Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.08.2012, Blaðsíða 67

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. Ó Ð I N S T O R G 1 0 1 R E Y K J A V Í K Í S L A N D S N A P S B I S T R O . I SS n a p s b i s t r o @ s n a p s b i s t r o . i s + 3 5 4 5 1 1 6 6 7 7
R E V I E W S R E V I E W S
Let Them Eat Sourdough
There is an Ethiopian restaurant in
Flúðir—the first of its kind in Iceland.
Let’s just savour that fact for a moment.
In a town of approximately 400 inhabit-
ants, with Hótel Flúðir and a temporary
burger cart as the only other dining
options, someone has set up a freak-
ing Ethiopian restaurant! Ethiopia—the
country that brought coffee to the
world, the spiritual home of the Rasta-
fari movement, the Catholic stronghold
where the ark of the covenant is suppos-
edly guarded—you know—that African
country of 84 million people that rests
light-years away from Flúðir, geographi-
cally and culturally.
And our lord and saviour, Haile Se-
lassie I, certainly wanted to shine a light
on this particular culture clash when he
decided to host a tractor rally on the day
of our visit. Nothing quite drives home
the contrast like munching on a spicy
chicken stew on a sourdough pancake,
with an African news channel on full
blast in the middle of a trailer park while
surrounded by bikers in varying states of
undress and inebriation.
I don’t have anything against the
people of Flúðir (or nearby Laugavatn)
but it has to be said that they do enjoy a
bit of a reputation for being—well—“red
above the collar”—but how bad can they
be seeing how they have embraced this
oasis of African delights and its propri-
etor, Azeb Kahssay.
Azeb originally came to Iceland as
an au pair and took up residence after
meeting her husband and co-owner
Árni Hannesson. Her sister took part
in establishing the restaurant but has
since split off and started her own Ethio-
pian restaurant in Kópavogur, which
is run separately but shares the same
menu. So Iceland now has two Ethiopian
restaurants—and no proper Mexican
restaurant—just saying.
The sun was out and I guess they
wanted to complete the Eastern Africa
experience because they somehow got
the inside of that restaurant hotter than
a pizza oven. That’s probably why Ethio-
pians forgo cutlery and eat with their
hands—the metal would melt in their
hands.
The menu is quite typical for Ethio-
pian places. A lot of different stew (wat)
served on those spongy sourdough pan-
cakes with the strangely uniform geo-
metric patterns called injera. Extremely
time consuming to make and suppos-
edly a lot healthier than the usual pan-
cakes, the injera are definitely worth a
try.
The first course was Ayib Begomen—
cheese curds and collard greens on the
ever-present Injera (700 ISK), which
worked very well. The esposa had Yesga
Sambusa, which is basically a small and
bland empanada.
The wife ordered delicious, lemon-
marinaded chicken leg and with a hard-
boiled egg (1,990 ISK) but only received
that single solitary leg.
I had the Yebeg Alicha, a lamb stew
in garlic and ginger (1,990 ISK). The
dish came with the same portion prob-
lem, and was not that mind-expanding
if you’re familiar with North African or
Punjabi cuisine.
Ethiopian food is interesting. Ethio-
pian food in Flúðir is headcrushingly
bizarre. The dishes are made with lov-
ing care and the owners are enormously
endearing. The food is enjoyable and
far beyond anything available in a 30
mile radius around Minilik, but it’s de-
cidedly average compared to Ethiopian
(or Indian/N-African) restaurants in
general. I should also point out the cer-
emonial coffee they offer—panroasted
and painstakingly ground for individual
servings. However, it was far too busy on
the day we visited so there simply wasn’t
time for it. Next time!
The problem with Minilik is that the
injera is the star of the show, the main
course being little more than 3 table-
spoons worth of stew centred in the
middle of the pancakes. Us cornfed Ice-
landic swine are going to need a little
more to keep the cannibal fever at bay.
The prices are reasonable but, for my
money, they either need to step up the
portions or start providing legs of lamb
as an optional seasoning.
RAGNAR EGILSSoN
RAGNAR EGILSSoN
Minilik
Flúðir (that’s all you need)
What we think
Fun addition. Made with care.
Average Ethiopian. Too much
pancake for my tastes.
Flavour:
Spicy, stewy Ethiopian
Ambiance:
Fun, welcoming and African
Service:
Unusually fast considering it was
just the two of them (her in the
back and him in the front)
Price for 2 (with drinks):
7–8,000 ISK