ÓX Restaurant

Most likely there is a sacred place somewhere in Valhalla where the feast is as elaborate – and equally tricky to get into. Securing a seat at Òx, a restaurant-within-a-restaurant (Sümac), can be quite an ordeal not least because there are only eleven seats up for grabs, grouped in an L-shaped formation around an open kitchen, Japanese counter style. Two chefs at a time cater to the guests promptly arriving at 7 pm to enjoy the three-hour show, a rather radical take on Icelandic cooking traditions

Celebration of the season is no easy thing when the season is as short and capricious as it is here, but with a little divine assistance, anything is possible. This is why we're treated to 12 courses, before sweet bites, all enriched with herbs, berries and flowers and beautifully kicked off with laufabraud, a fried leaf bread on which go tomatoes and lovage leaves and flowers. The welcome Drappier Rosé is still sparkling in the glass.

The surrounding waters are generous throughout seasons. Juicy langoustines are served on barley crackers with marigold petals; local scallops arrive in their shell, small and concentrated in flavour after growing in cold water, along with dried blueberries. Sweet, translucent raw shrimp is served on local wasabi leaves and cream, with a surprisingly gentle aromatic bite. The lumpfish roe, presented on ice, goes with cultured cream on thin Icelandic pancakes and the glorious whole-grilled monkfish with a creamy birch and mussel sauce. And it goes without saying that the moist cake-like rye-bread is lava-baked. The saddle of lamb is the star of the show and makes its entrance full diva style; the lid of a wooden sarcophagus with believable burn-marks slowly recessed to expose the beautifully scorched carcass, its powerful aromas filling the whole room, before it is lifted out to be skillfully dismembered and dished up with portobello and angelica, one of the few indigenous herbs that survived the ice age: a true local hero. With its hints of licorice, it's the perfect bridge to the desserts, where a licorice ice cream testifies to the obsession of all Nordic peoples with this exotic root, Icelanders being no exception.

Beverage pairings intermittently pay homage to local traditions, which means that beers, meads and spirits appear where appropriate. A rhubarb liqueur is quite the proper one for the road.

Published June 2019.