Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2015, Side 63

FOOD
FOR YOUR MIND BODY AND SOUL
My gay-for-pay date for the evening was
looking very happy with his meal. His
manly physique was wrapped in an En-
tombed t-shirt and his muscular fingers
tapped away in preparation for an upcom-
ing issue of the very magazine you hold
betwixt your eager fingers or tippety-tap
your way through on a flickering screen.
We knew we weren’t about to go on
a culinary voyage careening on a bobsled
of gastronomic hipsterdom. The Caruso
cuisine is more like a group of American
friends wandering aimlessly across Eu-
rope on a last-minute Interrail tour (a little
like the movie ‘EuroTrip’—a recommend-
ed watch if only to witness the Vinnie
Jones’s career-defining role as an English
football hooligan). What I’m saying is, the
menu is a bit of a patchwork—not all that
hip—but we knew what we were getting
into, and longed for the familiar embrace
of some pasta with sauce.
It’s hard not to pine for Caruso’s old
location (where restaurant Primo resides
now—see that other restaurant review)
with its lived-in feel and the old wood-
burning stove its proprietors had to leave
behind. Their new digs at Austurstræti
22, which used to house Icelandic theme
restaurant Jörundur (the latest in a long
line of failed ventures the building has
housed), was definitely designed with the
homey vibe in mind, but it does feel a little
tacked-on. From the inside out, the house
is meant to invoke the charm of the old
Icelandic colonial houses you will find at
the Árbæjarsafn living-history museum,
but the faux-antiqueness of it all is palpa-
ble. The location is also somewhat smaller
than what the restaurant had to work with
back at their old Þingholtstræti location.
However, it’s not hard to see why they
went with it on a short notice—the restau-
rant is centrally located, and offers a good
view for people-watching. The propri-
etors are clearly doing their best to imbue
it with that friendly Caruso warmth.
My dinner date and I ordered the
grilled giant scallops with verde sauce
(2,490 ISK) and a classic Escargots à la
Bourguignonne (2,390 ISK) to kick off
the meal. The snails were served in one of
those ceramic snail holders with plenty of
tasty garlic butter on top of the earthy snail
flavour; everything was as it should be.
The scallops were not what would be con-
sidered giant scallops anywhere outside of
Iceland, but they were tender and cooked
just-so. However, they could have used
more of a sear and the salsa verde was both
oily and composed of dried herbs.
A bottle of Masi Campofiorin (at
8,900) was recommended by our waiter.
With its balanced acids and light cherry
notes, it worked well with the seafood
pasta we enjoyed.
The pasta dishes set everything
straight. The spaghetti with sautéed scam-
pi and chilli (3,390 ISK) was ridiculously
generous with the giant shrimp, and had
a pleasant heat for an otherwise simple
dish. It wasn’t over-salted, the pasta was al
dente and they resisted the urge to crowd
it with different flavours. The same could
be said for the langoustine tagliatelle with
mushrooms and leek (3,890 ISK). Creamy
tagliatelle, modestly seasoned, cooked al
dente, with plenty of ultra-tender langous-
tine lurking in the bowl. Both delivered
exactly what we had hoped for.
For dessert we shared a tarted-up
chocolate molten lava cake (1,490 ISK).
Yes, “tarted-up” means a cape gooseberry
and a dollop of whipped cream, of course.
Like the pasta, it fulfilled expectations
completely. To drink I had a snifter of cal-
vados (1,100) and my date went with the
baffling choice of Diablo, a milky coffee
drink with Sambuca, brandy and Grand
Marnier (1,500). All I can say about the
drink is that every ingredient was clearly
accounted for, and it was fucking demonic.
I almost called in an exorcist after seeing
the face my date made.
The owner of Caruso, Jose, hails from
Tegucigalpa, Honduras and I can’t help
but wonder what he could do with his na-
tive cuisine. Reykjavík is in dire need of a
good quality Latin American place that
serves up tamales, carne asadas, platanos,
and coconut broths.
Not that Caruso doesn’t have its fans—
on a Tuesday night we saw a butt on nearly
every seat. They have a client base they
have built up carefully over the years, a
tourist-friendly location, a non-threat-
ening menu, and plenty of goodwill from
us locals following last year’s real estate
drama (see our review of Primo for more
on that).
Cruising at Caruso
RAGNAR EGILSSON
ART BICNICK
What We Think:
Great service, decent execution,
muddled theme, modest aim.
Flavour:
Italian-American-French-
Spanish-Icelandic.
Ambiance:
Chill (I’ve never heard reggaeton
played that low).
Service:
Fantastic!
Price for 2 (no drinks):
15-20,000 ISK
Caruso
Austurstræti 22, 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.
1 0 1 Ó Ð I N S T O R G R E Y K J A V Í K Í S L A N D S N A P S B I S T R O . I S
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
23
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2015