Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.09.2015, Blaðsíða 54

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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
It may be difficult to pinpoint the exact
allure of US gastronomy. Perhaps it can
be summed up thusly: “It’s deep-fried
and drenched in sauce.” It is a style of
cuisine that your cardiologist will cer-
tainly not recommend, but then, some-
times you just don’t care what that guy
thinks.
Roadhouse tries to capture the ever-
popular atmosphere of novelty diner
Americana. So much so that its original
owners—heirs to the oldest operating
Chinese restaurant in Iceland—gladly
admitted upon opening shop in 2012
that they got the idea for the restaurant
from marathon-watching Guy Fieri
blubbering about in his Food Network
show ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’.
They said they felt there was room for a
restaurant of this sort in Iceland. And, I
agree. There definitely was.
Roadhouse’s menu could basically
Inspired By… Guy Fieri?
BJÖRN TEITSSON
ART BICNICK
What We Think:
Dineresque, rich in calories.
Flavour:
Americana, barbecue, smoky
grilled meat.
Ambiance:
Laid back rock n’roll, lots of
choice 60s-70s tunes.
Service:
Personable but too fast-paced.
Price for 2 (no drinks):
7-9,000 ISK
Roadhouse
Snorrabraut 56, 105 Reykjavík
be described as the mean average of
the dishes that “Triple D” fans slobber
over. Huge burgers enriched by sur-
plus bacon, sometimes presented in a
donut/cronut bun, with onion rings in
the middle, accompanied by any kind
of mayonnaise-based sauce you can
imagine—delivering a week’s worth of
energy in one sitting. The double-fried
fries are perhaps the best testament—
you can pretty much feel your body fat
percentage increase by each bite. But,
goddamnit, those fuckers are tasty.
My companion and I sat went to
Roadhouse on a Tuesday night. We
had predicted that this visit was not
going to be easy, and we were right.
Just imagine: our plan was to go for a
full three-course spread. Wow. Any-
way, the menu offers over half a dozen
“finger lickers,” to serve as starters. My
companion chose the Hot Wings with
Blue Cheese Dressing (1,145 ISK) while
I went for Grilled Tiger Shrimps with
American Cocktail Sauce, Salad and
Toasted Hazelnuts (1,690 ISK). The
wings were very average, always a treat,
but nothing out of this world. It would
be nice if they offered various levels
of heat—say two or three types of hot
sauce. This would certainly make the
place stand out. My shrimp was nicely
cooked, with nice char marks, but lack-
ing in seasoning. The salad—comprised
of iceberg lettuce and very dry hazel-
nuts that were extremely difficult to
catch with the huge leaves of lettuce—
didn’t really do anything for me. Defi-
nitely a dish that could do with a bit of
redevelopment.
For our mains my companion—
when in Rome and all that—chose the
Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs with Fries
and Coleslaw (2,255 ISK for a 1/2 por-
tion). I, on the other hand, ordered the
Veggie Burger and Fries, basically a
butter-basted slice of celeriac.
Sadly, the ribs were overcooked and
quite dry. The Jack Daniels barbecue
sauce, flavourful as it was, failed to save
the dish.
On the other hand, the Veggie
Burger was delicious. As noted, it’s ba-
sically a butter-basted slice of celeriac.
It’s important to remember that the
word “veggie” does by no means imply
“healthy” in every instance. It comes
with crispy onion rings stuffed in be-
tween, fried red peppers and lettuce—
with just the right amount of mayo.
We both agreed that the fries were
excellent, as they always are at Road-
house. They have developed a reputa-
tion. Handcrafted and double-fried,
thick and crunchy and oh-so devilishly
unhealthy that they simply must be
good for you. Highly recommended.
All in all, we pretty much got what
we came for. The music is fitting (there
were even some garage tunes), despite
an irritating amount of Journey guitar
solos. But that’s the way it should be.
However, Roadhouse has a certain
problem that needs to be addressed.
The staff seemed to be in a hurry to
feed us, so much so that we hadn’t even
finished our starters when our main
courses arrived. Needless to say, Road-
house pointedly serves fare associated
with the term “fast food,” but it’s none-
theless a sit-down place, and you would
expect better. This is, in fact, the reason
there was never a chance for us to re-
cover for the dessert we were actually
planning to have.
This needs some improving.
22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2015