My final restaurant review in Reykjavik was at the dimly lit fine dining establishment, Fish Company located just under a wee bridge in the heart of downtwon. The menu is an adventurous journey around the world and a sense of adventure is also reflected in the surroundings and essence of the venue. The Zimsen building dates back to 1884 but the new restaurant was designed by Leif Welding and master chef Lárus Gunnar Jónasson. Chefs are drawn to experimentation with contrasts and with Leif´s expertise they created an exciting yet functional venue. Window panes from the Hafnarfjörður Free Lutheran Church are backlit behind the bar, lending an adventurous light to their surroundings. The booths in the inner hall are made by GH húsgögn but the chairs are from Tom Dixon. Dinner is served on china from Figgijo in Norway, originally designed exclusively for the Fish Company, but due to their popularity they are now being manufactured for world wide marketing.
After Sarah and I had a chance to find our seats we pulled back our menu which is essentially a globe trotters world tour on a plate. Each dish is prefaced by the country of origin or inspiration as well as the central ingredient. Such dishes celebrate: Spain’s chorizo, Tahiti’s vanilla, Holland’s leek, Russia’s turnip and Columbia’s coffee bean.
Fish Company was the perfect finish to a whirlwind tour of Reykjavik’s lively and creative dinning scene. We were consistently wowed by the presentation and unusual pairings, such as our salad inspired by New Guinea which featured a passion fruit gelato (ice cream with your salad had never occurred to me but it worked so well). The sushi was fantastic and my duck breast only spent a mere 30 seconds on the plate before it was wiped clean. I had to order the USA BBQ which was a massive serving of beef ribeye and grilled horse fillet which was accompanied by a a dollop here and a whisper of this and that across the plate. It was adorned by dehydrated corn kernels as well as popped corn which provided an interesting contrast. A paper bag of piping hot potato wedges and a small espresso maker filled with the most luxurious gravy had me in a warm state of comfy.
We finished off our meal with a dish from Selfoss Iealand with buttermilk on the main stage. The dish featured a soft chocolate cake with apple pie parfait and milk caramel, white chocolate cream and seabuck thornberry ice cream. Needless to say my three days in Reykjavik taught me a few things: come to Iceland to see the waterfalls and glaciers and volcanoes, visit the museums and and art galleries and even enjoy a shopping spree but most importantly, to truly tap into the creative energy of this place, sit in some of the cities best restaurants to experience a sensory tour of the countries inventive culinary landscape.
We enjoyed:
Eco Balance Pinot Noir, Casablanca Valley, Chile
Baguette with Smoked Honey Butter, Fennel Jam, Hyldbblomst Butter
Amuse Bouche Jars: fried mushroom, Smoked Haddock
Japan Rice
mixed sushi, deepfried lobster roll, salmon, softshell and tuna, crispy barely, spicy chilli mayo
New Guinea Pumpkin
winter salad, spinach and ruccola, confit tomato, parmesan and pinenut, passion fruit gelato, mango salsa
France Truffles
smoked breast of duck with deepfried camembert, pickled pearl onion, mushroom powder and mushroom cream, potato foam
USA BBQ
grilled beef ribe eye and grilled horse fillet with red onion and corn cream cheese puree, baked garlic butter, peppersauce and fries
Tibet Anis
poached egg and confit cooked beetroot, fried asparagus and asparagus muffin, potato foam, rye bread ice cream
Selfoss Buttermilk
soft chocolate cake with apple pie parfait and milk caramel, white chocolate cream and seabuck thornberry ice cream
