Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.09.2013, Page 46

w w w . y u m m y . i s
1/10 Best Restaurants In Iceland
Best Goddamn Restaurant 2011
the best thai food
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013
Laugavegur 130, ofan við Hlemm
Tel : 692-0564
w w w . b a n t h a i . i s
A l s o R e c o m m e n d . . . . .
y u m m i y u m m i Tel: 588-2121 H v e r f i s g a t a 123, 105 Rvk.
the finest Thai restaurant in IcelandBan Thai
On a Friday night in Reykjavík,
you simply couldn’t ask for a more
peaceful, intimate setting. I doubt
you could fit more than twelve
people in here, and yet nothing
about it was cramped. With its dark
wood panelling and orange-washed
walls, the décor couldn’t be more at
odds with itself, but it was warmer
and far more inviting than some of
the chic interiors of Reykjavík’s new-
est restaurants.
We were greeted by a smiling
waitress, who looked at me incredu-
lously when I asked if she had a
table for two—maybe because there
were at least three empty ones right
next to us. We picked our own seats
and proceeded to browse the menu.
Being a stranger to Balkan food,
most of the dishes on the menu
were unfamiliar to me, so we took
the waitress’s recommendation and
went for the mixed platter (10 small
dishes). As an afterthought we threw
in a mixed grill for an extra 3,990
ISK, mostly because it had “BO-
NUS—TURKISH COFFEE AND
BAKLAVA” written next to it, which,
in the author’s humble opinion, is
one of the greatest dessert combina-
tions known to man.
First to arrive were the appetis-
ers: hummus, tzaziki, red pepper
paste and baba ganush served with
piping hot pita bread. Their flavours
were rather timid, but the baba
ganush had a wonderfully fresh taste
that was easily gulped down.
After what seemed like only a
couple of bites, a flood of dishes
began rolling in so fast that we
suddenly found ourselves swamped
with exotic-looking fare. Highlights
included the paprika borek (a deep-
fried dream stuffed with feta) and
the lamb shish dripping with smoky
juices. The sesame chicken strips
had sounded terrific on the menu,
but were not as crackingly fresh as
I’d imagined. The curious “Cigarette
Borek” turned out to be a deep-fried
pastry roll stuffed with feta, an
imaginative concept but too mild to
be genuinely interesting. I preferred
the cigar-like dolma: savoury rice
stuffed in vine leaves and dipped in
yoghurt sauce. That was definitely
the most exotic dish of the evening
and it was surprisingly yummy.
We lingered over the remains
of our meal for what seemed like
a long time before the baklava was
finally brought to us. Our waitress’s
former enthusiasm seemed to have
died suddenly over the course of the
evening. We kept on chatting and
picked at our sticky baklava (which
was little too compact and dry), all
the while waiting for our Turkish
coffee. After a while, I got the un-
easy feeling that we had overstayed
our welcome, so I casually asked
our waitress about the coffee. We
received a tired smile with the expla-
nation that this was indeed normally
included but she had decided not to
offer it to us as the hour had grown
late.
While there’s nothing pyrotechni-
cal about this fare, it’s certainly not
without character and there’s an
authentic cosiness to it that’s hard to
find elsewhere. I’m definitely com-
ing back for more baba ganush.
But I still feel ripped off by the
lack of coffee.
Come For The Baba Ganush
PATRICIA !ORMAR
MAGNÚS ANDERSEN
F D
For your mind, body and soul
What We Think:
Quaint & quiet, perfect for an
unusual date
Flavour:
No-frills ethnic comfort food
Ambiance:
Intimate/kitschy
Service:
Will refuse you with a smile
Price for 2:
(no drinks): 4,900-9,800 ISK
mixed platter
Balkanika
Vitastígur 10, 101 Reykjavík