Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2011, Page 58

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For your mind, body and soul
3 Frakkar
Baldursgata 14 | G5
Aktu Taktu
Skúlugata 15 | E7
Alibaba
Veltusund 3b | D3
American Style
Tryggvagata 26 | D4
Argentína Steakhouse
Barónstígur | F7
Austurlanda-
hraðlestin
Hverfisgata 64A | F7
Á Næstu Grösum
Laugavegur 20B | F5
B5
Bankastræti 5 | E4
Bakkus
Tryggvagata 22 | D3
Ban Thai
Laugavegur 130 | G8
Babalú
Skólavörðustígur 22A
| F5
Bæjarins Beztu
Tryggvagata | D4
Íslenski Barinn
Pósthússtræti 9 | E4
Bar Ellefu
Hverfisgata 18 | E5
Café d'Haiti
Tryggvagata 12 | D4
Café Loki
Lokastígur 28 | G6
Café Paris
Austurstræti 14 | E4
Café Roma
Rauðarárstígur 8 | G8
Deli
Bankastræti 14 | E5
Domo
Þingholtsstræti 5 | E4
Einar Ben
Veltusundi | D3
Eldsmiðjan
Bragagata 38A | G5
Fiskmarkaðurinn
Aðalstræti 12 | E3
Geysir Bar/Bistro
Aðalstræti 2 | D3
Garðurinn
Klappastigur 37 | F5
Gata
Laugavegur 3 | E5
Glætan book café
Laugavegur 19 | E5
Grái Kötturinn
Hverfisgata 16A | E5
Grillhúsið
Tryggvagata 20 | D3
Habibi
Hafnarstræti 20 | D4
Hamborgarabúlla
Tómasar (“Bullan”)
Geirsgata 1 | C3
Hlölla Bátar
Ingólfstorg | D3
Hornið
Hafnarstræti 15 | D4
Hótel Holt
Bergstaðarstræti 37
| G5
Humarhúsið
Amtmannstígur 1 | E4
Hressó
Austurstræti 20 | E4
Icelandic Fish & Chips
Tryggvagata 8 | D3
Indian Mango
Frakkastígur 12 | F6
Jómfrúin
Lækjargata 4 | E4
Fjallkonubakaríið
Laugavegur 21 | F5
Kaffifélagið
Skólavörðustígur 10
| E5
Kaffitár
Bankastræti 8 | E5
Kaffivagninn
Grandagarður 10 | B2
Kofi Tómasar Frænda
Laugavegur 2 | E5
Kornið
Lækjargata 4 | E4
Krua Thai
Tryggvagata 14 | D3
La Primavera
Austurstræti 9 | E4
Mokka
Skólavörðustígur 3A
| E5
Nonnabiti
Hafnarstræti 9 | D4
O Sushi
Lækjargata 2A | E4
Pisa
Lækjargötu 6b | E4
Pizza King
Hafnarstræti 18 | D4
Express Pizza
Vallarstræti 4 | E4
Gamla Smiðjan
Lækjargötu 8 | E4
Prikið
Bankastræti 12 | E5
Ráðhúskaffi | E3
Tjarnargata 11
Santa Maria
Laugavegur 22A, | F6
Serrano
Hringbraut 12 | I5
Shalimar
Austurstræti 4 | E3
Silfur
Pósthússtræti 11 | E4
Sjávarkjallarinn
Aðalstræti 2 | D3
Sólon
Bankastræti 7a | E5

Sushibarinn
Laugavegur 2 | E5
Sushismiðjan
Geirsgötu 3 | C3
Svarta Kaffi
Laugavegur 54 | F7
Sægreifinn
Verbúð 8, Geirsgata
| C3
Tapas
Vesturgata 3B | D3
Thorvaldsen
Austurstræti 8 | E4
Tíu Dropar
Laugavegur 27 | F5
UNO
Hafnarstræti 1-3 | D3
Vegamót
Vegamótastígur 4 | F5
Við Tjörnina
Templarasund 3 | E4
Vitabar
Bergþórugata 21 | G7
Food & Drink | Venue finder
1919 Restaurant is on the first floor of
the Radison Blu 1919 Hotel (luckily
that wasn’t the first mouthful of the
evening).
The restaurant looks elegant and
minimal and the designers did a good
job of marrying the slightly bland
lounge chic style of the pre-recession
hotel build-up with the history of this
wonderful building in downtown Reyk-
javík—having already made the wise
decision of removing the crest of Eim-
skipafélag Íslands (a pre-Nazi swastika),
from the gable of the house in favour
a ‘1919’ sign indicating the year that it
was built.
My dining partner and I arrived ear-
ly for dinner service and therefore had
the dining area almost entirely to our-
selves. So while it’s true that the servers
had little else to busy themselves with
in terms of dining service, I must still
commend them for absolutely top-
notch service. We had two excellent
servers and I swore I would remember
the name of the main one, but the red
wine that followed made short work of
those vows (was it Raoul? Let’s go with
Raoul...sorry other gentleman).
The menu was trimmed down to
a perfect, unbloated page and a half.
For starters I ordered the 1919 Hot pot
(1190 ISK), while my dining partner
ordered the garlic-fried langoustine
with crispy dark bread and citrus sauce
(2850 ISK). This was promising as I am
a big fan of Japanese-style hot pots and
liked that they didn’t try to pass the lan-
goustine off as a lobster (which some
places will do since the distinction isn’t
really made in the Icelandic language).
I regret to say that the hot pot was
a bit disappointing. The broth was
uninteresting and there were only one
or two pieces of each fish—salmon,
what I’m guessing was common ling
and an unidentified third—in it. I was
hoping for something closer to proper
seafood Yosenabe. A plate of identifi-
able seafood that you cook yourself in
some kind of Icelandified dashi stock
would have been more interesting.
The langoustine was subtle, but it does
benefit from good fundamental cooking
technique and not too much fussing
with the flavouring. Excellent.
The salmon with lightly pickled
leek and potato purée that my partner
ordered as a main course didn’t work
quite as well. The salmon had excellent
texture and slid off the bone like a
dull-eyed cabana boy on a lounge chair
and while I appreciate letting the main
ingredient do the heavy lifting, the
salmon could have used more season-
ing.
However, the slow cooked lamb
shank with baked beetroot and an
onion-potato purée was so perfectly
cooked that I swore it sighed a "thank
you" when I tucked into it (although
that could just have been steam escap-
ing). Any inclusion of baked/grilled/
braised beetroot earns you immediate
points in my book (it's the three-point
free throw for rustic basics) and I
couldn’t have been happier.
For dessert, I avoided the omnipres-
ent skyr dishes and opted for the cara-
mel muffin (the special of the day) and
he ordered the warm chocolate cake
(1290 ISK each). The chocolate cake,
which tasted a little like an upscale lava
cake, was served with an inexplicable
scoop of raspberry sherbet/sorbet/ice
cream (as was my muffin). The caramel
muffin was dense and topped with
caramel sauce, but it was still just a
muffin. No complaints, but nothing to
call home about.
Overall, 1919 Restaurant does
fine dining quite well. The lamb was
brilliant, the langoustine was also very
good and the chef has a very good
handle on the cooking techniques.
However, without wanting to encour-
age some Blumenthalian shenanigans,
I feel they could go a little wilder with
the seasoning and accompaniments as
the hot pot and salmon, although far
from bad, verged on the bland.
SIGHING OF THE LAMBS
RAGNAR EGILSSON
JULIA STAPLES
What We Think: High end
cuisine, excellent on the basics,
unadventurous
Flavour: New Scandinavian-ish/
French-ish/local food-ish
Ambiance: Romantic more than
business lounge
Service: Fantastic!
1919 Restaurant
Pósthússtræti 2, 101 Reykjavík
Tel: +354 411 5000 • www.itr.is • www.spacity.is
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