Ó Restaurant, located at Hotel Óðinsvé, opened in February after the previous establishment, restaurant Siggi Hall, closed its doors. Ó’s executive chef, Eyþór Rúnarsson, is very familiar with the business and has a long background in preparing gourmet meals for local diners and hotel guests. He was head chef of Siggi Hall and is a member of the Icelandic national team of chefs.
The restaurant is elegantly decorated and its purple walls create a relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere. We examined the menu over a drink at the bar and decided to go for the tasting menu (7,300 ISK) to get a good sample of what the restaurant has to offer. The tasting menu consists of four courses and a dessert, selected by the chef. Although the emphasis was mainly on fish dishes this time, my companion and I chose a bottle of Spanish red wine, Museum Real Reserva (5,190 ISK), recommended by the waiter. The wine proved to be an excellent choice.
As an appetiser, we were brought a sample of duck confit with celery-pear-salad and buttermilk-foam, which was delicious. What followed was a mix of fairly good and really tasty dishes. We enjoyed the smoked salmon on a sugary crumpet, topped with creamcheese and roe while the halibut with buttery sauce, halibut-stew and all sorts of trimmings was nothing extraordinary. The sweet taste of the tomato sauce served with the salted cod blended well with the cold tomato sorbet on top and made the dish our absolute favourite. The caramel browned shallot onion that came with the tender loin of beef was also a hit. The only real disappointment of the night was the dessert, a flavourless pine-nut cake with pears and watery ice cream. The sample of rum-banana-stew with lime, cream-cheese and biscuits our waiter brought us after our espressos was much better. A winning combination they should definitely put on the menu.
The excellent service deserves special praise. Although every table was filled, the service was consistently attentive; the waiters answered all our questions and ensured we would enjoy our evening. Which we did.