Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.08.2015, Side 66

R E S T A U R A N T
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BanThai
N E W A W A R D
B E S T T H A I F O O D 2 0 1 5
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A L S O B E S T 2 0 0 9, 2 0 1 0, 2 0 1 1, 2 0 1 2, 2 0 1 3 a n d 2 0 1 4
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“ “
FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
Located in a red corrugated iron house
overlooking the old harbour, Casa Grande
is situated smack-dab in the middle of one
of the city’s tourist hubs—whale watching
tours, an IcelandAir Hotel—and yet, when
we arrived, there wasn’t much Gore-Tex
on display. Sure, there were travellers,
but there was also a local family of four
sprawled comfortably in their booth, a few
couples, and a woman laughing quietly on
her phone by the bar. This may simply
be a result of our arriving after peak din-
ner hours, but it seemed indicative of our
overall experience: relaxed and homey.
We arrived rather peckish, a chal-
lenge which Casa Grande seemed ready to
meet, as most portion sizes are generous,
to say the least. (It’s in the name, right?)
We started with two appetizers: the fried
langoustine with watermelon, chili, and
fennel (2,790 ISK) and the blue mussels
with creamy beer sauce, lemon, and cum-
Go Big Or Go Home
LARISSA KYZER
ART BICNICK
What We Think:
A pleasant experience worth a
return trip, even if some of the
details go amiss.
Flavour:
Family-friendly Icelandic
standards with playful
Mediterranean flourishes.
Ambiance:
Warm wood, taverna
tchotchke—a spacious antidote
to all the angular neo-Scandi
decor that RVK is so fond of.
Service:
Attentive, super polite,
and helpful.
Price for 2 (no drinks):
11,000—20,000 ISK
Casa Grande
Ægisgarður 2, 101 Reykjavík
in crackers (1,950 ISK). The langoustine
arrived amidst decorative curls of beet-
root and dramatic sweeps of bright green
pesto and a luridly hued sweet potato
sauce—one of several colourfully playful
and clever platings we’d be treated to dur-
ing the meal. The shellfish itself was deli-
cate and perfectly cooked, its own subtle
sweetness complimented by the sweet-
ness of the melon and the savoury pesto. I
could have lived without the sweet potato
sauce, however, as it was simply too heavy
and didn’t seem to have much to do with
anything else on the plate.
The mussels were plentiful and, as typ-
ical of the Icelandic variety, bright orange
and satisfyingly meaty (“pure protein,” my
dinner companion commented). But not
much had been done to alter their natural
state, which was a bit of a disappointment.
The “creamy” broth was thin and translu-
cent, and while it certainly tasted beery, it
wasn’t actually all that tasty, nor did it re-
ally do anything to enhance the shellfish.
There were some parsley sprigs on top
of everything, but again—meh. (And we
could have really used a discard bowl for
the enormous pile of empty shells.)
It was up from there, however, when
our mains arrived. I opted for the fish of
the day (3,890 ISK)—ling, as it happened—
which was served on a bed of creamy bar-
ley with onions, and bacon. My compan-
ion settled on the “speziale” pizza (2,890
ISK)—one of over a dozen pizzas offered—
which was topped with artichoke hearts,
sundried tomatoes, garlic, and feta. The
personal pizza was typical of the herby,
all-but-sauceless pizzas popular around
town, but with a better-than-average pil-
lowy crust and a pretty generous distribu-
tion of cheese. It was satisfying, if some-
what standard.
Another pleasing plating, my ling ar-
rived in two portions on opposites side
of the dish (East Beast, West Beast-style,
for any of you Dr. Suess enthusiasts), with
flourishes of a teriyaki-style glaze and that
blasted sweet potato sauce again. (Lest
I malign this sauce too much, let me say
that my companion was much more of
a fan than I was and argued that it actu-
ally had a very nice flavour by itself. But
it really, really shouldn’t be served with
white fish.) The fish was, again, very well
cooked—flaky and soft and seasoned with
a deft hand. And I honestly could eat bar-
rels of that barley. Savoury and creamy,
with a nice bit of texture from a sprinkling
of breadcrumbs. I’d have a meal of just that
if it were on offer.
We were reaching full capacity at this
point, but decided to end with coffee and
a shared dessert, the amaretto panna cotta
with almonds and passion fruit sorbet
(1,390 ISK). This seems as good a time as
any to mention that the service was fan-
tastic—our courses were well-spaced and
the host of extremely friendly and atten-
tive waiters were always on hand to take
orders, refill drinks, clear plates, or wha-
thaveyou. And so, having had the ideal
amount of time to sip our coffees, our des-
ert arrived, right on cue.
This was a highlight of the meal for
sure, and another really lovely plate to
look at: a nicely firm and creamy panna
cotta plumped down next to bright orange
sorbet (bright orange seems to be a bit of
a theme colour at Casa Grande), with a
magenta-toned fruity dust, raspberries
and blueberries, white and dark chocolate
garnishes, and—my favourite—crystal-like
cubes of citrus gelatine. I admit that not
all of these flourishes were strictly neces-
sary, but they were fun, and provided each
other with a nice counterbalance of tex-
tures. The tart gelatine offset the sweet-
ness of the sorbet (a tad too sweet, but still
very good), and the panna cotta was nice
and light with just enough almondy fla-
vour to play off the fruit. A really nice end
to the meal.
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