Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.09.2019, Page 40

Steak Your
Reputation
Up your steaks and meat your destiny
Words: Ragnar Egilsson Photo: Art Bicnick
Reykjavík Meat
Frakkastígur 8, 101 Reykjavík
rvkmeat.is
Just over a year ago, Reykjavík Meat
joined the fray on the popular tour-
ist trail Frakkastígur, a road book-
ended by the Sun Voyager sculpture
and Hallgrímskirkja church. Reyk-
javík Meat thereby joined a host of
businesses on the stretch that have
taken an English name and com-
bined it with the name of our na-
tion’s capital (see the neighbouring
Brew Dog Reykjavik, Reykjavik Ink,
Reykjavik Fish, Reykjavik Roasters,
etc).
According to interviews at that
time, the restaurateurs felt Reyk-
javík was bereft of places serv-
ing high-end grilled beef steaks.
This is despite the fact that Kol,
Grillmarka!urinn, Apótek, and
Steikhúsi! are all serving simi-
lar fare in the same price bracket
(some even serving the exact same
cuts from Danish meat exporter JN
Meat).
Everything about the place is
there to tell you that you have en-
tered a serious place for serious
meat lovers. The lighting is dim and
the colours are muted. It’s a Friday
night and couples stare in grim rev-
erence at their steaks and bearnaise.
Hope it’s chocolate
Around 40-minutes after order-
ing, we received our lobster soup
with fennel and what seemed to be
chunks of chocolate (2,690 ISK). At
least I sincerely hope it was choco-
late as my imagination is not able to
come up with any pleasant alterna-
tives. Not a bad soup overall.
The other appetizer was the
“charcoal-grilled beet” with tar-
ragon, pears and hazelnuts (2,490
ISK). I couldn’t taste much pear but
the sprig of tarragon was certainly
present and the 2/3rds of a beet was
indeed garnished with hazelnuts,
providing crunch to an avocado-
textured root.
But who cares, right? This is a
steakhouse, you don’t go there for
beets and lobster.
When it was time for the main
event, we went with the Icelandic
beef tenderloin (4,990 ISK for 7 oz.)
and the Australian Aberdeen sir-
loin (6,590 ISK for 10 oz.)—beef from
opposite ends of the planet should
provide good range. Seeing as the
sauces and sides were extra, this
brought us to the top percentile in
the world in terms of steakhouse
prices.
Sour and funky
The first concern was when I had
to ask the waiter if the tenderloin
had been dry-aged. The waiter said
‘no’ and seemed unconcerned by
my question. Had they inquired,
they could have learned that I asked
because the meat tasted sour and
funky like a severe dry-ageing mis-
fire. Now, normally I wouldn’t jump
to conclusions if it wasn’t for the
fact that a couple of other friends
claimed to have had the same ex-
perience.
The Australian sirloin was fla-
vourful and well-seasoned, but had
a peculiarly grainy texture, as if the
muscle fibre had been broken down
with a tenderizer.
Fancified steakhouses
Soon after, we were graced with
fried mushrooms (990 ISK), that
managed to taste simultaneously
greasy and dry, and sweet potatoes
that came drenched in sriracha
mayo and bacon bits (790 ISK). Too
bad we were stuck into a $250 res-
taurant experience because those
sweet potatoes would have been per-
fect for a night on the couch watch-
ing the game. The bearnaise and
demi-glace came at 590 ISK each.
Now, I am fully willing to ac-
knowledge that Reykjavík Meat has
its fans. I am also willing to admit
I may not be the target audience—
I enjoy a nice steakhouse but it’s
hardly the beginning and end of
my restaurant universe and I am a
reluctant convert to these fancified
steakhouses. If I’m going all in, I’d
usually opt for an old school classic
like Brooklyn’s Peter Luger. With
Reykjavík Meat, either the prices
need to drop or the quality needs to
go up before I can hop aboard this
gravy train.
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ban thai
ban thai
There's a reason why we get an award every once a year
B E S T T H A I F O O D 2 0 1 9
Always been the best from the reviews
in our local people and local newspaper.
Best goddamn restaurant 2011
Top Ten of Best restaurants in Iceland ( DV. 17.06.11 )
www.banthai.is tel : 55 -22-444, 692-0564 banthai@banthai.is
very reasonable price
R E S T A U R A N T
recommend two good restaurants
MIXED thai restaurant, hverfisgata 125, tel : 588 -1818
YummiYummi thai restaurant, hverfisgata 123, tel : 588 -2121