Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.06.2017, Side 54

The Waiting Room
Good and bad surprises at Von Mathús

Words: Shruthi Basappa Photo: Art Bicnick
It is hard to decry the ills of tour-
ism when one can today find great
cafés and restaurants even in mu-
nicipalities outside of Reykjavík—
something that was unheard of
even just a few years ago. While the
downtown area may still be the ex-
tent of most people’s travels within
the city, the surrounding neigh-
bourhoods now offer choice, qual-
ity—and terrible cocktails.
For Chef Einar Hjaltason and his
wife and partner Kristjana Þura,
the decision to open Von Mathús
in Hafnarfjordur was likely about
being closer to home—Kristjana
is from the harbour town. Von is
focussed on seasonal produce; its
name translates as “hope.”
Our own hope for a cosy date
night was threatened by the slug-
gish service. For close to 40 min-
utes, there was no sign of our
drinks, food or even
the bread basket.
Despite a specific
request for a not-
t o o - s w e e t c o c k-
tail, the gin smash (1950 ISK)—a
muddled lovage gimlet, essential-
ly—was a trip to the nammi aisle
on a Friday night. Did I drink
it? It was too expensive not to.
Innocent slice
Thankfully, our desperation was
eased by the modest-sounding
chicken skin (2290 ISK). It’s not of-
ten that restaurants can wow you
with inventiveness without resort-
ing to gimmicks. What appeared to
be an innocent slice of toast turned
out to be compressed chicken skin,
encrusted with rye crumbs and pan
cooked to perfection. The wisps of
tarragon mayonnaise could have
been l i f ted by
fresh tarragon—a
perfect foil to the
unctuous skin.
Nonetheless, this
was one of the
best bites we’d
had all year.
Crudos seem
to be popu lar,
but Von’s ver-
sion, served with
lemon mayon-
naise, toasted hazelnuts and nori
(2190 ISK) left us a
bit cold. It stood no
chance next to the
chicken skin, but it
also suffered from
poor knife skills—a crucial detail
in such a simple dish.
We noticed at this point that the
tables next to us were also suffer-
ing the fate of the long wait. The de-
lay was inexplicable, given that the
restaurant wasn’t full. That cloud
of dread threatened to engulf the
evening, and it took forever for the
mains to arrive.
Lovely goo
My slow-cooked ox cheek (4200
ISK) was rightly tender, and fell
apart with a whisper. The pickled
cauliflower florets and roasted
cauliflower mash were deep and
flavourful. The bacon bits were an
unnecessary flourish in an other-
wise solid dish.
My husband’s fish of the day
(3400 ISK) was a complete success,
and hit all the right notes—a good
piece of ling with lots of butter, and
beautifully cooked veggies. The
pea puree with whole peas divided
opinion, but I’m a
firm believer in tex-
ture, and couldn’t re-
sist stealing bites of
the lovely green goo.
We r o u n d e d
off our meal with an
apple, and a blood or-
ange (1590 ISK each).
The former was a
take on apple pie tai-
lored for the inner
child: a whole roast-
ed apple with puff pastry, ice cream
and caramel sauce. The latter was
a more adult dessert with parsnip
puree and blood orange granita.
Creamy, crunchy and unexpected.
Von Mathús seems to be run-
ning on the spell of its food alone.
If the wine list were improved, the
cocktails sophisticated enough to
justify the price, and the service
not so protracted, it could be a des-
tination on its own. For now, it’s an
upscale neighbourhood joint. For
the sake of that chicken skin, I hope
they tighten the service reins.
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 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
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
2 . 3 0 0 . k r
M O U L E S M A R I N I È 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
2 . 4 0 0 . k r
F I S H O F T H E D A Y
c h e f ´ s s p e c i a l
3 . 8 0 0 . k r
E s t . 2 0 1 2R e y k j a v i k
“What appeared
to be an inno-
cent slice of
toast turned
out to be com-
pressed chicken
skin.”
53The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2017
gpv.is/food
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