Reykjavík Grapevine - May 2022, Page 29

down hard. The buns were crumbly,
the meat dry. Even the caramelised
onions on the #2 couldn’t make up
for the lacklustre affair. That being
said, the vegan burger picked up
the slack. The soy patty is a nice
alternative to bean-based ones and
the savoury notes play off well with
the pickled onions and gherkins.
I really hope this was a one-off
and that they can bring back their
heyday glory.
VG: Hagavagninn had an incred-
ible start in 2018 as a casual burger
joint located perfectly between
Kaffi Vest and the pool of Vestur-
bær. In the beginning, they offered
playful burgers and made sure to
offer something simple, yet satisfy-
ing for meat-eaters, as well as the
growing population that chooses
vegan burgers.
We tried out Börger #2 as well
as Vegan Börger #1, and added the
vegan fries.
To start with the meat burger,
the bread was slightly dry but
within the margin in my opinion.
The beef was soft under the tooth
but a bit dry as well. What I always
love about the burgers at Haga-
vagninn is the balance of the sauce
and the toppings. Today the burger
was slightly off overall, and dare I
say, a little bit forgettable. It obvi-
ously needed some attention to
detail.
The same went for the vegan
burger, although it was a little
better executed and the vegan patty
was tastier than the meat.
This might sound like a trivial
matter but it has to be said: the
burgers did not have the consis-
tency we hoped for. When it came
to the spicy fries, they were a
clumsy letdown, desperately call-
ing out for some seasoning.
Búllan
Búllan, or The Burger Joint, is one
of the most established burger
places in Iceland. We could say with
good conscience that the place is
like the McDonalds of Iceland; just
much better. But there is a twist. A
political twist.
SB: We were honestly on the fence
about Búllan since news broke out
about the original founder’s misog-
ynistic, sexist texts fetishizing
Asian women were leaked. We are
also not sure if he is still involved
with the burger chain. If he isn’t,
we recommend the steak burger
for a good ol’ fashioned American
classic. The Geirsgata location is
charming and dive-bar like and the
service is always warm and atten-
tive. No matter how full the place
is, they always take their time with
your orders, an often overlooked
aspect of service in local restau-
rants. If Tommi is still involved,
then vote with your wallet and
maybe rethink that burger.
VG: Now, the first rule here is that
you have to pay for your meal your-
self. Do not, under any circum-
stances allow Tommi, (Tómas A.
Tómasson, MP for the People's
Party) to pay for the dinner, or he
might be under the odd misun-
derstanding that you are a pros-
titute who wants to have sex with
him. Paying for sex and paying for
dinner is essentially the same in
his mind, according to an interview
with him at Vísir.is
Tommi is the founder of Búllan,
although he seems busy at the
parliament these days, mostly
defending this nasty scandal of
dehumanizing Thai women who
may have been prostitutes. With
this in mind, we decided to keep
Búllan in for now, simply because
Búllan is one of the most solid
burger joints in Iceland. But it's
only fair that you know where we
are coming from, and that you,
dear reader, are aware of this.
In short, nothing has changed
when it comes to Búllan. The
burgers are solid and surpris-
ingly consistent and the staff are
wonderful. If you’re looking for a
burger that will keep you satisfied,
but won’t rock your boat, this will
be it. You won’t be disappointed—
not by the burgers at least. The
only question is if you still have any
appetite, knowing about the scan-
dal with Tommi. Well, that's up to
you. For us, it left a bitter aftertaste.

Food 29The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05— 2022
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