Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Qupperneq 55

“ 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 “
top ten the best restaurants in Iceland
the finest thai restaurant in Iceland
m a n y f a m o u s p e o p l e a r e r e g u l a r s h e r e
BanThai
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NEW AWARDS
BEST THAI FOOD
2 0 1 4
also. . . .
DV.17.07.11
best goddamn restaurant 2011
the best thai food
FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
RAGNAR EGILSSON
ALÍSA KALYANOVA
Sushi Shake-Up
SuZushi, generally considered to be the
best sushi bar in Iceland, was sold to
the owners of Hressingarskálinn which
caused some foodies to cry out in despair
and having to comfort eat themselves with
a big bowl of raw fish like a squadron of de-
pressed seals.
The Tacked-On, The Weird,
And The Nameless
In 2014 we got a nameless secret pizza
place on Hverfisgata, which did no formal
marketing. The word still got out and those
who found the entrance got to enjoy some
of the city’s best pizzas.
Chase Steffens and his Taco Fyrir
Mig pop-up taco place found a semi-per-
manent home running Taco Tuesdays at
the restaurant CooCoo’s Nest, serving up
some tasty tacos from the host restaurant’s
trunk.
Last but not least was Puffin Coffee,
the impromptu coffee stand operated out
of Sverrir Rolf Sander’s kitchen window.
Originally, Sverrir’s aim was to raise the
minimum donation to be able to partici-
pate in a charity cycling race, “Ambitious
For Autism.” He wound up raising nearly
$5,000 for the cause, after Puffin Coffee
became a social media sensation.
Taco Rising
Icelanders came late to the party, but 2014
marked an awakening to the glory of well-
made tacos. People couldn’t stop talking
about them. They crept into menus around
town, with Bunk Bar a notable example.
There are rumours of a new taco place
opening early this year, but so far that’s it.
God willing, the good people of Reykjavík
will get their first fish taco restaurant this
year.
Great New Bars & Restaurants
Ramen Momo is a great and welcome ad-
dition to the food scene, serving authentic
Tibetan ramen, dumplings, and steamed
buns—three things Reykjavík has been
missing all bundled together in one abomi-
nable snowman.
After word got out that a renowned
Michelin chef was opening up a drive-thru
in Reykjavík, Dirty Burger & Ribs proved
a massive let-down. As uninspired as the
concept is, the ribs are still damn excellent.
BarAnanas opened around Airwaves
time, and gave a welcome break from the
usual trends. A entertainingly tacky Tiki
bar, which is just going to get better with
age and party-wear. Since it’s located in a
perennially doomed location, let’s all cross
our fingers that it survives
winter and keeps going
stronger.
Húrra is where the
wild things are these days.
Taking Harlem’s place
(which in turn took Bak-
kus’s place), Húrra hosts
the same art-school kid
crowd, but with a much
better use of space, and
with a nice facelift.
Kaffihús Vesturbæjar was a necessary
addition to the west side of Reykjavík,
which had been experiencing a massive
rise in the number of cool young profes-
sionals, in contradiction to its total lack of
decent coffee houses.
The Big Cs
The key health food words in Iceland last
year were chilli, chia seeds, lo-carb, and
cauliflower cous-cous. Kale and kimchi
made a minor appearance in foodie circles,
but not much beyond that. Pomegranate
seeds were a popular salad topping after
some health columnist praised their life-
saving qualities, and gluten continued to be
the worst thing since Hitler. Meanwhile,
the anti-health brigade enjoyed the other
Cs—cronuts and cognac cocktails.
Getting Turnt With Sous-Vide
Sous-vide hit the mainstream after a cou-
ple of years of slow simmer. Suddenly, ev-
ery ambitious amateur gourmet in Iceland
started investing in lukewarm water and
plastic bags. Some people rolled their eyes
at this, but there are worse things in life
than amateur chefs making better steaks.
This Time Only!
Limited edition marketing rose dramati-
cally, with beer companies expanding their
selection of seasonal beers (and the selec-
tion of seasons), with even old and un-
changed brands like Brennivín jumping on
the bandwagon with their own Christmas
Brennivín. We also saw a lot of new sea-
sonal and limited edition candies, such as
caramel-infused Nóa Kropp and
gingerbread Nizza chocolate bars.
THE LIZARD
Finally there’s the bizarre trend
of Eðlan (“The Lizard”), which is
the name popular local comedian
Steindi Jr. gave to a bog-standard
dip that has been popular with
housewife sewing circles for ages.
The dip consists of cream cheese
spread at the bottom of a baking tray,
covered with salsa dip and topped with
grated cheese and baked into a dip. This
has become ludicrously popular with the
young’uns, and has apparently led to a no-
ticeable spike in cream cheese sales.
It’s been an interesting year, I’ll give you
that. Many of the trends we saw in Iceland in
2014 were things that other cultures picked
clean in 2013 or earlier. That said, Reykjavík
is definitely catching up with the rest of the
world at a faster pace—all that’s missing
now is some fresh ideas and local textures.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we
need more crazy up in here. Our heritage is
rams’ testicles and rotten fish, we have noth-
ing to lose.
So, to the dreamers and schemers out
there harbouring big ideas: it’s time for you
to step into the light!
In that spirit Ice-
landic social media
overflowed with
snaps of pulled pork,
ribs, cronuts and
artisanal burgers,
just like in the rest of
the damn world.
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