Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2015, Qupperneq 59

FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
Japan and Iceland seem to have a lot in
common—they are homogenous, nation-
alistic island nations that depend on the
ocean’s bounty and are at the mercy of
fickle plate tectonics. However, culturally,
the two couldn’t be further apart. These
differences are perfectly summed up by
how the two nations approach cuisine—
Japan is known for its minimalism and
meticulous attention to detail while tradi-
tional Icelandic food is a haphazard jum-
ble of processed, sauce-drenched meat
dishes. When the sushi tradition made its
way to Iceland, this cultural union gave
birth to a strange chimera and I doubt
even a Maury Povich paternity test could
convince the Japanese they had a hand in
its creation.
Japanese cuisine is synonymous with
sushi in Iceland. The type of sushi Ice-
landers will be most familiar with will be
Western-style with avocados and cream
cheese, further localized through deep-
frying and decking with mayo, Sriracha,
fried onions, and teriyaki sauce. Aside
from the salmon, the overwhelming
majority of the ingredients will have no
connection to Iceland or Japan and will
not be sourced locally. I should note that
this type of sushi is massively popular in
Iceland and my vocal disapproval of it is
generally not shared by my countrymen.
Due to my slant against the local sushi
tradition, I invited two people to broaden
the spectrum of opinion: a relative new-
comer to sushi and someone who had
tried a lot of sushi, but did not share my
distaste for the Icelandic variety.
None of us were pleased with what
Sakebarinn had to offer and it was quickly
obvious that it was your middle-of-the-
road bargain sushi place.
It shouldn’t be hard to offer decent
sushi in Iceland. We have access to high-
quality seafood and the bar is set low.
Sakebarinn smacks into that bar like a fat
kid in a hurdle race.
It was the consistent lack of profes-
sionalism and attention to detail that wore
us down over the course of the meal, from
the phone manners that felt like I was in-
terrupting a flustered teenager mid-text,
through the peeling letters in the logo on
the staircase, to the servers who seemed
confused by our presence and reluctant to
engage us, culminating in a delayed meal
which compared unfavourably with the
pre-made sushi trays you can pick up at
supermarket chain Krónan.
Normally I would roll out a list of all
the items we tasted, but it is complicated
by the fact that the majority of the items
we ordered weren’t available and had
to be substituted. This was on a week-
end with lively downtown traffic so it’s a
mystery why they were consistently out
of stock. The sake shortage was the most
glaring, considering the name of the place.
The selection totalled seven sakes, at least
three of which were out of stock. On each
occasion, we could expect a five to forty
minute delay before being asked to pick
something else.
We were able to order the sushi-sashi-
mi combo platter (2,950 ISK), the Best
for One combo (2,750 ISK), the shrimp
pizza (1,990 ISK), the grilled reindeer on
a stick (890 ISK), the Mango Tango roll
(1,990 ISK) and a couple pieces of unagi
nigiri (990 ISK). To drink we had a house
white and our third choice of sake and, as
they didn’t have any Japanese beer on tap,
I ordered an Einstök, which was served in
a large Víking pint glass. They also offer a
fruit-flavoured sake made on the premises
which this time around was mango and
blueberry. The sake was priced between
500 and 990 ISK.
The staff did the best with what they
had and to their credit they did offer us a
drink on the house after the fourth item
was revealed to be out of stock. I won’t
lay into them further as the shortcomings
of the staff are clearly the result of poor
training.
The sushi itself was uneventful. Al-
most all of the rolls were uramaki and
very large futomaki (sumomaki?). Most of
the maki were half-collapsed on the plate
and the rest fell apart at the first touch.
The end-pieces of the maki rolls would
sometimes be left on the plate. The deep-
fried pieces were chewy and the salmon
lustreless, the rice stale and cold. The
grilled reindeer consisted of some kind
of meat pudding, which had been formed
around a skewer and had a uniquely off-
putting texture. Aside from the reindeer,
we were able to scarf the whole thing
down without much drama.
The standout items on the menu were
the more exotic makis, which Sakebarinn
can be said to specialize in, such as the
Mango Tango roll. It had a nice combina-
tion of sweet-and-savoury—maybe Sake-
barinn could find some success as some
kind of Izakaya Tiki party bar.
The best thing that could be said for
it is the location, which is in a charming
old building with a lot of history (it used to
be a fancy hat store, among other things).
With the right seat you get a nice view
over downtown Reykjavík.
The Devil Is In The Details
RAGNAR EGILSSON
ALÍSA KALYANOVA
What We Think:
An affordable, below-average
sushi place.
Flavour:
Rich and fruity take on
westernized sushi.
Ambiance:
Relaxed and intimate.
Service:
Untrained.
Price for 2 (with drinks):
8000-14000 ISK
Sakebarinn
Laugavegur 2, 2nd floor, 101 Rvk
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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s n a p s @ s n a p s . i s + 3 5 4 5 1 1 6 6 7 7
F R E N C H O N I O N S O U P
I c e l a n d i c Í s b ú i c h e e s e , c r o û t o n s
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M O U L E S M A R I N I E R E S
s t e a m e d m u s s e l s f r o m B r e i ð a f j ö r ð u r
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F I S H O F T H E D A Y
c h e f ´ s s p e c i a l
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E s t . 2 0 1 2R e y k j a v i k
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2015