From Iceland — Orange

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Photo by

Valdís Thor

The tremendous hype around the opening of the hip and stylish restaurant Orange had aroused my attention ever since its forthcoming existence was merely gossip. Its reputation was engrossing for a few reasons, mainly because of the operators’ statements about the presently stiff atmosphere in all the fancy restaurants available in Reykjavík and their plan to do different at their premises. When you spend the bulk of your monthly salary on a single meal you should have fun while you’re at it. And when I walked into their cutting-edge decorated lair down by the port and was immediately served with a “Sex on a Glacier” from a slush machine I knew they meant business. They allowed me and my companion to glance at their menu upon arrival, which included dishes and cocktails such as “Chicken Tits” and “PartyPussy”, so we assumed we were in for a treat.
When we arrived at our table it was announced to us that we’d be having the “Let’s Go Crazy” menu, which is a 5-course meal, comprising of the Orange Lab finest cuisine. The breadbasket was served in a casual paper bag and the first dish, which was a taste-bud-lifting seafood soup with delicious lobster and other prime sea gourmet, was served in a milk carton. Later on we had various breathtaking dishes such as “Got Milk” veal. Finally we had a duple dessert which included chestnut brownies which basically flew to our table in a helium balloon, and white chocolate and mango ice-cream fabricated by the waiter himself by our table in a bowl of condensed carbon dioxide.
Beside the excellent food served, and the professional but bohemian waiters at Orange, it is their charming concept that made this night not only a feast of the taste buds, but a unique experience. Usually when average Icelanders go out and dine in a fancy place they put on a social mask, play a fancy character and pretend to be much more sophisticated than they are. Orange, finally, manages to defy that dull and stereotypical dining image. Instead of putting on a lousy charade, simply have fun!