Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2014, Side 42
What We Think:
Take your mom, take your date,
take your hip friend from out of
town—everyone will be happy
Flavour:
Classy Franco-Nordic comfort food
Ambiance:
Continental bistro, with a touch of
Brooklyn
Service:
Attentive but patient, and there
when you want it
Price for 2 (with drinks):
8,000 ISK–14,000 ISK
Although it only opened two years ago,
Snaps Bistro has become something of a
staple on the Reykjavík restaurant scene,
helping to bridge the gap between the
city’s more fine dining establishments
and your standard grills, family-friendly
quick meal stops and takeaway joints.
With its square bar, open kitchen, Edison
bulb lighting and conservatory-style dining
area, Snaps is cool, but not too cool, com-
fortable but still hip. Not for nothing has
it won Grapevine’s own “Best Goddamn
Restaurant” award two years running—
this is a place where you can pop in for
an after-work beer and a sandwich or sit
down for a nice, leisurely meal without
dipping too deeply into your wallet.
When my companion and I arrived for
dinner at seven, there was a smattering of
diners and a few people sidled up at the
bar. Over the next hour, nearly all of the
tables filled with regular, though unrushed,
turnover. So while it’s likely that we would
have faced a wait if we arrived much later
(Snaps doesn’t take reservations after
18:30), it’s unlikely that it would have been
a long one.
In keeping with the easy-going
atmosphere, our waiter was attentive but
didn’t hover, allowing us extra time while
we debated our beverages (and later our
desserts) with an equanimity that is often
lacking in busy restaurants. Better yet, he
always reappeared right when we needed
him. Having taken our dinner orders, he
returned promptly with an ample basket of
still-warm brown bread sliced baguette-
style and soft butter.
I’m perhaps abnormally fond of bread
and butter (particularly Icelandic butter,
which is uncommonly good), but I might
have forgone this staple had I realised that
my bouillabaisse appetizer (2,200 ISK),
would not only be admirably substantial,
but would also come with a side of twisted
rye crisps and a creamy garlic butter dip.
Personally, I’d rather have double the crisps
and dip instead of the preliminary bread,
which is saying something.
The bouillabaisse’s seafood broth was
a rich brown, more savoury and deep in
flavour than I had expected. It was dotted
with large chunks of fresh cod, ten-krónur-
piece sized scallops, mussels and shrimp,
all of which were simply garnished with
sprigs of fresh dill and cilantro. I was
so focused on my own appetizer that I
nearly missed my window to sample my
companion’s starter—fried calamari (1,200
ISK) from the bar menu. These were
satisfyingly chewy while still being crisp,
breaded in a lightly salted batter which was
complemented by an aioli dipping sauce.
(It bears mentioning here that I am an in-
veterate salter and often think restaurants
serve their food a bit on the bland side,
when just a pinch of salt would do won-
ders. But while there was a small dish of
sea salt on the table, I never touched it; our
food was always pleasingly salted, without
being salty.)
Just shortly after our appetizer plates
were whisked away, our entrees arrived:
steamed mussels and fries (1,800 ISK) for
him and calf’s liver with onions, apples and
a bed of mashed potatoes (3,200 ISK) for
me. Fresh from the nearby Breiðafjörður
fjord, the mussels were a rather brilliant
orange and, as my companion put it, far
more “protein-y,” or meaty, in flavour than
we were expecting. The fries were purpose-
fully un-crispy—“fried mashed potato,”
as described, mid-bite—which is not
everyone’s preference but was well suited,
we thought, to sopping up a tasty broth.
The latter was definitely tasty, although the
flavour of the white wine came through
far less (if at all) than that of the cream and
fish stock. My meal—the liver sliced thinly
and buried under a wonderfully aromatic
mound of sautéed onion—was a classy,
flavourful take on a homey comfort meal.
The savoury sherry sauce in particular was
good enough that I’d have sipped it like
broth if I could have, and served basically
plain, the potatoes provided a nice coun-
terpoint to (and vehicle for) all the richness
on the plate.
Very definitely approaching fullness
at this point, we persevered to dessert,
a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream
(1,490 ISK) for him and lemon tart (1,490
ISK) for me. The cake was more like a dense
brownie, heated just enough to melt the
ice cream a tad. The tart had a pleas-
ingly custard-like texture and bright citrus
flavour with a nice, crispy caramelised glaze
on top. Neither were exactly revelations,
but really there’s no need to reinvent the
wheel. They were both very good, a satisfy-
ing finish to an all-together satisfying meal.
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NANNA DÍS
Snaps
Óðinstorgi, 101 Reykjavík