The Food Cellar
The restaurant "Matarkjallarinn", or "The Food Cellar", is an upscale grill and cocktail bar with a very atmospheric atmosphere right in the heart of Reykjavík, right around the corner from Ingólfstorg in the basement of a 160-year-old house in the center of the city .
Here you will find "food for the body and music for the soul", according to the restaurant's self-image - the cuisine is culinary art, the food is conscious compositions, with the focus on Icelandic ingredients. The "Matarkjallarinn" is also the proud owner of a Viennese Bösendorfer grand piano from 1880, and from 7.30 p.m. there is live music with dinner every evening.
The evening we spent at “Matarkjallarinn” had the promising motto “Upplifðu Ísland”, i.e. “Discover Iceland culinary”.
To get you in the mood - Nýbakaðar pretzels með rjómaost
At the beginning of the evening we (as well as all other guests) were served a basket with two halves of fresh, still warm pretzels, with cream cheese on top. With a lot of garlic, I would say, but not only. It was very tasty, no question. But as a German, I think I was a bit irritated and could have imagined a more “Icelandic bread”. For me it felt very similar to Bavarian pretzel with cheese spread. (Even though I know that "pretzels" are becoming increasingly popular in Iceland.)
1st course - Hægeldaður Þorskur
The first course we were served was slow-cooked cod with crispy lamb (hangikjöt), almonds and langoustine hollandaise. The meal was a poem, with the really buttery fish, the creamy sauce, the crisp, thin slices of lamb, a bit of fresh cress... my personal highlight and a successful combination of different textures!
2nd course - Grafin Gæs
For the second course we had smoked goose with pecans, goat cheese, Singapore Sling sorbet and cherries. (To be honest, I had to look up what “Singapore Sling Sorbet” was first. When we asked, our waiter told us that the dish was alcohol-free.)
The goose was very tasty, the goat cheese tasted great and very intense, the crunchy nuts, the ice-cold sorbet... this time a combination of ingredients at different temperatures. Personally, I found it quite sweet and quite fruity, I couldn't have eaten much of it, but the small portion tasted really interesting and good.
3rd course - Steikt Lambafille
The main course for the satiety meal was fried lamb fillets from the shoulder of lamb with grilled celery, onions and potato salad. The two pieces of lamb were very tasty and incredibly tender and soft, absolutely perfect!
Personally, I found the potato salad as a side dish to be quite heavy and creamy, which was unfortunately a bit much for me.
But I really enjoyed the grilled celery with the onion, although I'm not usually the most passionate celery fan.
4th course - Hjónabandssæka
At the end there was, in typical Icelandic style, "married bliss" - jam with oat flakes crumble and small pieces of marzipan, nice and warm fresh from the oven, served in a hot cast iron pan on pink rubber coasters. There was also a scoop of very tasty vanilla ice cream.
A nice mix of warm and cold, crunchy and creamy, ... but a really big portion, as a fourth course at a dinner like this.
These are exactly the moments when I love being a food blogger with all my heart!
The restaurant is currently open for lunch Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner every night of the week from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Evening menu:
The 4-course menu “Discovered Island” costs 9,700 ISK per person (as of June 2019: around €68.40), with wine it costs 17,500 ISK (around €123.30). The 3-course menu “Haf og Hagi” (= “Sea and Pasture”) costs 8,900 ISK (around €62.70). The 3-course “Seafood” menu costs 7,900 ISK (€55.70) per person without drinks; the vegan 4-course menu also costs the same.
The 6-course menu "Leyndarmál Matarkjallarans" (= "Secrets of the Food Cellar"), a chef-style surprise menu, costs 10,900 ISK (approx. €76.80) per person (only available for the whole table).
Of course, you can also order individual dishes from the menu. The starters and small dishes cost between 2,290 ISK and 3,390 ISK (around €16 to €24). The main courses range from 4,190 ISK (approx. €29.50) for glazed pumpkin with polenta to 8,490 ISK (approx. €59.85) for a large portion of Icelandic langoustine with garlic, butter and parsley.
The desserts usually cost around 2,200 ISK (approx. €15.50).
The dishes that were served to the guests around us certainly looked very appetizing!
* Legal notice:
Technically speaking, this is advertising because we were invited to dinner. But we only visit restaurants and bars that we have heard good things about and that we find exciting - for a variety of reasons. In that respect, we were honestly thrilled and when we burst out in praise, we really mean it.
[Translated from here.]
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