Food Review
Most read
Latest
-
Charming Suburban Restaurant Channels 90s Italianate Nonna Vibes
Italians are not known for their generosity with the world’s freewheeling ways when it comes to their cuisine. Publish a recipe, open a restaurant or even so much as attempt throwing spaghetti at the wall (don’t) and an Italian is bound to…
-
A Stubbornly Seafood-Only Restaurant
Sjávarpakkhúsið is well worth the drive to Stykkishólmur Iceland is perpetually going to be known as the land of fish and even better lamb. Walk down any street, anywhere in the country and chances are that you are minutes away from a…
-
Sup, Sip and Skál!
From foraged craft cocktails to shrimp heads, this Icelandic gastro-pub exemplifies joy in brevity When I first wrote about Hlemmur Mathöll’s opening, I simply called it Mathöll, ending the article wondering if the concept would be a paradigm shift in the local…
-
Regional Ambitions: The Hits and Misses at Gandhi Indian Restaurant & Bar
The last time I reviewed Gandhi was in 2015. Back then they were tucked away in a basement overlooking Austurvöllur and I wrote about what a lost opportunity it was that they weren’t tapping into their potential by focussing on the strength…
-
Globetrotting Menus At Hosiló
Icelandic nonchalance and delicious chaos ensues at this weekly-menu driven restaurant It is often said that adversity breeds creativity. Creative arcs across the globe showed what research has also borne to be true — difficult times call for inventive solutions that would…
-
An Adventure Under A Bridge
Fiskfelagið is still going strong, 14 years on Fiskfelagið, also known as Fish Company, is often confused with the other fish-in-its-name restaurant down the street. But point out that it is the restaurant under the bridge, or the restaurant in the stone…
-
A Restaurant For A Seafaring Nation
Brút isn’t beating around the bush with its celebration of all things fish “Cod is god” is an adage that has an iron fisted grip over restaurant menus — and seemingly the imaginations of restaurateurs, as well — across the country.…
-
McDonald’s VS Metro: It’s the fast food faceoff we’ve all been waiting for
Words: Sóley and Borghildur Sóley has tasted McDonald’s like a thousand, million, trillion, zillion times, both in New York City and once in London. Borghildur first tasted McDonald’s in Portugal. That’s a very nice country. The McDonald’s in Portugal is right by…
-
Gauging the Icelandicness of Íslenski Barinn
We all have our go-to places. Neighbourhood spots where you know the menu by heart, where you salute the waiters by name and chest bump the chef. I’ll hazard a guess that Íslenski barinn is not that place for many Icelanders. But…
-
A Culinary Comeback (Kinda) — At six, Mat Bar Remains Hard To Slot
I distinctly remember when Mat Bar first opened. The Hverfisgata corner had been a buzz of activity and, even with the windows still shrouded in paper, the place held promise of exciting newness. Now six years old, much has changed at the…
-
The Unlikely Success Of Matstofan: The “Filipino Taste” In Borgarnes
The oldest Filipino restaurant in Iceland does not have a Filipino name. The sign outside says “Matstofan,” but locals will tell you the place is called “Dússabar,” after co-owner Dússi Grönfeldt. The only hint at a foreign presence is written in slim…
-
A Messi Eater: Fresh, Creamy Seafood In A Bucolic Setting At Messinn
Delicate or robust, white or pink, flat or oblong, from glistening swordfish to speckled flounder fillets—I’ve never met a fish that didn’t love being kissed by a pat of butter. Of course globalisation has opened our Eurocentric eyes to other ways of…
-
A Marshful of Seafood: Wholesome Nordic Wholesomeness In The Accordion House
I am standing outside the accordion-shaped house tucked in the southern corner of Reykjavík and wondering how a building can be this easy to notice and yet so easy to overlook when you are thinking of a place to eat. I know…
-
The Great Reykjavík Steak-Off: Three Reykjavík Steak Joints Battle For The Crown
When the Argentína Steakhouse closed its doors earlier this year, it left a big rib-eye shaped hole in the downtown dining scene. Of course, many restaurants have beef and lamb steaks on the menu, but there’s something to be said for the…
-
Hangry And Shameless: Back To School At Stúdentakjallarinn
Universities are known for many things—sports, arts, academics, meeting report deadlines, and, of course, great drinking binges. A lot of the latter tends to take place at the student bar, and the University of Iceland caters to this time honoured tradition splendidly…
-
Burro: Crickets & Cocoa Puff Cocktails At The Latin Fusion Disco
Burro is a pan-Latin tapas place from the people who brought us Public House. My most recent visit happened to coincide with a special menu in celebration of the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is one of those…
-
Matwerk Doesn’t Reinvent The Wheel… But It Werks
I dodge the diagonal raindrops of Rey-jah-vik’s spring through the glass front of the former hair salon turned upscale Nordic dining spot. The restaurant carries a muted industrial vibe, spread over three tiers. The open kitchen is on the bottom, and the…
-
Icelandic Kebangover: Testing The Lækjartorg Food Trucks So You Don’t Have To
In the UK we have a concept known as the “kebangover.” This describes the horrific feeling you get when your already horrendous hangover is accompanied by the stale, fake-meat, heart-burning aftertaste of Britain’s imitation doner kebab. It’s a food that can literally…
-
Pining for Pipes and Piping Hot Haggis? Look Nae Further: Scotland Comes To Kex
Kex holds an annual festival celebrating Scottish culture in all its tartan regalia (sans the Begbie pint glass throwing). This two-day event of organ meat, whistling skin bags, whisky, pale ale and other Northern European customs has grown into a delightful annual…
-
Merry Orange-Malted Salmon: A Visit To The Latest In A Long Line Of Basements
Matarkjallarinn sits nestled in the cosy basement of Aðalstræti 2, a 160-year-old building in the heart of downtown Reykjavík. Prior to Matarkjallarinn, it housed a branch of the Akureyri-based steak and sushi joint Rub 23, but is most readily associated with Sjávarkjallarinn,…
-
Food Review: Servers Squared, Peaks Squared
There were three of us there that night and all we realised that during our lives, we had approached the Icelandic restaurant scene from many different angles. We had worked as servers, food truck vendors, cooks, managers, part-owners, restaurant reviewers, restaurant promoters,…
-
Sólon, And Thanks For All The Fish!
Hrefna: We visited Sólon on a particularly ordinary Wednesday afternoon. The place felt familiar. Maybe because I pass it every day on my way to work, envying the patrons who always seem so happy with their curly fries and drinks. The location,…
-
Food Review: West Side Story
One of the dangers of living in Reykjavík is that you quickly adapt to the local concept of time and space. As a city rat, I now think that anything outside of the 101 postcode is “far.” Even the 107 hood has…