Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.04.2019, Blaðsíða 49

41The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05— 2019
Hipstur
The freshest stand on the block is
Hipstur, run by an Icelandic-Ger-
man couple who previously owned
a restaurant in Norway before their
recent relocation to Iceland. Their
food is breezy, grown-up and fresh.
The Swedish-style shrimp sand-
wiches on lightly toasted brioche
are herbaceous and moreish. The
vegetarian mushroom bread is tout-
ed as their bestseller, with good rea-
son; the toasted sourdough is easy
to cut but toothy enough to support
the lightly sautéed portobello and
chestnut mushrooms, commin-
gling with verdant greens and fresh
dill. Hipstur’s dishes are tasty, co-
lourful street-food craftsmanship,
and worth the trip to Höfði alone.
Our Pick: Mushroom bread & shrimp
roll
Sætir Snúður
Icelanders love pastries and dough-
nuts, so Sætir Snúður proved an
instant hit. Fresh from the oven,
we’re presented with four warm,
gooey flavours, one of which is in-
troduced in charming Icelandic-
accented English as having “sexed
almonds.” While the snúður scent
is delectable and each bun gooped
to the gods with drools of enticing
icing, the first bite sadly unearthed
a dry bun. The deep, sticky nutella
frosting subsumed the almonds—
so, in the end, we couldn’t quite tell
if they’d been sexed or not. It’s early
days, but this isn’t yet up there with
the mouth-watering masterworks
of Brauð & Co. or Sandholt.
Culiacan
Reykjavík has a relative dearth of
Mexican food, but Culiacan—who
also run an outpost on Suðurlands-
braut—has been around since long
before the others. In fact, it’s no ex-
aggeration to say most Icelanders
got their first taste of Tex-Mex food
here. Our plates arrive heaped with
satisfyingly vast portions, includ-
ing a stuffed-to-bursting burrito,
crisp and cheesy quesadillas and
spicy nachos. In true Icelandic-pal-
ette style, everything is sauced to
high heaven, making it a knife and
fork affair. However, the joyous zip,
zest and festive spice of top-notch
Mexican cuisine is only hinted at
here. Note: our interns happily de-
voured the tray of leftovers back at
the office, pronouncing it their fa-
vourite by far.
Indican
Tucked away in the far corner of
the food hall is Indican, serving co-
lourful curries and Indian-fusion
street food sides. The butter chick-
en was warming and authentically
spiced, and the vegetarian bean and
chickpea curry was a highlight—al-
though they seem to be fond of put-
ting kasuri methi garnish on every
dish, perhaps to excess. The bone-
less chicken wings were tasty, and
carried some garam masala flavour;
the cauliflower version gave the veg-
etarian among us the opportunity
of a lifetime to taste wing-sauce
and see what the fuss is about. The
verdict? Sticky, messy, and moreish.
Our pick: Butter chicken & vegetable
curry
Gastro Truck
No food hall would be complete
without a burger joint. At Mathöll
Höfða that’s Gastro Truck, the
original branch of which is sta-
tioned at Grandi Mathöll. One of the
more popular stands, their sticky
chicken-burger and fries combo is
substantial, crispy and delicious,
marred only by a slathering of sauce
that resulted in the burger disin-
tegrating, and some sloppy bun
shrapnel left in the tray. The meat-
free version was also a sauce explo-
sion, but the vegan patty made up
for it—a tasty and moist-but-firm
revelation that scored top marks.
Our pick: Chicken or vegan burger &
fries
Svangi Mangi
This buffet-style traditional joint
promises “no bullshit” Icelandic
food. Our plate arrives heaped with
bearnaise-laden meat, some pickled
cabbage and basic veggies. A small
plokkfiskur tart is quite delicious,
but the meat proved chewy, and the
cabbage sharply pungent and acid-
ic. Looking around the packed hall,
however, this meal is clearly popu-
lar with locals. Perhaps to locals,
we ruminated, this is comfort food
“like grandma used to make”—but
it seems grandma has her off days.
Our Pick: Plokkfiskur tartlet
Beljandi Bar
Another harbinger of Iceland’s craft
beer revolution is the arrival of this
lauded East Iceland craft brewery
in Reykjavík. Beljandi’s beers are
already sought after on the taps of
discerning craft pubs around the
capital, but now you can try their
whole range at their very own bar.
It opens at 2pm daily—if your visit
should happily coincide, skip the
basic beers available elsewhere an-
dmake a beeline for Beljandi.
Our Pick: Spaði IPA & Beljandi pale ale

Read an extended review at
grapevine.is/food.

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