Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.08.2013, Qupperneq 67

Ó Ð I N S T O R G 1 0 1 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 b i s t r o @ s n a p s b i s t r o . i s + 3 5 4 5 1 1 6 6 7 7
Sturlugata 5 · 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.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Grillið is where casual meets grand
hotel fine dining. It has incorporated
certain elements of the new casual
dining style, but omitted others.
Grillið has embraced the kabuki
spectacle of the exhibition kitchen,
they combine flavours and culinary
traditions in novel ways, they source
locally as much as possible, shirts
and ties are optional and of course
some of the plates are made out of
bits of wood and lava rocks.
The service and décor stray from
the path. White tablecloth shrouds
the tables, the cutlery is arranged
into complex sigils to invoke the
ancient gods of upscale dining, table
service is traditional. Dinner ends
with the ceremonial wheeling of the
digestif cart.
A long hallway, proudly display-
ing the hotel’s history, leads onto a
round polka dot floor, beneath a halo
of zodiac signs. It’s art deco by-way-
of-the-‘80s. Think ‘Hudsucker Proxy’
with a Masonic flourish and a fan-
tastic 360-degree view of downtown
Reykjavík.
I swooped in, joined by a line
cook friend of mine. There was a
heavy whiff of old money and being
seated next to the doppelganger of
Roger Sterling didn’t help. So we felt
just a tiny bit out of place.
But you’d never recognise us for
the working class bozos we are from
watching the waiter cater to our
every whim. Our waiter, Guðmun-
dur, might just be the finest waiter
I’ve witnessed at work in Iceland.
He’s been working there since the
late ‘70s—in a field notorious for
its high employee turnover. He was
attentive but never overbearing,
alert but never anxious and had a
chameleon-like ability to adapt to the
atmosphere of each table. He really
has mastered this ambiguous craft.
The menu is refreshingly sparse:
four starters, two main courses, two
desserts.
We ordered the four course fixed
menu with wine pairings. At some
point the kitchen must have pegged
me for a reviewer, as they soon
started to sneak other courses into
the mix with wild abandon.
The first appetizer consisted of a
slice of cured salmon with mustard
dressing, lomo embuchado with
fantabulous chutney, a drizzle of
bell pepper sauce and baked chips of
queijo prato cheese.
The second was a lamb tartar with
capers, chives and horseradish. All
of it thoroughly excellent and well
harmonised.
To go with the appetizers, I
picked an Old Fashioned (they said
they didn’t get much call for it,
which means they have only just
started attracting the foodie hipster
types like myself).
The first starter was composed of
marinated prawns with an avocado
purée, cod mousse and a Brazil-
ian pepper sorbet. The sorbet was
a particularly inspired touch and
although Brazilian pepper is always
a great choice for seafood, I’d have
liked it just as much as a separate
dessert. This was paired with a very
fruity New Zealand white.
Second was the pickled mackerel
with fermented garlic and green
cherry tomato juice. The least suc-
cessful dish of the evening. Nothing
wrong with throwing a plebeian fish
in with the high society ingredients,
but mackerel is notoriously hard to
get right. I loved the surprisingly
delicate fermented garlic but throw-
ing blackened garlic on top of that
was overkill. This was paired with
Skjálfti beer.
The first main course was a fried
plaice with smoky cheese, broccoli
ragú and toasted sunflower seeds. I
love plaice, but I missed the charred
fish skin. A delicious combination
but the plating could have been live-
lier. This was paired with an Abadal
Picapoll—quite fruity but drier and
denser than the last one. Not out of
place with the plaice (sorry).
The second main course was grilled
tenderloin with Icelandic oyster
mushrooms, pearl onion and spring
onions. I was very surprised to
hear they had sourced the oyster
mushrooms from a local grower in
Hafnarfjörður. The two-month dry-
aged tenderloin was complex and
mellow. Heavy on the onion flavour,
but the meat could handle it.
This was paired with a 2006 Cune
rioja. An excellent wine, but the
least successful pairing out of the
bunch—probably due to the onions.
Dessert was something between
a fudge brownie and chocolate
ganache, spread into a pancake/
polenta/placenta with freeze-dried
garden peas and white chocolate. I
applaud the courage, but the peas
didn’t quite hold up. The pea-mint
sorbet was too light on the mint and
a blanket of sweetness threatened to
suffocate the dish.
The after-dinner Laphroaig tof-
fees that followed was absolutely
brilliant and I am drooling thinking
back on them.
There were minor problems
here and there, but overall I am
impressed with Grillið’s ability to
pair the new with the old and their
panache for exploring new flavours.
The Great Grillsby
RAGNAR EGILSSON
AXEL SIGURÐARSON
Grillið
What We Think:
Fine dining done right.
Flavour: Nouvelle French, modern
Spanish, seasonal local ingredients
Ambiance: A little on the formal
side
Service: Spoiled me rotten
Four course menu for two (with
wine):
33.200 ISK
At Hótel Saga
Hagatorg 1
107 Reykjavík
Tel: (+354) 525 9960
www.grillid.is
grillid@grillid.is
Tue–Sat: 6.00 pm–10.00 pm
Sun–Mon: Closed