Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 26

Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2013, Síða 26
26The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 7 — 2013 Reykjavík Beats Hverfisgata 46 During its lifespan, this bar has been a pool lounge, a gay bar, an art gallery, a bum bar and now a techno club. It always seems to attract a similar crowd though with the bro share of the clientele coming for the pool tables. The service is friendly and the prices are fair, but the recent transition into a techno club seems only half-done and not a hint of dancing occurs while the Grapevine reviewer came to visit. The pool tables were all in use though. 850 1300 850 Techno! Well, on the weekends at least. Also host concerts on some occations. Young (20s-30s) Poolsharks, gays, drinkers, students, lost souls, recreational drug-users They have a great indoor smoking area, decent pool tables and a huge dance floor, which few dancers seem to have found as of yet. A pool hall that wants to be a hard- core techno club on weekends. – HH SKY Bar & Lounge Ingólfsstræti 1 This clean, nicely decorated, and comfortable lounge is on the top floor of the Centre Hotel overlooking Harpa and the water. The view is exceptional and there is only the slightest suggestion of calming music coming through hidden speakers. Here you won't dance, yell, or run into the hopelessly young and beautiful 101 rats (though SKY Bar puts on a little front with its hip bartenders). Instead you'll sit back to enjoy a symphony of European languages and a palette of attire ranging from just off the plane traveller to business executive. 650 1500 1100 What music? Older (40+) Middle aged tourists, business executives, people on a date with their iPad, Pina Colada drinkers, more middle aged tourists. Features a stunning view of the bay, and an outdoor seating area and balcony for the few days when Reykjavík warms up. Half the cost is the view. – SS Slippbarinn Mýrargata 2 This is not your typical hotel bar. Fancy cocktails are the place’s claim to fame, but they also offer a good selection of beers. The place treads a thin line between being a fancy and cool hotel bar. The place has a nice buzz to it and is a perfect starting point for your night on the town as it closes early. It probably has the best cocktails in town and serves decent snacks as well. 900 1200 1000 The music is almost always in the backround here although we hear they have occasional live gigs. Easy listening. Older (40+) Quasi-hipsters, bankers, Icelandair staff, tourists, media and marketing people. Offers interesting design details, and good booths for chatting. Sausages hang from the bar. A hotel bar with the benefits of a fancy-yet-kinda-cool bar. – HH Stofan Aðalstræti 7 I'm particularly partial to drinking at home (mine or a friends). Just sitting on the sofa with some nice tunes in the background and maybe some funny memorabilia to trade stories or make in jokes about, then sifting through LPs and quickly switching records on the hi-fi dancing in socks on the rug. This place is the closest one gets to that outside of an actual home, except you should probably keep your shoes on. 950 1450 1100 A nice mix of whatever suits the mood, usually picked by whoever's on staff. Rainy day blues to sunny day jams with a strong lean towards guitar/piano driven music rather than electro. Young (20s-30s) Bookworms, freelancers, artists working on collaborations, journalists, cool parents, low-key rockstars, solo tourists Skyping with their families Antique furniture, rugs, knick- knacks and old-timey books to give it that Funky Grandma charm. Meet me in our living room on main street. – HH Strawberries Lækjargata 6a N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A "Not for women, not for women." – PKY Stúdentakjallarinn Sæmundargata 4 About a fifteen minute walk from the heat of Austurstræti, Studentakjallarinn (“The Student’s basement” at The University of Iceland) takes pride in being the little island of the bar scene. Lights are down, voices are up, but the space still fosters a healthy buzz (by 'healthy' I mean conscious, by 'buzz' I mean everybody can still form sentences) that many downtown establishments have sweat out by midnight. With cheap grub (served until 23:00), cheaper beers, and Will Smith's "Wild, Wild West" playing silently on repeat, it's a great place to kick start the night. 750 990 690 A hotlist of guilty pleasures and top 40s. The kind that one despises by day, until they're caught singing along to "lyrics they didn't even know they knew!" Young (20s-30s) A STUDENT pub located on the UNIVERSITY campus. Take a wild, wild guess. There’s a colourful lounge area with exceptionally comfortable chairs for watching Will Smith. A projector that projects Will Smith onto the wall. Will Smith. A hub of students cheersing cheap beer by day, a hub of students cheersing cheap beer by night. – PKY Thorvaldsen Austurstræti 8 This is a club meets cocktail bar more than your average Icelandic dive bar. The place looks like a hole-in-a-wall when you peek in through the door but it's actually surprisingly spacious. There are two entrances—one from Austurvöllur and one from Austurstræti. Both lead to a curving lounge bar and from there into a horse-shoe shaped dance floor that gets nice and toasty when people actually cut loose. And supposedly this is one of the places haunted by the rare and endangered "dancing Icelander" (although it was too early for that when we stop by). They do decent cocktails and feature (probably) the toughest female bartenders in Iceland. 900 1400 1000 Disco, hip-hop, samba, house music - seldom rock music. Young (20s-30s) Clubbers, tourists, business types, people who like Capoeira Night, Samba Night, and Angolan National Day celebrations. The semi-circular shape is quite distinctive, and they have an actual dance floor set aside for dancing (although it's quite small). Also, the bathrooms are clean. A scrappy lounge bar with an eth- nic sheen. – RE Snaps Þórsgata 1 Although primarily a restaurant or bistro, Snaps offers a great environment for a pre-"djamm" drink. This place has great service, the interior is cosy and the atmosphere friendly. Needless to say this place is usually packed with people dining so getting a seat might be a concern, especially on weekends. Snaps has probably the only bar in Reykjavík where you can enjoy oysters or devilled eggs with your drink. 950 1350 950 They play a mix of jazz and Icelandic classics. There's no live music. Young (20s-30s) 101 rats, Artsy fartsy, business people, journalists, tourists, musicians, hipsters The place has really cool design and a great bar. You can watch the cooks sweat in an open kitchen while you chug an ice-cold Bríó from the tap. A cosy bistro/bar recommended for warm-up drinks with snacks. – HH Vegamót Vegamótastígur 4 Unlike the loud, neon Lebowski Bar sign or the cosmic tape-work that marks Hemmi og Valdi, Vegamót's exterior gives passers-by little hint as to what's inside. This may be why walking into its throbbing hip-hop is such a pleasant surprise. The rather large building is chopped and screwed into separate rooms, each with its own level of intimacy. The only thing this bar lacks is a proper dance floor; by about 1:30 it had nearly cleared out as everybody's necks were sore from dancing in their seats. 1000 1200 900 The DJ at Vegamót was on fire, spinning, scratching and flipping all the hottest...mp3's. He really hit those MacBook keys with some heat. As for the tunes, (think: "When the pimp's in the crib ma, drop it like it's hoooot). I haven't heard that much Snoop Dogg since the early 2000s. Young (20s-30s) People that travel in packs, people that order food while they drink Vegamót's floor plan encourages exploration, with its labyrinth of sitting rooms. Also, the bathroom doors are beautiful. Loosen up! Woah, not that much. Save that for Prikið. – PKY Vitabar Bergþórugata 21 Vitabar feels more like a diner than a bar. At almost midnight, the crowd is more interested in greasy food than pints, but the pints are too cheap to skip. The combination of friendly servers and a total lack of irony creates a sort of family environment, albeit one where it's just fine to be belligerent. 700 1200 950 The servers keep top forty radio and inoffensive American oldies at such an unobtrusive volume that you can hear yourself chew. Young (20s-30s) Miscellaneous drunk people in their twenties, stoners, lads, a few regulars in their 30s. The (CHEAP!) burgers are more of a draw than the (CHEAP!) beer. This isn't a hotspot, but it is the place to grab a cheeseburger and cheap pint with friends before the night really begins. – AS Vínbarinn Kirkjutorg 4 This is the perfect lair if you want to get a glass of really good wine or try a beer you've never seen before. The atmosphere is laid back but sophisticated at the same time. It’s one of the hallmarks of Icelandic bar culture. 900 1200 1100 The music is mellow and easy on the ear in the background. Jazz and alike. Older (40+) Business people; bankers; artists, academics. It offers Reykjavík’s greatest selection of wine by the glass. A must-visit for every wine con- noisseur and lover of quality beer. – SKK Ölsmiðjan Lækjargata 10 Ölsmiðjan is laid back. A single attempt at a chandelier hangs dimly over the main area, but thanks to the street-view windows lighting is more than sufficient this time of year. It’s not a place to go and "get lost in the crowd." It’s more a place to go on a low-pressure date with your business partner. 490 1150 950 The music plays so low you have to try to hear it. A fun game to play to endure the awkward silences while your date texts his mom or your business partner calls his wife. The tunes are all sing-along love ballads from the 50s and 60s. The kind that have overstayed their welcome, but are too charming to kick out. Young (20s-30s) Lots of pairs, lots of men, lots of pairs of men, travellers on business that want a reason to leave their suits on for a while after the conference, students attracted to the cheap beer while pretending to be attracted to each other. An unusually large "round table" upstairs, if you're not used to such quiet music and prefer to scream conversation at your date. Safe, comfortable, and enjoyable. Like oatmeal. – PKY Ölstofa Kormáks & Skjaldar Vegamótastígur 4 This place is said to give you “the smell of the town" and it certainly will. It’s normally full of large, bearded Icelandic males discussing all sorts of matters at ‘80 decibels minimum. While the music here offers more of a background buzz to the choir of tweed-clad grunts, the place is surprisingly cosy. The best smoking area in Reykjavík may easily be found here, with overhanging heat lamps to tackle Iceland’s less than reliable summer. The place offers a rare house brew on tap called Bríó and the service is usually reliable. 800 N/A N/A You don´t visit this place for the music. Young (20s-30s) 101 rats, artists, actors, writers, directors, entire whole movie crews, really, smokers. This place has a great smoking area and its own brew on tap. The Bríó! A Vikings-gone-English-gentlemen bar. – HH Þingholtsbar Þingholtsstræti 3-5 Hidden away in a basement on a side street off of Laugavegur, you'd never stumble upon this place unless you knew what you were looking for. The sleek black interiors are somewhat austere but offer patrons so much space there’s no danger of being overheard at all. In fact, it's more like a private party at a rich friend’s house than a public bar. Perfect for intimate conversation. 900 1300 1100 In the short space of time that it took to finish one beer, I heard everything from Beyoncé to Leonard Cohen to Bill Wither's "Lean on Me." Fortunately the music was turned down very low so it was not a defining part of the experience. Older (40+) Older tourists, most likely hotel guests. The huge, luxurious black leather couches look great for lounging around in; you almost want to take your shoes off and make yourself at home. This is a sleek hotel bar which is typically empty. – PÞ THE GRAPEVINE'S BIG-ASS BAR GUIDE 2013

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