Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.05.2011, Qupperneq 42

R E V I E W S
Take your baby out to dinner!
In 2009 and 2010 a record number
of babies, nearly ten thousand (5.026
in 2009, 4.907 in 2010), were born in
Iceland. This country has not seen a
baby boom on this scale in fifty years!
This curious by-product of Iceland’s
2008 economic collapse is either the
result of having too much time to
make sweet love due to unemployment,
having too little money to squander
away on birth control, or a surplus of
children’s footwear in need of feet.
Either way, the state seems happy with
more little taxpayers to carry on our
burdens, as does the entrepreneur of
infant oriented entertainment.
Laundromat Café has decided to
take this situation to the cleaners.
Laundromat is a true grande cafe
on par with any continental turn of the
century counterpart. Crowned with its
lofty ceilings and plate glass windows,
such a casual meeting place is already
a rarity for Reykjavík. Elevating it to
extraordinary is the concept of grande
cafe cum playground for children and
adults alike. The idea of Laundromat
was born in Copenhagen, where
the recipe of catering to infants and
toddlers simmered before being
imported to Reykjavík.
Stepping inside transports one
to a hipper neighbourhood normally
found off New York City’s L-train or
in Prenzlauer Berg. Children run
amok, while young parents socialise
over brunch enjoying a well-deserved
afternoon beer. This is the only place
in town where you can breastfeed with
your right arm and slug down a cold
one with the left without getting the
evil eye from grandmother-knows-best
in the next booth.
The icing on the cake is downstairs,
where a playroom of toys and board
games for all ages share space with
an actual Laundromat. An archive of
periodicals, including the Reykjavík
Grapevine or any of the thousands
of books for trade, will keep you
company as you wait on a load of whites
or supervise your kids. One wall is
dotted with padded cubbyholes, a big
hit with the kids, but actually residue
of a previous chill out room from the
building’s former nightclub occupant.
Kids, now you too can roll around where
mommy and daddy once rolled around.
I am curious to know how many little
patrons were actually conceived in
those very same honeycombs they now
climb in.
Good but verging on bland was the
garden-variety brunch for the price of
1.990 ISK. Two choices of brunch: the
clean brunch or the dirty brunch are
differentiated by a few slivers of fatty
bacon. The selection of fruit provides
enough Vitamin C to ward off scurvy,
while the rest is a satisfying mix of heat
and serve. This comes as no surprise
since the place has been such a hit
since opening their doors in March,
and on any given Sunday this place is
a zoo. The menu needs a bit of ironing,
but we do not exactly come for the food,
we come for the atmosphere, and the
company of other parents.
So, rather than show up at your
mum’s with a bag of soiled socks on
Sunday, head down to the Laundromat
Café. Come for the atmosphere, stay for
the spin cycle.
“Breast feed with your right arm, slug down
a cold one with the left”
Laundromat
Austurstræti 9
MADELEINE T
HVALREKI
Noodle soup with chicken IKR 930
IKR 930 Noodle soup with beef
Home of the best noodle soup!
Skólavörðustígur 21A
A genuine Nordic 3 course feast
starting from 4.900,-
Pósthússtræti 11 101 Reykjavík Tel: 578 2008 www.silfur.is
One of the best restaurants in Iceland
Tel.: 511 5090
E-mail: einarben@einarben.is
Website: www.einarben.is
Order now!