Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.07.2015, Qupperneq 64

Sunday - Wednesday: 11.30 - 18.00 / Thursday- Saturday: 11.30 - 23.30
Grandagarður 2 - 101 Reykjavík - tel: +354 571 8877 - www.maturogdrykkur.is
We take the goo
d old tradition
al
recipes and the
best icelandic

ingredients to
create fun and
tasty food.
Let tradition s
urprise you!
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...!
FOOD
FOR THE SOUL
The Old Fashioned was indeed rather old
by the time Don and his fictional cohorts
took Manhattan—it goes back at least 134
years—although it hasn’t been much in
fashion recently. However, the drink has
enjoyed a resurgence since ‘Mad Men’
became a hit, even making it to the shores
of Iceland. For this I am grateful, as my at-
tempts to order an Old Fashioned before
were usually met with bartenders tell-
ing me they couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't
know how to make the drink.
Since finding an establishment that
serves Old Fashioneds has become much
easier of late, my quest has shifted to
determining which place in Reykjavík
makes the very best one. To accomplish
this, I picked four joints that I knew for
a fact made the drink and carefully re-
viewed each one, which are presented
in the order in which they were visited.
Read on to find out where to go for Reyk-
javík’s Best Old Fashioned!
Hverfisgata 12
This unique pizza restaurant has earned
its great reputation through word of
mouth, offering inventive toppings and
a really cosy atmosphere. The place has
a great bar section, and on several occa-
sions I’ve been blown away with their
sweet gin-based cocktails. As they have
the Old Fashioned on their list, I figured
it’d be a good place to start.
The dim light and jazzy music cre-
ated the perfect atmosphere to enjoy
the dark orange-coloured beverage. The
bartender seemed to have squeezed the
orange peel perfectly, because the citrusy
smell was absolutely spot on, but unfor-
tunately the taste was subdued. They
used the right whiskey, Bulleit Bourbon,
but something must have gone amiss
with the measurements, as the alcohol
taste was not front and centre as it should
be in a proper Old Fashioned. The drink
went down smooth, and the aftertaste
was good, but it didn’t quite deliver what
I was hoping for.
Slippbarinn
Mýrargata 2
This is one of Reykjavík’s go-to places for
cocktails. They have a good selection of
custom concoctions, and the bartenders
are always happy to make you the clas-
sics. The bottle-jockey on duty whipped
up my Old Fashioned with panache, pro-
curing the same Bulleit Bourbon as Hver-
fisgata used, but using a much more visu-
ally attractive glass and ice cube. Like at
Hverfisgata 12, the measurements must
also have been a little off, because this
Old Fashioned was much more alcoholic
than the last one. I took a moment to let
the cube melt to take the sting from the
whiskey, only to detect another hitherto
unknown taste: syrup! Replacing sugar
cubes with syrup makes economic sense,
as it significantly reduces the time it takes
to make the drink (and is generally an ac-
cepted way to make it), but as the bever-
age became more drinkable, I couldn’t
help but be put off by the sugar coating
that formed on my tongue.
Apótek
Austurstræti 16
This new restaurant has a lot of good
things going for it. Good seats, chic
setup, and a great selection of cocktails
that they like to refer to as “painkillers,”
“stimulants,” “tranquillizers,” and “pla-
cebos” (because the building used to be
There’s no doubt that ‘Mad Men’—television auteur Matthew Weiner’s conflicted trib-
ute to an America that was—left a great big legacy behind as the series came to a close
this spring. Aside from inspiring countless water cooler conversation about racism,
sexism and consumerism, protagonist Don Draper single-handedly brought the Old
Fashioned cocktail back to prominence. In between chasing tail and navigating the
contentious sociopolitical landscape of the 1960s, the ad man would lounge around,
meandering from one genius idea to another, his signature cocktail in hand.
Photos Art Bicnick
Words Gabríel Benjamin
Searching For Reykjavík’s
Best Old Fashioned
20
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2015