I have been waiting to write about Kol restaurant, my mind recreating each plate we received until the images reach my taste buds and I get to enjoy the ghostly flavor of them again, like remembering a sweet memory. The food here is beyond compare, I've never had anything like it. Located in Reykjavik Iceland near the Hallgrimskirkja, the church with the statue of Leif Erikson proudly standing in front, and next to a hot dog stand. We actually didn't even notice the actual restaurant it was so well blended into the other storefronts around it. The only reason we even came across it is because the menu was outside and boy oh boy did we want to eat everything on it!
Lara and I ended up going for the tasting menu option- a 7 course meal for 10.990kr or around 80USD. Um, absolutely, sign me up! We started off with a drinks, of the non-alcoholic variety since they're much cheaper, and wow we knew we were in for a whole meal of deliciousness after our first sip of these 5-star curated craft drinks. Lara's lemonade boasted "best lemonade you've ever had" underneath it and they weren't kidding. I'm not sure how they got the balance of sweet and sour just right, but the perfected it, and there was this little note of something else at the end that I still can't quite place. Very smooth and easy to sip. I had the Not my Cup of Thai which contained lime, orange, pineapple, and...almonds. I felt like I was sipping a luxurious mixed drink, that almond in their giving me some amaretto vibes and then mixed with all the fruit? I would have that as a mocktail any day of the week. I sort of wish I had one now...
The first dish came out on a plate that could have come right out of the black sand beaches themselves. Rosemary cured reindeer sat in the crater of the plate, whose colors popped on the dark surface, and the taste blew my mind. I have never had reindeer before, so I don't have anything to directly compare it to, but it was damn good. Very tender, served thinly sliced, maybe not cooked much? I couldn't tell, especially since the meat itself was so dark and truly hard to see under all the goodies on top. This would also serve as a good preview for everything to come out to our table. The thought put into the presentation and the ingredient combinations was spot on. reading through the menu I was left thinking, on many dishes, "how are they going to make these flavors work together?" With magic, people. The sweetness of the blueberries, crunch of the sunchokes, the earthiness of the truffle mayo (which I legitimately could put on everything I ever eat from now on), and the sharp bite from the Parmesan cheese were each notes of a composed piece of music that sang heavenly on every bite. Individually each piece was beautiful, but a little of each on every forkful was like a symphony. Every. Single. Dish. Was. Like. This. I kid you not.
Next out was the Hamachi (yellow tail) sashimi served with a noisette truffle ponzu sauce and topped with pickles chili, pomegranate and deep fried leek. Again with the perfect combinations of both flavor and texture made each layered forkful a dream. Arriving at the same time were these tacos, but instead of a tortilla they were served on a light, airy, crispy wonton. For the love of all that's good, this is the only way I want my tacos from now on! Two tacos were served, one vegetarian and one steak, Lara loved the first and I preferred the second. Though we both enjoyed each taco. The vegetarian one had a cauliflower crumble, cashew and cranberry cream, granola, and chili marmalade. I really haven't had anything even close to that before both in taste or texture and my tastebuds were on an enjoyable sensory overload! But that other taco filled with beef tenderloin, tataki mayo, and chili marmalade (ooh! my mouth just watered!) was indescribable and just pumped me up for the plate of tenderloin beef we'd be getting later in the meal. It was cooked perfectly!
The charred salmon that came out after was my least favorite dish, but if I had ordered this as a meal I would not have been disappointed. I'm a steak gal, so after having that taco I just really wanted to eat more beef! But the salmon was cooked expertly, was flaky, and delicious. I don't know what a fennel escabeche is and I don't care...I ate everything on the plate so it must have been good! the dill apples were Lara's favorite thing on this plate, as she made sure to mention more than a few times, they were very unique in color, texture and taste. I liked them paired with the other things on the plate more than just on their own, because again, every ingredient was picked to pair beautifully with everything else around it. I was obsessed with the dill foam and lime aioli on top of the salmon that was so flavorful and the foam was a different element that I hadn't seen done before (saw this again at Geiri Smart with those potatoes the next day) and was a fun texture with everything else.
Okay...time for my favorite part. The dish I literally shed a tear over. Even thinking about it now I'm feeling tears in my eyes and that weird tickling sensation in your nose before you cry. It was hands down absolutely the best steak I have ever had in my entire life, a title that previously belonged to The Syndicate in Niagara Falls, Canada and had been held by them for I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 years. I wanted to marry Lara when she couldn't finish hers and gave the rest to me. The whiskey pepper sauce drizzled over this excellently cooked steak was the bees knees man, I want a jar of this stuff!! And again with that truffle mayo on this dish too, who knew I loved mayo so much. Not me, that's for sure! Pickled shallots along with a celeriac and hazelnut crumble helped round out the dish with a light vinegar flavor from the shallots and a sweet nuttiness from the hazelnuts. Lastly, that crispy element came through here with katafi, a similar to phyllo dough, cut into thin lines and maybe fried, sort of resembling hashbrowns. When I go back to Iceland, if a stop in Rekyavik is not on the itinerary, I would honestly make a stop there just to have dinner at Kol and eat this again.
Last, but certainly not least, was the dessert. Just look at this thing. It was a gauntlet of fantastical sweets decorating the dish like a piece of art. Three types of macarons, a chocolate cake that looked like it was dipped in gold, blueberries, chocolate covered cherries, chocolate mousse, watermelon sorbet, Madagascar vanilla sorbet, Skyr, strawberries, passionfruit cheesecake, and coconut sorbet. I don't know what to tell you that you haven't heard in this post so far, because it was just as good as everything else was. My favorite being the Skyr and the chocolate mousse/vanilla sorbet combo together. So creamy, so perfect!
If you would also like to have some of the best food of your life, please please, please go to Kol when you're in Iceland, you will not be disappointed!
Skólavörðustígur 40, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
+354 517 7474
Sunday 5:30-10 || Mon & Tues Closed || Wed & Thurs 5:30-10 || Fri & Sat 5:30-11
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