Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2015, Blaðsíða 18

Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2015, Blaðsíða 18
American Bar Austurstræti 8 The American influence on Reykjavík bar culture is already so widespread that "American Bar" is perplexing. Bjarni Fel (cheapish towers of bad beer; walls covered entirely in flatscreens), Kex (Edison bulbs; hardback books by the yard), and Lebowski Bar (named after 'The Big Lebowski') feel more 'Murcan than this high-ceilinged space. The long, curving bar is how it should be, as are the several TVs playing 80s music videos, but the walls of neon liquor logo signs and NFL helmets are obviously alcohol-distributor giveaways. The bottled and draught beer list also skews heavily towards Icelandic breweries, which is no longer a novelty given Reykjavík's maturing beer culture. 1000 1500 1200 What's more American than an acoustic cover of an old Icelandic rock song? Young (20s - 30s) Americans, despite having spent thousands of dollars to travel thousands of miles from America. Icelanders, despite having a culture of their own. Darts (not pool, pinball, shuffleboard, or a mechanical bull, but *darts*). Live Premier League football. You can order Icelando-American messy/upscale food from next door's Dirty Burger and Ribs. The American Bar has the authenticity of the English Pub mixed with the chilly high-ceilinged ambiance of an airport lounge. – MA Austur Austurstræti 7 Austur is one of the few bars in Reykjavík that might be considered a club. People go there to buy bottles of vodka for their reserved table, dance to insanely loud EDM, and show off their muscles/suits/tans. If that's your thing, this place has it in spades. 1090 1500 1250 Expect only electronic dance music if you plan on drinking at Austur. Young (20s - 30s) Bodybuilders, tan monsters, bankers, beautiful people. All the mirrors, oh so many mirrors. When John saw how amazing his tan pecs looked in the mirror, he gave himself a wink and flexed just ever so slightly. – RJH B5 Bankastræti 5 B5 is made for grinding; it's the closest thing to a Miami night club in Reykjavík, but not that close. 1000 1400 1000 Pop music, Top 40, and occasionally something from the past millennium (if the DJ is feeling frisky). Young (20s - 30s) Professional athletes, would-be yuppies, young bankers, realtors, gold diggers. They have a VIP section downstairs where you have to buy a bottle of hard liquor to get a table. There's also a burger joint in the back that's open during the day. No hipster would ever say that this is their favourite bar, but a lot of other people do— and being at someone's favourite bar is always fun. – JB B7 Frakkastígur 7 The bar has a certain desperate charm. If you show up early you can enjoy the cheapest pints in town and run into tourists with a similar eye for frugal drinking. However, nighttime gives it a darker shade. The threat of violence begins to permeate the air, which excites some and puts off others. 550 1300 800 It sounds like they are playing whatever the bartenders have on their iPods. Older (40+) Cheapskates, possibly underage drinkers, and the dentally lacking. Yet, amidst it all, there can be a rose in the concrete, and you could end up having a very interesting conversation. The bathroom has been broken for four months, so you need to cross the street to Obladi Oblada to use the facilities— which will cost you a beer each time. Much like Zen, the only joy you get here is what you bring, and I recommend not coming empty-handed. – YOU Bar 11 Hverfisgata 18 It's like an amalgamation of every reality show about ink, choppers, the South, and nü-metal. Spanning three rooms on two levels (one of them being completely obsessed with Tuborg), Bar 11 unabashedly embraces the kitschier side of rock 'n' roll. 900 1100 1100 Rock hits! Young (20s - 30s) Metalheads, punks, rockabilly types, tattoo addicts, people who just came to play and/or see the gig tonight, some token underage kids. The coffin-shaped DJ booth, the Tuborg basement, and the cigar store Indian behind the basement bar. Whatever, Mom, you don't understand. This is the REAL ME. Deal with it. *Devil Horns* – RX Bar Ananas Klapparstígur 38 Painted in bright yellows and greens and decked out with tiki decor and palm fronds, Bar Ananas is like the swim-up bar of a tropical resort in Cancun (minus the swimming up). It's quite nice, but it unfortunately closes at 1:00 AM, so if you get there at midnight, they're already cleaning up. 900 1200 1200 Bar Ananas keeps it real with fashionable house music and hot summer tunes. Young (20s - 30s) Yuppies, artists, hip musicians, journalists, dreamers, schemers, slightly sketchy 101 rats, people who have never been to the tropics. The whole place is meant to look and feel like a tropical beach, which is pretty special and cool. "Let me take you to my rocky island—it's tropical!" – RX Bjarni Fel Austurstræti 20 A small sports bar with almost as many TVs as seats —it's not the best in town but it still gets a lot of traffic due to its central location. 1090 1500 1490 I believe they maybe play pop/rock music, but any tunes are completely drowned out by the sports programmes on the TV. Young (20s - 30s) Tourists and sports fans, small groups looking for somewhere quiet-ish to hang out. Bjarni Fel shares the best smoking patio in town with Hressó and you can order food from Hressó as well. They'll show anything that's on TV, from football and mixed martial arts to Eurovision. Bjarni Fel is an extension of Hressó, just smaller and with sports. – HMF Boston Laugavegur 28B Decorated like a Palladian-style sex dungeon with less comfortable chairs—mock flock wallpaper, rococo bric-a-brac, sultry light, an erotic print whose symbolism 101's finest minds have yet to fully parse—Boston is appealingly loungey even on party nights. Their "dance floor" is not the typical sweaty mess, but instead has people dancing sexily/ dorkily around tables where it's still possible to sit and have a conversation. 900 1400 900 House music, in which the house is large enough to contain a roller coaster, of love (say what). In total, we went to just shy of fifty bars. This included a fresh look at all of the places we covered last year. And while that might seem like retread- ing old ground, downtown Reykjavík is actually a bar merry-go-round on which places are constantly opening, closing, changing spaces, changing floors, changing names, taking back a previous name, or even reviving a long-dead one. Bars here also regu- larly change hands, and when they do, the decor, drinks selection, staff and atmosphere often change too, accord- ing to the new owner’s taste. So, we took one for the team, you know. Once more into the breach... Of course, you may not agree with everything we’ve written. Bars change feel according to the time of day you visit, or how familiar you are with their secrets, quirks and eccentricities. Or, maybe we just plain got it wrong in some cases - you can write us an angry letter about that, if so. We won’t mind. This guide is ultimately for the pur- poses of entertaining you, informing you, and inciting pub-table discussion. And if it helps you find a new bar you love, then all the better. All that said, there was some meth- od to our madness. Here’s the criteria we used. Reviewer Instructions: These are the instructions we gave to our reviewers before they embarked upon their mission. Define: Bar A bar is an establishment that has ‘the sale and consumption of alcohol’ as its main purpose and goal. It can sell food and host events, but the emphasis must be on drinking. Method Each reviewer was instructed to drink one beer at each bar reviewed. To ensure that all bars were reviewed under similar circumstances, they were asked to go there between the hours of 23:00 and 1:00 on a djamm (“party”) night - typically Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. At the bar, they were instructed to take notes in their fancy notebook, which they did not forget to bring (because forgetting that would be horrible). They noted the following: Atmosphere What’s the vibe? How’s the decor, the setting, the general mood? Prices The cheapest price of a beer, glass of wine, and 'single + mixer'. Music What’s on the stereo, by type (DJ, play- list, live music) and genre? Clientele Who hangs out there? Beer Single + Mixer Wine Music / Genre Age Clientele Special feature Troubadour Alert Our Review Team: Hildur María Friðriksdóttir, Mark Asch, Larissa Kyzer, Gabriel Ben- jamin, Jón Benediktsson, Ragnar Hrólfsson, York Underwood, Helgi Harðarson, John Rogers, Ragnar Egilsson, Hannah Jane Cohen, Rex Beckett Wow, can you believe our bar guide is five years old al- ready? That means, in just 15 years, it will be old enough to go drinking downtown. And it’ll definitely know all the best places when it does. Over the last few weeks, we sent our team (who previously could have been described as “fresh-faced and intrepid”, but are now more “grey-faced and shaking”) to grab a beer, people-watch, and take in the atmosphere of Reykjavík’s many downtown bars, and report back accordingly. T H E G R A P E V I N E ' S B I G - A S S 2015 18 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 7— 2015BAR GUIDE Illustrations by Snorri Eldjárn Snorrason Photos by Nanna Dís
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