Icelandic Tapas

A couple of nights ago, when it was cold and rainy with no hope of seeing any northern lights, Matt and I decided to cheer ourselves up with a dinner out on the the town to try some of the more icelandic regional foods.

We opted to go to a well reviewed Tapas restaurant - rather un-creatively named: Tapas Barinn



Below is a list (with pictures) of each dish we ordered:

Shot: Brennivin
Tasted like rose-sugar water that finished with a weak anise flavour, general consensus: tasted very ass-like.

Fresh Bread with a Green Olive Tapenade and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Garlic Mushrooms with Parsley:
This dish was one of our favourites - we ordered it cause it was cheaper than any of the meat courses and we're big fans of garlic and mushrooms. They somehow cooked it so that the mushrooms were still cooked but they had the perfect amount of chewiness. Delicious!

Garlic Lobster Tails:
Traditionally in Iceland, only the tails of the lobster are served. The lobsters tails are also much smaller (about 3 to 5 cm long) because of the colder ocean temputures (Also, the lobsters are much smaller). Having not eaten a ton of Lobster in my day, these seemed delicious, garlicky, and buttery - really what could go better together?

Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Dates with Side Salad:
These dish was also wonderful- the bacon was perfectly rendered down to offer just the perfect amount of crispy (I suspect that butter was a key contributor) and the dates were also wrapped in bacon which offered that sweet and salty combo which never disappoints. The side was good - but paled in comparison.

Wild Salmon with Red Pepper Couscous Salad:
This was one dish which surprised us - Matthew and I eat salmon quite regularly at home and therefore didn't expect much different from this. How wrong we were - the salmon was perfectly cooked (North Americans tend to over cook fish) plus the real shocker was how well the pepper and couscous salad balanced with the fish - this was, at this point in time, the favourite dish of the evening. (dish in focus)

Grilled Lobster in a Lobster Sauce with Side Salad:
We ordered another lobster dish since it was recommended by the waitress - this one was amazing. You always hear how lobster is supposed to be a sweet shell fish - usually brought out with the use of melted butter. However THIS dish, was tender and sweet with no hints of butter - the lobster sauce was basically a broth of kick-ass lobster flavour.. It was a perfect bite!

Grilled Ling Fish with Mashed Potatoes in Lobster Sauce:
Ling Fish is a delicate white fish which is dense (like halibut), but offers a delicate flavour - even less so than cod or sole. It was grilled to perfection - and anyone who has seen me at Christmas knows that mash potatoes are my ambrosia. It was another very good dish. Matthew and I felt the pressure mounting against which one was our favourite!

Smoked Puffin with Spiced Cranberry Sauce:
The next plate to arrive was the smoked puffin - you know those cute black and white arctic birds with the colourful beaks and they can sorta fly? Anyways, this was the only dish we didn't really like - not that we think it was a fault with the restaurant, but more to the fact that we aren't used to heavily smoked meat while Icelandics definitely are. We found it spicy and more than a little too salty. I think the puffin is safe from us, but it was interesting to try!

Minke Whale with Sweet Potato Mash:
This was, by far, the most exotic dish we ordered that night - and I felt kinda glad that we ended up not having the time or the weather for good whale watching since I couldn't bear it if they ended up being cute little whales. On to the food though - the whale actually tasted incredibly gamey, something between fishy tuna and venison. It was very good, as was the mash (again, they hit my soft spot!) but I don't know if I have to declare myself to PETA on landing in the UK. (middle dish)

Roasted Lamb with Grilled Vegetables:
Iceland is known for its lamb (anything relating to sheep really) and they take great pride in it. Matthew and I generally don't like lamb/mutton - but we were trying to keep it on the down-low. This dish however was OUT OF THIS WORLD! The meat was tender and delicious - no tough, no gamey, not muttony at all. We were blown away - and had to (begrudgingly) give this dish top marks for the evening as our favourite overall. We also had to retroactively admit that perhaps our dinner 1.5 years ago at Teatro could have been just as good with lamb instead of steak...

Dessert:
We had a Skyr mousse with a passion fruit coulis which was very good. I really like the Icelandic desserts/sweets since they are not overly sweet, but compared to the epic tapas, dessert wasn't anything too special. (Note: Skyr is an Icelandic dairy product which resembles a very thick yoghurt).

All in all, it was a fun night "out on the town" for Matt and I!