Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2011, Blaðsíða 47

R E V I E W S
Iceland’s
Restaurant of the year
2009 & 2010
by the Nordic Prize
Nordic House Sturlugata 5 101 Reykjavik tel. +354 552 1522 www.dillrestaurant.is Open for lunch every day from 11.30 and for dinner wednesday to sunday from 19.00.
Noodle soup with chicken IKR 930
IKR 930 Noodle soup with beef
Home of the best noodle soup!
Skólavörðustígur 21A
A NOTE ON OUR RATINGS SySTEM:
Ratings run from zero to five Gs and reflect the
overall experience of the reviewer. A fast food place
will be compared to other fast food places and rated
accordingly. Note that 2.5 Gs is not a failing grade—it
means 'average'. A solid 5 Gs means 'as good as it
gets'. Zero means food poisoning. You get the idea.
Now, I am not a food snob. Food snobs
probably make jokes like "the meal was
less degustation than a disgustination"
(do they?) and douse their morning quail
egg omelette in Verjus and Lambda oil
(probably not...). I'm guessing they won’t
find themselves at 4 AM last weekend,
propped up on the fridge door trying to
decide if that week old shrimp sandwich
suspended in grey liquid might still be
north of a stomach pump.
Now that I've razed your appetite, you
can see why a lovely, Spartan sandwich
place like St. Paul's could appeal to me
and my doctor. It's a pity that it is, as of
yet, only open for lunch service but I will
take what I can get since I think we're all
getting a little tired of the sloppy man-
wiches at Hlöllabátar/Nonnabátar and
the cardboard of the American sandwich
chains.
St. Paul’s is a recent addition to the
Icelandic sandwich scene started by
Scouse drummer Paul Maguire—who’s
hip, greying and frizzy and looks a little
like the third Blonde Redhead brother.
It's a literal hole in the wall and only
a little out of the way down the street
from the Reykjavík Art Museum and
within spitting distance of the harbour
(not that you'll be doing much spitting).
The kitchen is crammed up against
the counter under a surprisingly high
ceiling and felt like being inside one of
those long, straight Tetris blocks that
you could always find use for. Likewise,
the tiny white tile kitchen somehow
accommodates a large high-end stove
and a length of cupboards. Sadly, those
physics-bending properties don't extend
to the seating that only rooms three and
is propped up against the windowsill.
Luckily there's always the option of tak-
ing it to go and having a seat on the pier.
The focus is on baguettes, along with
a couple of types of wraps and a soup of
the day. I had the figure-friendly Brie,
jam and bacon combo (950 ISK), while
the hired help had the coronation chick-
en wrap (890 ISK). And we both went
with the basil tomato soup (890 ISK),
heavy on the basil and marginally cooler
than a pool of lava. My sandwich was
rich but the redcurrant jelly cut through
the creaminess, the bread was fresh and
they didn't skimp on the Brie consider-
ing the price. The Indian-style corona-
tion wrap chicken in a chutney-yoghurt
sauce (some guesswork about the exact
ingredients) was a little slighter but
made up for it with spicy goodness (not
hot though)
My only gripe is the "Since 1971" (or
whatever year it was). It’s silly. I get that
the owner is probably referencing the
year of his birth, but this is false adver-
tising and it grates.
It’s not health food but the ingre-
dients are fresh and filling. St. Paul’s
is a nice addition to the lunch scene in
downtown Reykjavík, but I would like
to see a more adventurous selection
and I’m curious to see where they take
it (may I at least recommend adding a
Vietnamese sandwich to the selection
while we're waiting for the first proper
Bánh mì place? (I seem to be addicted to
parentheses)).
THE BAGUETTE SLINGER
RAGNAR EGILSSON
NATSHA NANDABHIWAT
What We Think: Indulge in a
good lunch sandwich without
breaking the bank
Flavour: Anglo-Indian and
French
Ambiance: Small and to-go
Service: Intimate, casual, good
St. Paul's
Tryggvagata 16, 101 Reykjavík