Described as “chic, upscale and casual” on its website, the hotel restaurant, Salt, actually is. Each table is decorated with a small porcelain bowl with pink, white and black sea-salts, each imported from its own continent. The salts are, I was told, expensive enough for the chef to be constantly on the look-out that customers don’t spoil them.
Each element of the meal is more or less delicious – the pumpkin soup, lobster, wild mushroom risotto and quail being my personal favourites. But add snails, foie gras and halibut and you feel as though you are being hijacked by an upscale culinary conspiracy. The place being merely a week old (at the time of writing), this is in line with the somewhat insecure staff – each member being charming and industrious, as a unit they seemed to be somewhat less than secure.
I’m being something of a prick, but this restaurant sets its standards high and can be measured accordingly. It is among the most promising and potentially amusing kitchens I’ve been to, but not quite there yet.
Salt
Hotel 1919, Pósthússtræti 2, 101 Reykjavík,
Tel. 599 1000
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