Three Cheers For Skál! Reykjavík’s Upstart Eatery Is All Grown Up

Skál! was an early trailblazer in Reykjavík’s food hall boom. An outlier and prodigy from the start, it brought fine dining flair and seasonal flavours to the confines of the country’s first ever food hall in the converted Hlemmur bus station. Under a chic and instantly iconic scrawled red neon sign, the restaurant had just 24 bar seats wrapping around the busy kitchen. It was an island of calm amongst the tumult of Hlemmur, where discerning diners could get a perfect view of each dish being prepared. In 2019, the elevated, seasonal sharing plate fare was the deserving recipient of a Michelin Bib Gourmand — an award reserved for notably good food at an affordable price.

Food hall bustle was part of Skál!’s casual atmosphere, but it did also introduce some caveats and limitations. It’s a little harder to enjoy that perfect bite whilst experiencing the Doppler effect via a screaming baby being carried past your ear. And some spaces have a vibe that’s just indelible — as lively and fun as the Hlemmur food hall is, it seems that no amount of renovation and rebranding can fully exorcise that slightly loose punks ‘n’ drunks vibe from the building.

Carpe cibum

Now, Skál! has grown up and moved out, starting its new life at a dedicated brick and mortar location on the corner of Njálsgata and Klapparstígur. It’s a great spot in the heart of 101, with windows looking out at the streetlife for a Greenwich Village neighbourhood restaurant vibe. The basement interior — previously a gelato place and many other things before — has been reworked into a cosy space that feels both refined and approachable.

It still carries many of the hallmarks of the food hall. “We tried to bring over as many things as we could from the first location,” says Jon Sadler, the front-of-house manager and one of five partners in the business. “The concept of high tables, low tables and bar seating, to continue that story — and not forget where we come from.”

“Part of Skál! was always being able to see inside the whole process.”

The open kitchen and bar are strongly featured in the restaurant’s layout, with a handful of raised bar seats and some cosy booths with custom-made leather seating. “Part of Skál! was always being able to see inside the whole process,” says Jon. “So our bartender is very exposed. He’s kind of the central point of the main room.” He gestures towards the bar. “My personal favourites are these two tables. You’ve got a lovely street window, you can see into the kitchen and you have the bartender. For me, these are the perfect seats.”

The renovation involved pulling up the floors, adding soundproofing, and upgrading the plumbing, as well as landing on the right aesthetic. “This building is so old!” Jon admits. “It’s from the early 1900s — well over 100 years old now. We’ve gone with a brown and cream interior with the same red wine colour we had at Hlemmur. We’ve kept the marble and brought it over into rose marble. We tried to transfer as many things as we could.”

New twists

To my surprise, the new space has only 30 seats — for those keeping count, that’s an upgrade of just six from the food hall location. But the move was about more than just increasing capacity. “There’s a lot more attention to detail,” says Jon. “We can transmit who we are to every table. Instead of taking someone’s order, spending three minutes with them and giving them a buzzer, we can have some fun. We get to dine with our guests now.”

“We can have some fun. We get to dine with our guests now.”

The renovation also extends to the menu, which has been reworked by head chef Thomas Lorentzen. Regulars will recognise many of the staples, delivered here with new twists. The raw scallops (3.950 ISK) are served on the half shell in a dish of ice, with redcurrant granita on one side and creamy horseradish sauce on the other. The horseradish is festooned with neat green dots of dill oil that change shape as soon as they’re touched, the spoon becoming a paintbrush that warps the shell’s graphically presented contents with every bite.

The cod wings (3.950 ISK) are coated in a light, crispy batter and slathered in a mild rhubarb hot sauce. The concept is good — a jokey spin on chicken wings, with fishy fins instead of protruding bones — but the dish’s flavours seem to lack a punchline, with a light chilli tingle that’s nothing for spice fans to get excited about.

An edible terrarium

The vegetarian sides, however, outperform. The beet salad (2.950 ISK) sits on a bed of decadent mascarpone, garlanded with freshly picked elderflower sprigs. The baby gem salad (2.750 ISK) is such an attractive artwork that I feel almost guilty cutting into it. Cupped in a crisp lettuce leaf, this strikingly fresh dish looks like an edible terrarium. My delighted vegetarian companion munches on the snappy apple and crunchy pistachios, exclaiming that she’d happily have supersized it up to a main — something the kitchen can accommodate, our waiter confirms. Although the menu’s vegetarian options are few, he adds that vegans can swing by for lunch, served from Thursday to Sunday, when chickpea panisse is served.

Even the vegetarian pauses to admire the presentation of the hanger steak (4.850 ISK), served sliced to reveal both the ragged, seared edge and the rare pink core. The flavour has an unexpected caramel-ish note, with charred, smoky sunchokes and a pickled stem garnish setting the whole thing off.

The real highlight, though, is the menu’s only dessert (2.650 ISK). It’s a remix of the classic lemon meringue pie, with salty hazelnut crumble and a tart lemon curd filling. The topping of singed meringue surprises me when my spoon touches it, quivering rather than breaking, with a homely burnt marshmallow flavour. My companion remarks that they’d come again for this dish alone.

It’s a sweet conclusion to a solid meal. As we head out, Jon confirms that dishes will come with seasonal twists, so we should come again to try new variants — and although booking is advised, there are always a few tables open for drop-ins. So swing by sometime and raise a glass to Skál! as it settles into its new grown-up life.

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