Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.05.2015, Qupperneq 51

FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
Not everything is better with acid, but it
can certainly make some things more vi-
brant, beautiful and full. Subtle flavours
can be heightened, bringing complex
aromas and bouquets to your palette. This
meal would have been better with acid.
Steikhúsið has all the ambience of
an upscale steakhouse: earth tones and
masculine upholstery, lots of wood-grain
furniture, and red-capped wine bottles
for aesthetic punctuation. It gives you the
feeling that the slaughtering of cattle is
not only necessary but also elegant—even
classy. It’s a warm enough atmosphere for
a sit-down meal with the family, a third
date, or a business dinner. Yet it’s private
enough for more sombre events—like a
funeral or wake.
The service is outstanding, with ev-
ery server doing his best Johnny Cash
impression with slick hair and all-black
clothing (also quite fitting at a funeral, un-
less it’s one of those “Wear bright colours!
Let’s celebrate his or her life!” funerals,
in which case I think black goes with ev-
erything—except blue, but I’m not sure if
that’s a rule or a guideline or true).
My guest and I decide against an apéri-
tif, choosing wine for both before and dur-
ing the meal. We went with the Montes
Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/
Carmenere from Chile (2,600 ISK per
25 cl. glass). Unfortunately, the wine was
warm—not room temperature, but warm.
This made the tannins a bit too potent for
the first sip, and left us sipping water until
the bread and starters arrived (I’m sure
they would have replaced the drinks, but
I was too caught up in telling a story to be
interrupted by warm red wine). I spoke
with a friend who was eating at a table
near the kitchen at the same time that I
was eating. They asked to move shortly
after I left because it was too warm being
that close to the oven, so maybe the mys-
tery of the warm wine is merely logistical.
They need to store their wine elsewhere.
We chose the “Best Choice” (2,990
ISK), a “mixed starter with all our fa-
vourites.” This included: deer carpac-
cio with herb-truffle oil, warm goat’s
cheese and balsamic glazed blackberries;
crispy breaded chicken tenders, tortilla-
wrapped with corn and tomato salsa;
grilled minke whale “tataki,” chilli mar-
malade and tamarind jalapeno sauce; and
spring rolls with smoked guillemot, dates,
Japanese mayo and bell pepper jam.
Dinner was beef tenderloin (200 g for
4,190 ISK) with an optional baked potato
(490 ISK) and coleslaw (550 ISK).
The steaks are grilled to tender perfec-
tion. The flavour of the beef is clean and
full and cooked to medium rare (as or-
dered). This is a steakhouse and it makes
steaks, well. Very well.
However, there was an essential ingre-
dient missing in many of the dishes: vin-
egar.
The coleslaw was sliced cabbage, car-
rots, and, possibly, apples? I couldn’t tell
because the dressing was essentially just
mayonnaise. It needed vinegar to bring
out the component flavours, rather than
just goop. The “Tataki” was also lack-
ing an acidity to give it any real flavour.
The dressing with the whale meat be-
came mush. When I think of beef tataki,
which would be the closest resemblance
to whale tataki, I think of ponzu sauce, a
citrus-based vinaigrette that would pickle
the accompanying vegetables along with
the lightly seared meat. The spring rolls
are tasty but hard to enjoy after every ap-
petizer had a similar seasoning and tex-
ture: no snap, no crunch, mush. Smoked
guillemot is such a beautiful-tasting bird,
but the flavours were hidden. It was like
a food tray at a funeral, comforting and
bland. Nothing to take your attention
away from the overwhelming despair the
fragility of life creates.
The steak is very good though. The
price, however, would make me wary to
suggest it over the other options avail-
able. It’s too bad because the service was
spot-on. It’s the tiny details in the starters
and sides that could really bring the menu
here to life. There is nothing more stark
but difficult to define than the difference
between life and death. If only, like here, it
was just a few drops of acid.
A Great Meal That Would Be Better With Acid
YORK UNDERWOOD
ART BICNICK
What We Think:
The steaks are great, which is
good because it’s a house for
steaks. The starters and sides
degrade the quality of the steak
and bring the meal down.
Flavour:
Sans vinegar.
Ambiance:
Heat, wood, and leather: a room
to be alone in a crowd.
Service:
Great.
Price for 2 (with drinks):
15-25000 ISK.
Steikhúsið
Tryggvagata 4-6, 101 Reykjavík
Hverfisgata 12 · 101 Reykjavík
Tel. +354 552 15 22 · www.dillrestaurant.is
Lífið er saltfiskur
#109 Dill is a Nordic restaurant with its
focus on Iceland, the pure nature and
all the good things coming from it.

It does not matter if it’s the
ingredients or the old traditions, we
try to hold firmly on to both.
There are not many things that make
us happier than giving life to old
traditions and forgotten ingredients
with modern technique and our creative
mind as a weapon.
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