Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.07.2010, Blaðsíða 31

Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.07.2010, Blaðsíða 31
 EAT AND DRINK: 3 X SWEET TREATS 1 SUZUSHII (KRINGLAN) Ice Cream Reykjavík is loaded with tonnes of great ice cream shops all over town, like the classic Ísbúð Vesturbæjar in the Westside of town, and Ísbúð Íslands out near Kringlan, but you can also just pop into the closest corner shop for a frozen treat on a stick. Don’t let the cool summer temperatures fool you—it’s always great 2 WAFFLES The classic pastry served up with rich, fluffy whipped cream is a quintessential Icelandic indulgence for the sweet-toothed. Such a staple you can get it around the clock, we recommend Tíu Dropar in the daytime, and why not try an extra-greasy one at night at the Waffle Wagon on Lækjatorg. 3 BLAND Í POKA – CANDY DAY! Every Saturday, shops all over Iceland let you go buck wild at the candy station and mix every kind of candy you want for the same price (usually they differ). It’s the perfect chance to go stock up on gummies and lollies and sample all sorts of sugary delights. 3 X BURGER DEALS 1 OFFER OF THE CENTURY (BúLLAN) This offer at the Grapevine’s two-time best burger winner really is impassable. You get a slam-dunk 120-gram burger cooked just right and loaded with sauce, a basketful of crisp salty fries and a soda for 1.290 ISK. Which is a pretty good deal. 2 HAMBURGER DEAL (VITABAR) Truly a deal for the ravenously hungry, Vitabar serves up a big, sloppy, meaty burger that even the purist hands-on burger eater will consider using a fork and knife on. The fries on the side are nice and crunchy and clearly made of real potatoes, and a coke on the side washes it down all for a measly 1.000 ISK! Now this is an offer! 3 CHEESEBURGER & COKE (KEBAB HOUSE) No fries on this one, but for just 700 ISK, who can complain? Kebab House on Austurstræti started having killer deals on cheeseburgers and soda a few months ago and they have been making our summers great with this offer. Ask for your cheeseburger with kebab sauce, it’s somethin’ else. 3 X CHEAP DATES 1 AMERICAN STYLE Despite the name, there is nothing American at all about these burgers. But if you’re into that whole nostalgic teenage thing, there’s really something cute and charming about sharing a burger and shake at this restaurant chain. It’s totally Archie comics. 2 NúðLUHúSIð Maybe not the highest echelon of Thai food in town, but definitely the best bang for your buck, and the setting is really cosy too. Sitting in the sunroom deck of the second-floor restaurant is a great place to hide and chat quietly with that special someone. 3 BÆJARINS BESTU Getting a hot-dog for someone you love is true romance. If you can make it work here, it’s meant to last! A Surprising Surprise When we last reviewed Rauðará, way back in 2008, we remarked that the “most positive part of the Rauðará experience is not really the food itself, but the positively comfortable settings it is served in.” Not much has changed. The mood at Rauðará is really, really nice. It’s the kind of place you take a lover or business associate to close a deal. Moodily lit, the restaurant is located inside an old brewery where they used to make beer during The Great Icelandic Beer Prohibition of the 20th century. Once sat in this comfortable environment, we decided to opt for the six-course ‘Chef’s Surprise’, wherein the chef is meant to “surprise you with his six course menu, made from the freshest ingredients available.” The course is only available for the whole table, and is priced at 9.900 ISK per person. We furthermore chose to let the sommelier select wines to accompany the meal for an additional fee of 6.500 ISK/person. The feast started off with a serving of grilled salted cod (baccalao) with a side of tomato and date paste. This competent, if unremarkable, dish was a fine start to our meal. The grilled cod was tender and juicy, and the tomato paste was a conventionally tasty accompaniment. With this, we enjoyed a nice glass of spicy French white wine courtesy of the sommelier, which accompanied the dish quite well. Next up was a lobster soup with langoustine, accompanied by another glass of white wine. The soup was a tasty broth that was fortunately free of the creamy wheat trappings of many Icelandic lobster soups. We were rather pleased, but the small, overcooked pieces of langoustine within it put somewhat of a damper on the experience. Our third course was a clear winner in my book. Carpaccio is always a fine dish, but the accompanying sugar coated nuts, rucola and truffle mayonnaise really set it beyond and made it special. I could well imagine venturing to Rauðará just to enjoy their beef carpaccio. For sure. The accompanying glass of red was nice enough. The fourth course of was notable by its absence. We did not get it, and neither did we get the fourth glass of wine to go along with it (I am only guessing it was the fourth course we didn’t get. It might have been the second or third one for all I know). Selling a six-course menu that consists of five courses is pretty odd, we reckon. Take that as you will. After a tasty dish of absolutely nothing, we were presented with the evening’s main course, “grilled beef tenderloin with red wine glazed pearl onions, fondant potato and wild mushroom sauce.” The beef was cooked to perfection, really: tender, moist, succulent and bloody, with the sides adding a heavy undertone to the meal. The serving was large too, so large in fact that we had problems finishing it. Alongside the main course, the sommelier served a large glass of Argentinian Intis Malbec, which was a nice enough match, but possibly odd as part of a “sommelier selects” experience. Lastly, we received a double dessert of vanilla pannacotta with fresh berries and biscotti, along with homemade ice cream. Both were really good, although it seemed odd that they would serve us two dessert dishes. Perhaps one of them was the mysteriously absent sixth course? We left the place with mixed feelings. Rauðará Rauðarárstígur 37 What we think: Competent but unremarkable Flavour: ‘Classic Restaurant’. In a good way Ambiance: Moody, candle-lit, nice, calming Service: Friendly and accommodating hverfisgata 10 tel. 5800 101 101hotel@101hotel.is www.101hotel.is gravad lax with herbs and potato salad grilled fillet of lamb with fennel, ratte potatoes, zucchini and rosemary-redwine sauce blueberry „skyr” and nemesis chocolate cake with whipped cream and berries 4900 isk/31 euro The kitchen is open daily from 7am until 11pm and the bar is open until midnight on weekdays and 1am on weekends. 101 nordic menu

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