Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.08.2015, Page 67

FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
If you have your heart set on traditional
Icelandic food with some creative flour-
ishes, then there are three places worth
exploring. In the lowest budget tier (still
not all that low, this is Iceland we’re talk-
ing about), we have Café Loki serving up
flatbread with all fixings; on the high end
we have the take-no-prisoners gastro-
nomic berserkers at Dill; and somewhere
in the middle price tier we have Matur og
drykkur.
Matur og drykkur are definitely go-
ing for that fancy-homey sweet spot. The
dishes, the portions and their presenta-
tion fall on the fancier side of things. But
the wooden tables, cutlery in a cup, and
mismatched plates seem to be intended to
offset that.
My first visit to Matur og drykkur was
for their soft opening where they were
seeking out creative input to shape their
approach. These types of events, where
they’ll invite the haute society and hoi pol-
loi for a tasting menu and comments, seem
to be getting more common in Reykjavík
and, personally, I think it speaks to ris-
ing ambition in the scene. I’ve visited the
place twice since then and had a chat with
the owner about the philosophy underly-
ing Matur og drykkur—one informed by
equal parts resurrection of the Icelandic
culinary heritage and a response to some
of the established local interpretations of
New Nordic food.
At Matur og drykkur they have con-
tinuously modified and refined their menu
since that soft opening, although certain
offerings, like the honeyed tea ale and the
whole cod heads cooked in chicken stock
(3690 ISK), seem to be there to stay. We
didn’t end up ordering the cod head on
this visit, but I recommend it for a date
night if only as fodder for cheesy lines like
“I hope you like head.”
Let’s start with the end and note that
their desserts are worth the visit alone.
The licorice pancakes with chocolate
from local producers Om Nom and can-
died barley (1490 ISK) are particularly
surprising. The licorice taste is subtle and
transformed by the cooking process, and
the frying of the pancake gives it more of
a coffee aroma in addition to roasted nuts
and chocolate. Licorice-phobes should
give this one a shot.
The creamy skyr with blueberries,
oats and whey granita (1490 ISK) was
another great twist on an Icelandic clas-
sic. The dish was herbal, creamy, and
tart—more light and refreshing than the
usual stomach ballast you’d recognize as
creamed skyr.
The cocktails were another pleasant
surprise, with the gin and lovage cocktail
being an absolute standout.
The menu at Matur og drykkur is pret-
ty quirky and confusing at times. For in-
stance, there’s “Halibut” soup (quotation
marks are theirs), although fishing of hali-
but in Icelandic waters has been banned
since January 2012. So this is either a
quirky joke or an odd bit of theatre on their
part, to tell each diner that the halibut had
to be substituted by another flatfish. On
this particular night, the substitute was
plaice, joined by mussels, apples and rai-
sins (1990 ISK). This light and slightly
sweet soup with the swirl of apples and
raisins sent me to a happy place.
Matur og drykkur excels at this kind of
gentle nostalgia. The classic Sunday leg of
lamb with mashed rutabaga, potatoes and
green peas (4190 ISK) is presented about
as simply as a restaurant like this can hope
to get away with. And apparently one of
the owners wanted to push it even fur-
ther by using the traditional canned green
peas, but the chef refused. The portion
could have been slightly more generous
to go with the Sunday dinner vibe, but the
flavour was a spot-on upgrade of a familiar
dish.
The only downside to an otherwise
stellar evening was the service. We have
had no complaints on previous visits, but
it seems this time we got saddled with a
brand-new staff member who couldn’t de-
cide where to seat us and promptly forgot
to furnish us with menus, bread, or water
for a good twenty minutes, and then for-
got to bring us our beers. The surrounding
tables seemed to be having none of these
problems and I’m willing to chalk this one
up to a bad turn thanks to a consistently
impressive show from the kitchen.
Matur og drykkur is a little bit of a de-
tour from the main shopping vein but it’s
worth braving the storm.
Whole Cod Heads And Licorice Pancakes
RAGNAR EGILSSON
ART BICNICK
What We Think:
Casual and quirky approaches
to Icelandic classics.
Flavour:
Icelandic / Fish
Ambiance:
Good start for a night out, with
interesting drinks, finger food
and shared courses.
Service:
Forgettable
Price for 2 (with drinks):
18,000–22,000 ISK
Matur og drykkur
Grandagarður 2, 101 Reykjavik
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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