That same night, I choose to have dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Setup is changed, buffet is removed and a menu is distributed. Choose a-la-carte or one of be set menus; the farmers feast, the vegetarian feast, the Fisherman's feast and the dream feast, menus between 70 and 100 dollars. The menu includes a selection of starters, some mains and desserts. All meat and lamb are local from the glacier lagoon area and fish is brought from the Icelandic fishmarkets.
Dimmed lights, a calm music, a perfect and attentive service, a full set of cutlery in this spacious restaurant build with fine materials. I was happy to be hear, very tired after a long day of driving and discoveries but excited to try their food. Didn't have one single negative culinary experience until now, the locals know what real food is.
I chose four special items;
- Meat and cheese; lamb from Skaftafell, Icelandic ham, dried beef from Husavik, Icelandic hofoingi.
- Salt baked beets: beets baked in a salt dough with bet merengue, pickled crowberries and ryebread ice cream. Crowberries handpicked from the lands around the hotel.
- Torched cod: lightly salted cod with black and white onion, potatoes and black pepper béchamel.
- Salmon in two ways: grilled salmon with cauliflower couscous, polenta and glazed shallots.
Tried to order the below two but they both had garlic in them:
- Slow cooked Icelandic lamb: leg of lamb with fennel, almonds, kale and hollandaise.
- Pork in rhubarb barbecue: Pork belly and pork shanks in rhubarb barbecue sauce with bacon rutabaga, carrots and barley.
Food is indeed excellent the way I expected it to be, Michelin starred restaurants quality:
- A bowl has ryebread ice cream - a premiere for me-, a purée of beets, creamy meringue, a superb freshness, a beautiful mix of ingredients, a faded feeling of salt and much love poured in the preparation of this fine creation.
- A wooden board loaded with different kids of dry meat, sauces, spices and very thin local crunchy toast. A masterpiece looking like artistic desserts usually served in starred restaurants. The dedication and finesse put in the plate make your mouth water. Spent couple minutes taking pictures of it before indulging into its content. Everything it contains is delicious.
- Fish... magestic plates of fish... so juicy, so tender, so amazingly cooked, so beautifully presented... two thumbs up chef for such a superb creation. No words can describe my level of happiness tonight. The hollandaise, he intensity of the sauce, the add-ons... everything is unique!
And now dessert: oh wow! What a dessert, the way it's presented in a wooden bowl, the richness of the colors, the flavors the freshness of this unique ice cream, the lightness of the mix... Icelandic carrots, carrot crunchy meringue and orange yogurt ice cream; ouf! Wow... words are not enough! Unique on all fronts, not like any dessert I've had before. That juicy cake, spongy like a pillow, that sticky meringue...
Amazed, I left amazed... bravo chef! You deserve a Michelin star!
