Reykjavík Grapevine - 18.05.2012, Page 50

F D
For your mind, body and soul
Nauthóll is a rare type of restaurant
where the majority of year-round cus-
tomers are Icelandic. And small wonder,
since it’s ten minutes walking distance
from the nearest hotel and thirty min-
utes walking distance from downtown.
But it also happens to be located by one
of Reykjavík’s favourite summer hang-
outs, the artificial beach Nauthólsvík,
and near the start of a popular jogging
route stretching into Elliðaárdalur to the
east. With a table on the window-side,
we spent the time looking over the sea
and the 1940s army barracks, as well
as rooting for a black rabbit trying its
darndest to dig through a nearby hill for
no good reason.
What can I say about the food? Parts
of the menu are part of the regular
scheduled New Nordic broadcast, but
they do allow themselves a couple of cre-
ative flourishes and mix in a good deal
of Japanese and Italian influences—
enough to give guests at nearby Hotel
Natura a reason to venture beyond their
hotel restaurant, Satt. Not that I have
anything against Satt, but as they say,
variety is the spice of life...you know, like
sazon goja is the spice of Puerto Rican
food.
Aside from the usual á la carte, Nau-
thóll offers a brunch that I’ve heard
great things about, prix fixe sushi with
wine on Thursdays, and a flaming nip-
ple tassel buffet on Mondays (one of
these weekly deals is a lie—guess which
one). Since my wife needs raw fish and
seaweed the way Rush Limbaugh needs
opiates and racism, we went gunning
for the sushi Thursday (12 pieces for
1990 ISK).
Her sushi offered a few pleasant
surprises: tiger shrimp, sweet potato,
salmon, coconut, and chicken (not raw...
pfff...pansies). So it’s safe to say the
sushi was on the California end of the
spectrum. I was ready to jump all over it
when I heard what was in it, but it actu-
ally turned out all right.
My first course was the buckwheat
in a spicy oregano tomato sauce, enoki,
crunchy seaweed, dried mango and
pineapple (1690 ISK). Somehow, this
dartboard cluster fudge came together
in a perfectly nice starter—although I’d
urge them to not push their luck in the
future with those dried mangoes.
My date’s main course was a lamb
ropa vieja (3690 ISK). The usual glaze,
roasted parsnip and dill didn’t fail to
make an appearance, but the simple
act of shredding the slow-cooked lamb
added something to the dish. Not the
best I’ve had in Reykjavík, but definitely
worth recommending.
Last time I tried veal Milanese was
after ducking through a doorway in
Rome while trying to ditch a gang of
belligerent R.A.S.H. skinheads in San
Lorenzo peddling subpar hashish. So I
decided I was probably due for a slice
that wasn’t salted with tears of terror.
Nauthóll chalked up points for great
fresh pasta and homemade pasta sauce,
but went rogue with the veal itself; the
slice was too thick and the bread crust
wasn’t quite crispy enough. I’d still call
the veal Milanese at Nauthóll a success
and recommend you give it a try. Defi-
nitely passes the Olive Garden test with
flying colours, but at 4490 ISK I’d ex-
pect it to be a little more faithful.
The desserts were an updated ver-
sion of the classic Icelandic oatmeal
crumble “hjónabandssæla” called “ber-
jasæla” (990 ISK) and a warm apple
tart with five-spice ice cream (990 ISK).
Both came on a base that resembled
something between soft shortbread
and a sponge cake. I don’t even know if
that description makes sense, but since
pastry is not really my strong suit I’m
going to go with it. Although I’ve seen
five-spice ice cream before, I was quite
impressed to see Nauthóll risk it and to
their credit, both desserts were delicious
(if not mind-bendingly brilliant).
At this point the sun was finally set-
ting (22:00) and the black rabbit had
burrowed its way half way to bunny hell
so we strapped on our running shoes
and jogged home...only kidding, we
drove home and flopped on the couch to
watch some old Peter Jackson movies.
RAGNAR EGILSSON
ALÍSA KALYANOVA
Beach Nourishment
What We Think: I may be coming
down a little hard on them, but
that’s because I think they are
very close to getting the balance
just right. They’re doing a lot of
things right; they know how to
make a diner feel special, but the
mix was a little too wild and bug-
eyed at times, even for me.
Flavour: The styles are all over
the shop. Mostly Italian, Japanese
and Scandinavian but by way of
California if that makes any sense.
Still impressed by their willingness
to take some risks on the menu.
Ambiance: Beautiful view, but
the crowd was the usual Night of
the Living Bourgeois. But if we’re
going to hold that against them
then we might as well close down
all of Reykjavík.
Service: Great service; the server
switched to English with ease
the moment she noticed one of
us didn’t speak Icelandic and she
went out of her way to provide
information about the menu and
ingredients.
Price: (2 people with drinks): Ap-
prox. 17–20.000 ISK (that’s if you
go for an all-out 3 course menu;
those who I know usually go there
for the smaller courses).
Nauthóll Bistro
Nauthólsvegur 106, 101 Reykjavík