?"
then you know he's Italian and feed him
to the roving cannibal gangs of Ísafjörður
immediately! - RAGNAR EGILSSON
Why North Africa Is Our
New Culinary Friend
Sti
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wit
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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