Greifinn, Akureyri > Reviews (1)

Our second excursion into the culinary capabilities of Iceland's northern sub-capital saw us fetching up at Greifinn.

The restaurant is a short walk away from the centre of town on Glerargata, which is the main road out. You can't always go by the architecture in Iceland, but in this case you wouldn't be doing the place a disservice to assume from its boxy "transport caff" appearance and dowdy salmon and sand colouring that this is a stack-em-high-sell-em-cheap kind of a place.

If you're looking for fine dining, look elsewhere.

Greifinn considers itself a family restaurant. Think: Frankie & Benny's. Think: TGI. Think Fatso's. The place is much in that loud and fun variety of American Italian diner. If you accept that and take it on its merits then you won't be disappointed.

We'd booked in advance – you don't turn in a party of a dozen or so (though we'd actually lost two en route to the restaurant for reasons not to be disclosed) just on the off-chance they can squeeze you in. This foresight only helped slightly.

Booking two days ahead, reconfirming the night before and double-checking the time on the day, still saw us arrive to be told that we'd have to wait.

I hate waiting to be seated in a restaurant. I especially hate it when they knew we were coming. On the other hand, occasionally my chums and I eat early and we're equally annoyed if assumptions are made that we'll be out the door quick…can't stand being chivvied either. But wait we did. For ten minutes or thereabouts we cluttered up the doorway. Other reviews around the web suggest that this is not uncommon at Greifinn, so you might think they'd have dedicated more than a couple of benches to the waiting clientele. Or maybe just got their act together on bookings?!

What became very clear at this point is that maybe Greifinn can afford not to worry too much. It is a very popular restaurant. Probably not the tourists' ideal dining haunt, but the locals evidently adore it. Not only was the restaurant itself full, but a lively trade was also being done in take-away pizzas. This part of the business did seem to be properly organised as folk turned up, collected, paid and left, with no dithering. Given the relatively short tourist season in Iceland, I can't blame them for looking after their core trade in preference to we one-night-standers.

Eventually we were led to our tables. The restaurant layout really didn't facilitate a single table for our large group, so they'd double-banked us into two by sixes, which worked fine. Menus were provided and drinks orders promptly taken.

We studied the long and varied menu. Received our drinks. And waited. And waited. Hmmm.

Eventually, the technically minded amongst us – or maybe the nosey parkers who'd been watching what everyone else was doing – or maybe the intelligent souls who bothered to read the information further than finding something scrummy to eat – realised that you had to call for service. At the end of each table is a bell. Press it and a little light comes on.

And if you're very lucky a waiter will then appear. Or at least, will eventually appear.

For what is effectively a fast(ish) food place, the service is lacking in alacrity.

On the other hand, it is efficient and friendly when it does get down to it. There were no errors in the orders and we were all served simultaneously, despite the range of orders.

So what about the food?

This is where Greifinn knows exactly what it's doing. My hot smoked salmon salad was splendid. A large salmon fillet, spiced and smoked, sitting on a salad of lettuce, rocket, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, baked leek, with chive dressing and a side of garlic bread. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the salad well balanced.

Around the table the Jungle Curry Chicken and the pepper-marinated lamb were also pronounced most excellent.

The menu is quite possibly the most extensive in town. With a limited selection of starters and sides, it moves on to a "mains" selection covering soups, salads, sandwiches, a 9-option burger menu, four pasta dishes covering the minimum options of fish, fowl, meat and veg, a similar variety of fajitas takes care of the texmex element, before offerings of chicken, lamb, fish (obviously), and an infinite number of pizza varieties (42 on the menu, plus a build-your-own from a selection of 44 separate dressings).

Desert? You want desert after all of that?

Actually, we didn't and I suspect few do. The afters menu is a little sparse by comparison focussing mainly on ice creams, with a short-lived excursion into tarte tatin or warm chocolate cake.

Pricing

Don't be swayed by reviews telling you that the prices are reasonable. They do mean "reasonable by Icelandic standards" – eating out is not cheap in this country. In fact, my main and a beer, despite a hotel-related discount came in at 3,570 Kroner (about £20 at current exchange rates). This doesn't actually compare that well with Strikid, which has a far better ambience and better service.

Ambience

If you're looking for ambience, forget it. Greifinn is loud, noisy. It is aimed clearly at families, including a play area for the little ones, and if that's your thing, you're in the wrong place.

Marks Out of Ten?

For me, only a 6 or a 7. They should have been prepared for our arrival, and the service wasn't totally on the ball. Probably also down-marked on the fact that it simply isn't my kind of place, not a place to linger. The food however was faultless, the menu is wide, and they organised the bill-splitting with the now-accepted Icelandic efficiency.

'Further information

Information on their website http://www.greifinn.is/is/page/english is mostly in Icelandic, but the menu has English translations and the map does give a clear location.© Lesley Mason
hiker @ ciao.co.uk
21.8.10