Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2015, Qupperneq 54

R E S T A U R A N T
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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“ “
BanThai
FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
No, Mandi, Thank You!
BJÖRN TEITSSON
ANNA DOMNICK
What We Think:
One of the best late night
snacks on offer.
Flavour:
Syrian, Arabic.
Ambiance:
Laid back, until the city gets
drunk.
Service:
Personable, respectful.
Price for 2 (no drinks):
2,600-2,800 ISK. A steal!
Mandi
Veltusund 3b, 101 Reykjavík
In an ideal world, the few Syrian fami-
lies who have settled in Iceland over
the last few years would be here by
choice. They would have been free to
come here and start a new life—not to
seek refuge far from their home in or-
der to find a safe haven from bombs and
bullets. Alas.
Aside from enriching the nation’s
culture, Iceland’s up-until-now small
group of Syrian settlers have done
Reykjavík a great service, which cannot
be underestimated. Namely, parts of the
group have forayed into the restaurant
business, answering downtown Reyk-
javík’s ever-growing shawarma/kebab
demand. Today, there are three estab-
lishments of Syrian origin in downtown
Reykjavík, and it seems that every local
foodie has an opinion on which one of
them is the best. The most recent one
to open is called Mandi, a place I regu-
larly patronize. For the purposes of this
review, I had the pleasure of going one
more time.
Mandi is not your typical fast food
restaurant. It also operates as a quick-
stop shop, where customers can buy
anything from cigarettes to sweets.
However, its main attraction remains
the food. The opening hours are very
friendly towards us night owls: the
shop is basically always open as long
as people are out on the town enjoy-
ing themselves. Which is good, because
their fare makes for a perfect late-night
snack to ease the sufferings of The Day
After.
This time around, my compan-
ion and I actually visited Mandi on a
Tuesday evening. The restaurant is
relatively busy all day long, and only
has about ten barstools for seating.
Therefore, take-away shawarma rolls
are a very popular choice among its
patrons. We started off our visit by or-
dering some hummus (600 ISK). Aside
from the price being an absolute steal,
it is by far the best hummus you’ll find
in Reykjavík. By far! Served with crispy
deep-fried pieces of a pita pocket, per-
fect for scooping it up, the hummus is
silky smooth, flavourful and fragrant.
Pro Tip: If you’re having a drink at a bar
that‘s close by and doesn‘t serve food,
run to Mandí and get some take-away
hummus. You’re welcome.
For a main course, my carnivore
companion decided on a staple, a clas-
sic Arabic grilled shawarma (1,090
ISK) with chicken marinated in Arabic
spices, salad, yoghurt sauce and Mandi
spicy sauce. This makes for a very sat-
isfying meal, and holds up against the
best of them—anywhere in Europe.
The same can be said for my vegetar-
ian choice, the falafel roll (1,000 ISK),
which has about the same ingredients,
save for the chicken, replaced by deli-
cious, deep-fried falafel balls. The rolls
are aromatic, sweet and savoury, with
fragrant spices and lovely tastes of gar-
lic, turmeric, sumac and cinnamon.
Oh, yeah. Did I mention there’s tea
on offer? It’s very lovely—and it‘s free.
Mandi is great. But, there’s one
thing. And I really hope the lovely res-
taurateurs will see this and take note.
The spicy sauce... well, it just isn‘t spicy
at all. This can be very easily be amend-
ed. An on-site shaker of chili flakes
would also go a long way .
That said: Bon appetit, or: ةديج ةيهش
22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2015