Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.06.2018, Side 28

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Best of Reykjavík 2018
28
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Best Newcomer Bar
Veður
Klapparstígur 33
Although it’s been open for a bit longer than a lot of people realise, Veður has only
come onto many peoples’ radar in the past few months. Well lit and nicely designed,
this beautiful bar somehow manages to be both chic and laid-back at once. “The
staff are super nice and the drinks are great. I go there all the time,” one panellist
chimed in. “I like going there to drink prosecco and listen to new wave on Tuesday
nights.” Sounds about right. Head on over to be casually classy, and look out for the
cocktail happy hour.
Runners Up
Skál!
Hlemmur
Another one of the stellar new stalls in
the recently opened Hlemmur Mathöll,
this bright and cheerful bar serves up
fabulous cocktails, wines and beers in
the bustling market environment. Sit
right up at the bar and hang out with
the staff, or find yourself a table and
watch the endless parade of crazy at
the city’s central bus hub. Cheers!
Marshall House Restaurant + Bar
Grandagarður 20
With three floors of art above your head
and views out over the Grandi harbour
to 101, The Marshall House Bar + Restau-
rant is a spacious hangout with fine
wines, great cocktails, and pleasingly
cultural vibe. If you wanna get smashed
in style, head on down.
Previous Winners
2017: Pablo Discobar
2016: Bryggjan Brugghús
2015: Mikkeller & Friends
2014: Húrra
2013: Kaldi
“With an ever-growing cocktail culture,
it’s increasingly possible to sip something
sour, dark or sweet without having to
mortgage your pancreas.”
DRINKING GUIDE
The
Cocktail
Crawl
Let’s class it up a bit in here
Words: John Rogers
Few words look better togeth-
er in the English language than
“cocktail happy hour,” especially
in Reykjavík, where liquor comes
at a premium. With an ev-
er-growing cocktail culture, and
a strong tradition of bars and
restaurants having after-work
(or during work, for that mat-
ter) happy hours, it’s increas-
ingly possible to sip something
light and sour or dark and sweet
without having to first mortgage
your pancreas.

15:00-18:00
Slippbarinn
Mýrargata 2
This well-known and much-loved
cocktail palace is located in the
airy, fancy, design-y bar of Hotel
Marina. Their cocktail list is rap-
idly-changing and experimental,
often using Icelandic ingredients
like birch liquor and Brennivín,
but the bar staff are some of the
best in town when it comes to
doing the classics, however you
like them. During happy hour,
you can get a wide range of cock-
tails for 1,200 ISK. Or a beer for
500 ISK. But why would you want
beer? It’s cocktail happy hour.

16:00-18:00 (not Monday)
Marshall Bar +
Restaurant
Grandagarður 20
Perched out on the end of Gran-
di, this airy, spacious bar sits
beneath three floors of cut-
ting-edge art galleries. This
means that if you’ve carefully
timed your weekly cultural in-
take, and perused what’s going
on in Klang & Bang and NÝLÓ,
you’re right on cue for a cut-price
cocktail. They tend towards the
long and fruity side, but that just
means it’s a good place to start
your evening.

16:00-18:00
Pablo Discobar
Veltusund 1
Pablo Discobar is quite a max-
imalist drinking environment,
from the all-pattern-everything
decor to the floor bongo (for, god
help us all, customer use). But
one thing it has in its favour is
a mighty cocktail list, and top-
notch bartenders to back it up.
Our favourites are the drinks
containing pisco and absinthe,
but nothing we’ve tried here has
let us down.

16:00-20:00
Bar Ananas
Klapparstígur 38
This tropical-themed drinking
hole has a fun held-together-
with-scotch-tape feel about it.
It won the “best place to start
the night” award in the winter
issue of our Best of Reykjavík
magazine, with good reason: the
bartender’s Cocktail of the Day
will set you back just 1,600 ISK
during happy hour.

19:00-21:00
Veður
Klapparstígur 33
This ticked away spot on Klap-
parstígur has a timely af-
ter-work cocktail hour (actually
two) when you can get anything
on the menu for the not-bad-
for-Reykjavík price of 1,500 ISK.
They do the classics well, from a
generous espresso martini to a
sharp and pungent negroni, and
if you can get a window seat it’s a
great place to while a few hours
watching the world go by.

22:00-0:00 (Wed-Sat)
Hverfisgata 12
Hverfisgata 12
“The Pizza Place With No Name”
has diversified since it opened,
launching a killer brunch menu,
and a stellar cocktail list. With
all kinds of unusual ingredients,
unfamiliar bitters and liquors
hanging around, the classics
tend to come with some pleas-
antly surprising flavours, and
they’re always trying out a new
recipe or two. Cocktails are
priced 2,000 ISK on happy hour,
and they’re worth every króna.