Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.07.2011, Blaðsíða 24

23
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 9 — 2011
Best new coffeehouse
C is for Cookie
We love C is for Cookie, and apparently
so do our readers and friends. So we
made up a category for them. They are
new and they sort of rule. This one’s for
you, C is for Cookie. Stay strong!
(New category)
Best tea
Te og kaffi
This is the first time we have done ‘best
tea’. But tea is pretty great and getting
GOOD tea is often harder than one
would think (making good tea does
not sound like such a gruelling task,
what with the portioned sacks and
whatnot). Te og kaffi seem to be the
popular pick here, as their baristas are
trained at making tea and also because
“they serve great mate, which is hard
to come by in Iceland”. However, Litli
Bóndabærinn reportedly have a British
tea expert on staff, so they are definitely
“one to watch”.
(New category)
Best sushi
suZushii
Picking ‘best sushi’ has never really
been a problem, until now. See, we had
a bunch of filmmakers sitting in on
our ‘discussion session’, and it turns
out that Icelandic filmmakers are re-
ally, really, really opinionated when
it comes to the subject of sushi. They
argued and argued and often contra-
dicted themselves, but in the end both
them and our write-ins agreed that su-
Zushii in Kringlan offer the best sushi
in Reykjavík today. Why? “suZushii are
consistent, fresh and have everything
you need. Even though you have to go
to effing Kringlan to get it”.
Runners-up: Sushibarinn (“a local
favourite, and for a reason”, “they of-
fer a really nice selection of sake, better
than what you get elsewhere”)), Fisk-
markaðurinn (“good service, a perfect
atmosphere... go there for lunch su-
shi”).
(2009: Sushismiðjan
2010: Sushibarinn)
Best vegetarian
Gló
Gló are “fresh, new, inventive AND
reasonably priced. This is why my vote
goes their way”, remarked one vegetar-
ian friend of the paper in a letter. The
write-ins for Gló were so numerous
this year we sorta wondered whether
they had started a campaign to win. But
then we went there for lunch. Congrat-
ulations, Gló. You are awesome.
Runners-up: Á næstu grösum (“the
king of Reykjavík vegetarian”), Krúska
(“I plain love it”).
(2009: Á næstu grösum
2010: Á næstu grösum)
Best hangover meal
The Truck at Grái Kötturinn
Last year, like the year before, we wound
up hopelessly deadlocked, OJ trial-style,
between the ‘trucks’ at Grái kötturinn
and Prikið (for the uninitiated, ‘a truck’
usually entails bacon, eggs, pancakes
and various other fried delicacies). Last
year we went with Prikið, because they
are a tad cheaper and they won the vote,
but this year Grái Kötturinn reclaims
the throne! Why? Because even though
it comes with a price, “there is nothing
like it. It’s even pretty great when you’re
sober”.
(2009: The Truck at Grái kötturinn
2010: The Truck at Prikið)
Best soup
The soups at Kryddlegin Hjörtu
Kryddlegin Hjörtu not only offer what
some claim to be “the best view in
Reykjavík”, their soups are also hearty,
inventive and “always delicious”.
(2009: Lobster soup at Sægreifinn
2010: Most soups at Súpubarinn)
Best place for a fancy
meal
Dill
People running fancy restaurants in
Reykjavík: don’t be sad that Dill takes
the prize once again. Even though the
rest of you are absolutely lovely (we
firmly believe that the people of Reyk-
javík are spoiled when it comes to fine-
dining choices), Dill is still a step be-
yond the rest. Is it their “location that
will make you happy to live in Reykjavík
for once”? Is it the “organic, fresh and
novel ingredients”? Maybe, but mostly,
“the sheer quality of Dill’s dining expe-
rience” makes them the top contender.
Runners-up: Fish Company (“service
can be a trip, but the food is always su-
perior”), Fiskmarkaðurinn (“head chef
Hrefna is the shining star of Icelandic
culinaria”), Primavera (“the superior
Italian”).
(2009: Gallery Restaurant at Hótel Holt
2010: Dill)
Best place to go for a
date
Ítalía
Popular vote and mail-ins ensured that
Ítalía reclaimed their title from Pisa af-
ter a year in the dark. That’s not to say
that Pisa has gotten any worse, just that
Ítalía’s decorations, service and atmo-
sphere touched enough folks this year
to place them a bar above the rest. “Can-
dles, smooth music, relatively private
seating... if I ever start dating again, my
first date will be at Ítalía.”
(2009: Ítalía
2010: Pisa)
Best newcomer
restaurant
Sjávargrillið
Everyone is in love with Sjávargril-
lið right now. And why wouldn’t it
be? They offer tasty and thought out
authentic-style dishes inspired by and
made out of the best ingredients Ice-
land has to offer (shop local!) at a fair
price. Emailers agree that “while their
menu isn’t that far removed from what
other Reykjavík seafood restaurants of-
fer, they still manage to take it a notch
further”, noting that “while the service
is often dangerously krútt-like, that’s
maybe why their prices are tolerable.”
(2009: Saffran
2010: Noodle Station)
Best goddamn
restaurant
Ban Thai
This one posed a huge problem. On
the one hand, we felt that there really
wasn’t a restaurant out there that fit our
qualifications for ‘best goddamn res-
taurant’ (i.e. ‘on the cheaper side’, ‘con-
sistent’, ‘tasty’ and ‘available’. On the
other, both restaurants we have award-
ed this prize have somehow gone under
(Segurmo) or noticeably decreased in
quality (Saffran, likely due to the fact
that “they are running franchises all
over town now and don’t have oversight
over their cooking” as one reader put
it), so we are sort of hesitant to award
this prize to anyone (last year we wrote:
“Frankly, we were afraid to even in-
clude this category, seeing as our ‘BEST
GODDAMN RESTAURANT OF 2009,’
closed down pretty much right after we
picked ‘em. We’re afraid it might be a
jinx-category...”
Then our restaurant mail-ins, when
perused closely, started forming a co-
herent message. That message read, in
various shapes, sizes and forms: “res-
taurants come and go, but Ban Thai has
not faltered for so many years”. Wheth-
er the category was best cheap restau-
rant, best place to grab a bite, best Thai
restaurant or best goddamn restaurant,
Ban Thai grabbed votes in every cat-
egory... lots of them.“They’re cheap for
a sit-down meal, and they’re super au-
thentic,” wrote one friend while anoth-
er remarked “it’s properly spicy, which
for ‘ethnic foods’ in Iceland is almost
an anomaly”.
So we thought: since they’ve been
good for so long and since our readers
and associates like them so much, they
can’t possibly be jinxed by this prize. So
here’s to you, Ban Thai. Don’t go open-
ing up any (more) franchises, please!
(2009: Segurmo at Boston
2010: Saffran)
Best family restaurant
Laundromat Café
“Grapevine, I swear if Laundromat
aren’t picked as best family restaurant,
I WILL NEVER READ YOU AGAIN
OR BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY!
HAVE YOU BEEN TO THEIR BASE-
MENT AREA? HAVE YOU?”
Runner-up: Lauga-Ás (“it’s where I
take my family, food for everyone and a
relaxed atmosphere”).
(2009: Hornið
2010: Piri-Piri)
Best place to grab a bite
Mamma Steina
Surprisingly enough, Mamma Steina’s
‘authentic Icelandic home-cooking’
got many, many votes for this category
(because, really, ‘authentic, Icelandic
home-cooking’? ). It is true, they are
cheap and tasty and some of that old-
school Icelandic stuff tastes pretty
good. “it’s probably not very good for
you, but it’s tasty and it’s cheap. Your
grandma might be serving this, in a
good way!” Maybe those ancient Ice-
landers had something going for them
?
(2009: Santa María
2010: Deli)
Best cheap meal
Noodle Station
The soups at Noodle Stations are filled
with noodly goodness, meat, veggies
and various other stuff we’re not sure
of. Apparently, it’s so good, “you can
even drink the broth!”. And it’s on the
cheap side: “it’s under 1000 krónur and
it leaves you satisfied and full for a long,
long time. It’s maybe not a miracle, but
it’s still awesome value for money!”
Runners-up: Subway (“they’ve left
101, and their price has gone up, but
their monthly offers are still excellent
value for money!”), Balkanika (“why is
everyone not eating there all the time?”)
(2010: ‘Sub of the month’ at Subway)
Best brunch
Vox
It’s a little pricey, but Vox’s brunch buf-
fet is definitely worth it on account of
having everything you’ll ever want to
brunch on, in unlimited quantities. Re-
marked one commenter: “going there
makes me ashamed of ever attempting
homemade brunch”.
(2009: Vox
2010: Nítjánda)
Best restaurant chain
Serrano
Serrano specialize in huge and tasty
burritos that come in all sorts of f la-
vours, and they’re supposedly rather
healthy, too. Much like last year, and
the year before, everyone agrees that
“Serrano is home-grown, cheap, lovely
and wonderful if you’re hung-over!”.
(2009: Serrano
2010: Serrano)
Best seafood
Við Tjörnina
Við Tjörnina know how to handle their
seafood, and the atmosphere is of the
‘classic Icelandic’ variety in such a way
that we had more than one email saying
that something amounting to “if I had
foreign guests stopping over for a sin-
gle day, this is the place I’d take them”,
with one writer adding: “I’d make them
get the steinbítur”.
Runners-up: Fishmarket are lots
of people’s “personal favourite”, as are
Fish Company and Icelandic Fish and
Chips.
(2010: Fish Company)
Best place to go with a
group of friends
Tapas Bar
A moderate pricing policy, a late night
kitchen and an atmosphere that en-
sures you’ll be in no hurry to leave even
after you’ve ordered seconds on your
seconds keeps Tapas Bar at the top of
this game yet another year.
(2010: Tapas Bar)
Best all-day hangout
Hressó
Because the location is awesome, be-
cause you can sit outside or inside,
because you can drink coffee or get
drunk, because the specials are often
special and just because, Hressó re-
mains Reykjavík’s designated all-day
hangout.
(2009: Hressó
2010: Hressó)
Best must try dining
experience
The svið at Fljótt og Gott, BSÍ
“Leaving Iceland without feasting on
seared sheep heads seems like a waste
of air travel”. Also, we can’t recom-
mend the ‘Moby Dick on a Stick’ at Sea
Baron anymore because whale lovers
might get upset. Fortunately, nobody
cares about sheep (in fact, “sheep lover”
sounds fairly criminal).
(2009: Bæjarins Bestu
2010: Moby Dick on a Stick at Sægreifinn)
Best tourist one-stop-
shop
Kolaportið
At Kolaportið (an institution to be sure,
but you know, it's really big), you can try
every crazy Icelandic dish in a uniquely
Icelandic environment. And then you
can shop for used DVDs and Linkin
Park t-shirts. What’s not to love?
(2010: Kaffi Loki)
ACTIVITIES
BEST OF
THE
REYKJAVÍK
2011
Best pool (all-round)
Neslaugin, Seltjarnarnes
For the good people of Reykjavík, pool-
going is as about close to a ‘religion’ as
you’ll get with this bunch of atheists.
Everyone has their favourite, so pick-
ing ‘the best one in town’ is always a
hard task. After a long and heated de-
bate, we decided to bend the rules a tad
so the non-Reykjavík based Neslaugin
swimming pool could reap the benefits
of all the points and mail-in votes it got
on account of it being really charming
and nice (Seltjarnarnes is practically
in Reykjavík anyway). To sum up the
arguments: Neslaugin has everything
needed for a satisfying pool experi-
ence. It’s small but never too crowded,
you can properly stretch out in the
hot-tub, it’s great for tanning, they use
saltwater instead of chlorine, there’s a
proper water-slide for kids and, accord-
ing to several tips, it’s the cleanest pool
in the city.
(2009: Laugardalslaug
2010: Laugardalslaug)
Best pool (for hot tub-
bing, lounging)
Laugardalslaug
Laugardalslaug wins this category due
to its diversity. As one reader puts it:
“Laugardalslaug is the Tivoli of hot-
tubs”. Need we say more?
(2009: Sundhöll Reykjavíkur
2010: Sundhöll Reykjavíkur)
Best art museum
Einar Jónsson museum and sculp-
ture garden
Einar Jónsson was Iceland’s lead-
ing sculptor and his museum on
Skólavörðuholt is the first of its kind
in Iceland. So it’s very understand-
able that it holds a special place in the
hearts of the people of Reykjavík and
their visitors. The sculptures also look
awesome. “It’s a dramatic experience.
The outside garden with the impres-
sive sculptures is breathtaking. The
architecture is groundbreaking. The
exhibition inspiring. Einar Jónsson’s
museum has it all in one package”,
remarked one email. We won’t argue
with that.
(2009: Einar Jónsson museum and sculp-
ture garden
2010: Listasafn Reykjavíkur )
Best gallery
i8 Gallery
At the risk of repeating ourselves (ha
ha ha), i8 win this one again, “for be-
ing consistently great”.
(2009: Gallery Kling og Bang
2010: i8 Gallery)
Best museum
Icelandic National Museum
Anyone interested in Icelandic his-
tory will enjoy the highly ambitious
exhibition at the National Museum,
which offers an adventurous insight
into Iceland’s history and heritage,
where the past meets the future. The
museum shop on the ground f loor is
also the best one in town, where you’ll
find quality Icelandic design as well
as objects related to the exhibitions on
display.
(2010: Þjóðmenningarhús)
Best place to spend a
rainy day
Bíó Paradís
Hot-tubs are still awesome, rain or
shine, but there’s a new chill-out in
town that outdoes the rest on a rainy
day. With its selection of alternative
films, shorts and old Icelandic clas-
sics—and a nice café where you can
sit down with a beer before or after
the show, Bíó Paradís is simply put
“exactly what Reykjavík has been miss-
ing!” Also, their popcorn portions are
gigantic!
(2009: Borgarbókasafnið
2010: A hot tub)
Best place to rent a
movie
Aðalvídeóleigan
Laugarásvídeó are still strong, but two
years without Aðalvídeóleigan and its
expert staff/excellent selection getting
a nod is TOO DAMN LONG.
(2009: Laugarásvídeó
2010: Laugarásvídeó)
Best biking tour
Harpa-Laugarnes
The way from the old harbour along
Sæbraut all the way to Laugarnes is an
ideal biking route for many reasons.
There is a marked biking path and the
coastline view on a sunny day is just
magnificent. Please take a minute or
two to admire our brand-new concert
hall Harpa before you bike along, after
all, we spent millions of billions on
it—you might as well enjoy it!
(2009: Grandi-Nauthólsvík
2010: Ægisíða-Elliðaárdalur)
Best place to go for a
walk
Kringlan
You’ve been through Laugardalur,
paying special attention to the botani-
cal gardens and the swimming pool.
Then you strolled through Þingholt,
greeting the cats and taking extra care
not to step into any vomit left there
SEND US YOUR TIPS FOR 2012: bestof@grapevine.is