Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.05.2011, Page 21

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 6 — 2011
EVERY BAR IN 101 REYKJAVÍK REVIEWED AND RATED
English Pub
Austurstræti 12
Saturday, 22:40
800 1400 700
Relaxed, quiet, kind of British.
Classy, dark, old black and white photos
all over the place.
At the time of our visit, we saw 40+ and
50+ folks and mature couples mixed
with pseudo-intellectuals and wannabe
gentlemen. At other times its reportedly
a sports-hnakki haven. Seasoned
alcoholics.
Troubadour alert!
Fast food (pizza, nachos, paninis…) and
some snacks.
“Hey! Don’t you know there are a lot of
good writers in Spain?”

If you feel lucky you can try to win some
free beers spinning the wheel. Live
football matches of the Premier and
Champions League.
A nice bar for chatting relaxed with
friends while listening to some good live
music.

Esja
Austurstræti 16
Friday, 18:00
850 1100 800
Fairly empty.
Classy, but sterile.
Aiming at the 30+ real estate agent and
banker demographic, to seemingly little
avail.
Top 40.
Tapas.
“...”
Place really needs a little time to set in
order to develop some.
Not quite there yet.

Faktorý
Smiðjustígur 6
Saturday, 23:40
750 1000 750
A place people come to drink alcoholic
beverages. A lot of them.
Dark, mismatched chairs and tables, bar
stools and tall tables.
Twentysomethings, some in their early
30s, all out for a night of heavy drinking.
Mismatched like the décor; everything
from rock to techno. The upstairs bar is
a live music venue that features great
concerts many times a week.
None
“Whoooo!!! Wazzzuuup!”
When the weather is good the large
courtyard in front can turn into an
outdoor festival, good stop for very late
bar hopping.
The ideal place for someone looking for
the rowdy drunken atmosphere, or a
concert.
(more if you’re seeing a
show there)
Gamla Pósthúsið
Pósthússtræti 13
Satuday, 00:07 750 1800 800
American Psycho in a bistro with ugly
people.
White walls, Habitat couches, those
weird beige drapes that look like they’re
made of translucent burlap sacks.
Still-moneyed baby boomers and their
trust-fund offspring. MPs.
House remixes of whatever these people
remember of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
Plenty of snacks and a full daytime
menu (that looks pretty expensive).
Where the remainder of Iceland’s
post-collapse nouveau riche like to hide
out, drink up and make out, with
perfume-drenched results.
Clinton’s inauguration, after Tipper Gore
passed out and Marion Barry turned the
cameras off.

Hotel 101 Bar
Hverfisgata 10
Sunday, 23:40
990-1350 1350 700-1000
2007
Modern, Nordic, minimalist, black and
white.
Real Estate Agents, 25+, High Income,
King of Sweden.
Nondescript background lounge music.
Mediterranean appetizers like marinated
olives and bruschetta with marinated
artichoke.
“This place is sooo 2007”.
Reportedly owned by bankster Jón
Ásgeir and his wife, Ingibjörg S.
Pálmadóttir. Designed by Ingibjörg.
Once had been a popular spot to party,
before Iceland’s financial meltdown. If
chic and modern is your thang, this
could be your bar.

Hótel Holt Gallery Bar
Bergstaðastræti 37
Sunday, 22:40
900-1000 1800 950
Warm, cosy, dimly lit
The room is full of big comfortable
leather couches. The walls are adorned
by paintings and sketches by Iceland’s
most notable artists.
Average patrons are from 25+ upwards.
It’s mostly Icelanders who stop by to
have a drink before or after dinner. Eric
Clapton has been known to drop by as
well.
Soft, nondescript lounge music.
Small plates like, ‘Duck confit
dumplings’, and ‘Tandoori tiger prawn
and papadum biscuits and pumpkin
salad’.
“They make a really good whiskey sour”.
The bar really doubles as a museum and
a gallery.
Built in 1964, Hótel Holt is classic,
sophisticated luxury. That said, the bar
welcomes everyone and prices can be
quite affordable, especially during
Happy Hour. This is a great place to
spend a relaxing evening catching up
with friends.

Hressingarskálinn, Hressó
Austurstræti 20
Wednesday, 20:30
890 1000 650
Relaxed, family friendly, half empty.
Faded American diner, with leather
booths next to the main window, simple
tables and chairs. Long L-shaped bar.
A mix of young couples and students
chatting or hunched over Apple
MacBooks.
Playlist mix of non-threatening acoustic
indie, Cold War Kids and French pop.
DJs on weekends, as well as live music
in the form of troubadours and cover
bands.
A wide and varied menu. Standards
such as burgers, sandwiches and pizza
are combined with daily specials.
“Why is the internet not working?!?”
The massive and beautiful courtyard
where people can sit, drink, eat and
(more importantly to some), smoke.
No great shakes, but a perfectly relaxing
place to go and chat with friends during
the day.

Hvíta Perlan
Austurstræti 12a
Sunday, 16:00
850 950 700-850
Dark and relaxed.
Stylish, grey, minimal.
Footballer of the fancier type, wearing
designer sportswear, drinking Breezers.
None during football matches (top 40 at
other times).
A slim selection of antipasti and
burgers.
"He should've gotten a red card!"
High-Definition screens. High-class
sports viewing.
In Short:
A nice place to go to drink beer in a dark
corner and watch your team play.

Íslenski Barinn
Pósthússtræti 9
Sunday 16:00
900 1200 850
Very relaxed, nice.
Feels like grandma’s living room.
Embroidery on the walls, nice black and
white photos of old Iceland upstairs.
25+. Basically anyone could fit in. Nice
atmosphere for writers and journalists
to sit and write. Couples, young or old.
Suitable for people working in the area
to sit outside in the summer for lunch.
Icelandic music.
Very Icelandic menu. ‘Mother’s special
lamb’, then the very Icelandic one with
shark, rúgbrauð and harðfiskur. They
also have some plain bar snack, nuts,
chips, etc.
"We’re the only bar in town that sells
Kaldi as draft!”
My grandmother had the exact same
embroidery picture of old Greek
goddesses
A very nice place to sit down and relax.
Good service and with the variety of
people in there you don’t need to worry
if you belong to the group or not, there
is no “group!”

Kaffi Amsterdam
Hafnarstræti 5
Saturday, 22:00
900 1300 700-900
Vaguely seasoned hard-drinker
dive—vaguely normal folks out for a pint
dive.
Wood panelling, classic dive.
A nice mix of seasoned drinkers, folks
from out of town that don’t know better
and Bakkus hipsters that snuck in to use
the bathroom but find themselves
enamoured.
Top 40 ‘party music’. DJs on weekends,
sometimes live bands.
Nope.
“CAN YOU PLAY ROD STEWART’S
TEARS FROM HEAVEN?”
One of Iceland’s only dives that’s not
totally end-of-the-line in a horrible way.
Occasional alt. concerts will mix up the
crowd.
Amsterdam often functions as a venue
during Iceland Airwaves. This
often-empty (sometimes-crowded)
divey dive bar is not without its charm.
You’ll at least have the chance to meet
some interesting people. That said, the
drinks are kind of expensive and it’s not
the kinda place you seek out.

Kaffi Grand
Frakkastígur 9
Sunday, 15:00
400 700 400
The cheapest bar in town.
Plain.
College students, rockers, seasoned
alcoholics. 30+
Zeppelin oozed out of a broken sound
system.
Not really.
“I really should be studying...”
The cheapest bar in town.
Go there for drinking.

Kaffi Zimsen
Hafnarstræti 18
Saturday, 03:44
750 1800 700
Like the world is about to be swallowed
by a sports car.
An eclectic mix of incredibly random
stuff, with vintage gramophones and
sewing machines clashing violently with
disco balls, IKEA furniture and a
Lascaux-type cave painting.
After midnight, this is where teenhood
goes to die. Every pot-smoking,
moonshine-drinking, hair-bleaching,
SAT-failing unwanted pregnancy in
greater Reykjavík is dancing to shitty
techno in here. During the day you can
find pretty much anyone.
Dance versions of songs you hear every-
where else. Daytime means Pearl Jam
and other ‘90s rock heroes.
No. You used to be able to buy Pizza
King slices in the smoking area. That
might still be the case.
Come for the teenagers, stay because
you’re still in line to get in.
At night: Don’t. During daytime: sure
why not?

Kaffibarinn
Bergstaðastræti 1
Friday, 03:00
750 1000 600
It’s Kaffibarinn. Very crowded and
charged with pheromones of all sorts.
It’s Kaffibarinn. No interior decorations
can be seen after 2AM. I did see a
picture of a dog hanging on the wall
besides the bar.

It’s Kaffibarinn.
DJs, live music, events. It’s Kaffibarinn.
It’s Kaffibarinn. Sometimes sandwiches.
Free nuts for those who show up early!
Free cheese and crackers on
Wednesday nights.
“It’s so crowded, sexual harassment is
called dancing around here. It’s
Kaffibarinn.”
It’s Kaffibarinn. It has a great smoking
area unlike many other bars in Iceland. It
also remains the only bar in Reykjavík
that has its own men’s choir. They
practice Sunday nights if you’re
interested…
It’s Kaffibarinn. Don’t expect affection
from the service personnel after
midnight. However, Kaffibarinn has an
excellent feel to it. One can easily say it
is a must-visit if you want to experience
the core of Icelandic nightlife.

Kofi Tómasar Frænda
Laugavegur 2.
Sunday, 01:15
790 1150 700
Quiet before midnight, dance-y after
midnight.
Black leather, wood and candles.
PM: Quiet people. AM: Drunks dancing
badly.
PM: Quiet. AM: Dance music.
Full menu, includes sandwiches, soups
and so on.
"The name of this place means what?!"
A jarring shift from quiet to loud.
Whenever an Icelander complains that
Americans fail to understand other
cultures bring up the fact that a
downtown café-bar is named after
‘Uncle Tom's Cabin’. That said, once you
pick your jaw up off the floor, this is a
nice place before midnight. Then it
changes into the world's smallest dance
club.

Laundromat
Austurstræti 9
14:00, Sunday
800 1100 700
Bustling, new.
Complicated, nice. Lots of Grapevines in
the basement.
Hipsters, 101 celebs, Icelandic celebs
and the tourists that love them.
Modern hipster fare
A full menu of bistro/grill food.
“Where can I plug in my MacBook?”
It’s new and fresh and full of stuff.
Seems like ideal for hanging out for
prolonged periods.

REVIEWER INSTRUCTIONS
These are the instructions we hand-
ed out to our reviewers before they
embarked upon their mission.
DEFINE: BAR
A bar is an establishment that has
'the sale and consumption of alco-
hol' as its main purpose and goal.
It cannot regularly charge an entry
fee (thus excluding, for instance,
NASA and Sódóma), and it must
remain open until 1AM on week-
days (thus excluding, for instance,
Tíu Dropar). It can sell food, but
emphasis must be placed on, again,
the sale and consumption of alco-
holic beverages.
METHOD
One beer per bar, one reviewer per
bar. At the bar, we will ask the bar-
tender the average price of beer
there (as well as the average price
of a 'single + mixer' and 'shot'), and
if they have 'happy hour'. We will
note down the time given and offer
on offer in our fancy notebook that
we did not forget to bring (because
forgetting that would be horrible!).
We will then, if at all possible, seek
to engage a patron or two in con-
versation. This is important.
We will then write down the follow-
ing:
MOOD/ATMOSPHERE
Describe the mood in a few words.
INTERIOR DECORATIONS
A note on the style of the place.
AVERAGE PATRON
What type of person frequents it
(don't be judgmental here!).
STYLE OF MUSIC (NOTE IF THEY
SOMETIMES OFFER LIVE MU-
SIC)
What kind of music do they play?
Do they have DJs or live music in
the evening?
MUNCHIES?
Can you get something to eat there?
QUOTE OF NOTE
When you were chatting with the
patrons, did they say anything in-
teresting?
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERIS-
TICS, IF ANY
What sets this one apart.
IN SHORT
Sum up your experience in a few
words.
RATING OUT OF FIVE
Based on your overall enjoyment/
feel (extremely high or low ratings
should be argued for)
HAPPY HOURS
Do they have any ‘happy hours’?
When? What do they entail?
By: Anna Andersen, José Angel
Hernandez García, Bogi Bjarnason,
Þórður Hermannsson, Ólafur Sindri
Ólafsson, Haukur S. Magnússon, Jón
Örn Loðmfjörð, Megan Herbert, Kári
Tulinius, Paul Fontaine, Sindri Eldon,
Vala Þóroddsdóttir, Helgi Þór Harðarson,
Magnús Sveinn Helgason