Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.09.2010, Qupperneq 25

EAT And dRInK
3 X BAKERY
1 SANDHOLT
This classy little bakery on Laugavegur
is a feast for the senses. The glass case
stocked with snúður, danishes, pain
au raisin, chocolate lava cakes, etc. are
very hard to resist. The sandwiches are
pretty wonderful too. Laugavegur 36
2 MOSFELLSBAKARÍ
While not conveniently located in the 101
area, this well-known bakery is well worth
the drive to Mosfellsbær (or their other shop
in 108). Their baked goods are always flaky
and moist and gooey and sweet and delicious.
Also, they deliver. Háholt 13-15, Mosfellsbær or
Háaleitisbraut 58-60, Reykjavík
3 KVOSIN
Nestled down on Aðalstræti next door to a
small grocery shop of the same name, this is
the latest addition to Reykjavík’s baking scene.
The big perk about this place is that they’ve got
ample seating at which to enjoy the spoils of the
confectioner’s ovens.Aðalstræti 6-8
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 Gouda 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
F D
For your mind, body and soul
Did you know that Café Paris serves
brunch every Saturday and Sunday?
Assuming you just shouted out a
surprised ‘no!’ I’ll admit that neither
did I until a short while before my
brunch-mate and I walked across
Austurvöllur headed there for that very
thing. While there are three brunches
from which to choose—Healthy,
Standard and Luxury—my dining
companion and I were both feeling
rather self-important on this particular
Saturday noon-hour and ordered two
Luxury Brunches (1.790 ISK) and a
refreshing glass of orange juice each
(390 ISK).
The two brunch platters and the
auspiciously pale juice were delivered
one after the other by a waiter with off-
puttingly filthy hands as though he has
just strapped on an apron after topping
up the oil in his car and recalibrating
the engine, and a waitress with a
certain knack for slamming orders as
hard as can be onto the table. Maybe she
thought we weren’t paying her enough
attention. Maybe she was just hired for
her subtlety. I don’t know.
Our Luxury Brunches came in the
form of a large square platter on which
was arranged an omelette, bacon, sliced
fruit, a crêpe, roast potatoes, bread,
meat, cheeses, marinated veggies and
a smoothie. It certainly looked nice and
some of the meals components were,
but others could have been better.
Starting with the good, the roast
potatoes were really lovely and golden
brown and were not at all greasy,
as ‘home fries’ in other breakfast
establishments can be. The smoothie
tasted of sweet strawberries and skyr
and was a really nice and refreshing
treat, as was the sliced melon. The crêpe
was also pretty good, especially when
spread with the strawberry jam that
came with the meal.
The omelette, on the other hand,
was a tasteless rectangle of spongy
egg topped with a crispy brown layer
that separated from the rest when cut
into. The marinated veggies were in
actuality a blend of artichokes, sundried
tomatoes and whole cloves of garlic
so drenched in herbed oil that they
may as well have just been served in
the jar from whence they so clearly
were sprung. Also, that pale juice we
were served was actually an extremely
diluted pineapple juice, not the orange
juice that had been ordered in both
English and Icelandic.
For a casual, no frills brunch this
one really wasn’t bad, and the price
was alright. But when the name says
‘luxury’, you tend to expect more and,
in this case, that’s not what was served.
Not so Luxurious in Paris
Café París
Austurstræti 14
What we think: Not so luxurious,
but still good
Flavour: Sometimes good,
sometimes bland and spongy
Ambiance: Generic café
Service: Disinterested and dirty.
T
H
E
B
ES
T
OF
REYKJA
V
ÍK
2010
BEST SEAFOO
D
We exceed high
expectations
Open for bistro style lunch every day from 11.30–14.00
and dinner wednesday to saturday from 19.00–22.00
Nordic House, Sturlugata 5, 101 Reykjavik, Tel. 6185071/8939693, www.dillrestaurant.is
Madonna
Ristorante Italiano
6 course
Seafood Lunch Buffet
www.madonna.isMadonna Rauðarárstíg 27 445-9500
Only 2.690 kr
Icelandic seafood soup, seafood
pizza and a variety of fish dishes.
Lunch Buffet 11:30 - 14.30