Mulaberg Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Akureyrarbær

We are spending Christmas in Akureyri and this is one of the only two restaurants open on the 24/25. We were looking forward as the restaurant has good reviews and the photos of the food look really good. The disappointment couldn’t have been bigger. The worst most expensive meal ever. At 18.000 K for a 4 course meal that left me feeling hungry and was not enjoyable. I don’t eat meat (but I do eat some fish) and when we booked, I was told there would be a veg alternative to the beef wellington. When I got there I was presented with a 4 course meal of just vegetables from their normal menu. To make the long story short, in the end I got a combination of both. To start with I was given a toast with a vegan pate that tasted like an ice cube, very cold and flavourless. Followed by the scallops which were tiny and cold too. The next was a beetroot carpaccio which was nice but quite small. Just nothing special. For the main course I just got half aubergine with a little bit of tomato sauce on top and a few scattered lentils. No garnish or side, nothing else. Vegetarian and even vegan doesn’t mean just a grilled vegetable. Fish could have been also an option for me. It was a ridiculous price to pay for what they actually served me which was also badly done, far from abundant and with no taste at all. Lastly, the desert was crème brûlée. I love creme brulee but it was no good. Served with some cheap quality ice cream. Neither tasted good. Didn’t feel like a Christmas meal or even a winter meal at all. The atmosphere was as bland...

Came here twice and wasn’t disappointed both times, both for lunch and dinner. Be aware that the menu is limited for days that they serve lunch.

For lunch, we had the pan-seared cod and the duck leg. Both were excellent. The cod had a nice crust and was salted nicely. They added some green basil oil to the dish which was great and had a lovely earthy pumpkin puree underneath to complement the fish. The duck leg was great as well with lots of soy notes. Tasted Chinese-inspired. Vegetables served on each were cooked nicely.

For dinner, we had the dry-aged rib eye steak and the lamb two-ways. Again not disappointed, although dry-aged rib eye seems like a gimmick for the price. I prefer to eat regular steak compared to dry-aged. The meat did have slight funk and some extra nuttiness to it, but apart from that I couldn’t tell much of a difference from it to normal steak. The sauce or jam they had on the side for it though was wonderful. Slightly tangy and matched well with the steak. I wanted two cups of it. The lamb was cooked very well too. So tender and flavorful, some of the best I’ve had on my trip. I’m sure though with whatever you choose, you will not be disappointed at this place.

Service was excellent as well. Atmosphere is also quite nice. I am definitely coming back here if I visit...

I visited this place as seemed to be the best one in the area. However, it was a horrible experience. The brown skin blonde hair waitress it was the rudest waitress I ever had in a restaurant. She rolled her eyes on us, gave us attitude from the very beginning. We were treated really bad, that I couldn’t stand it and told her to pls treat us like a costumer deserves. She couldn’t care less and just said sorry badly and rudely again. The food taste was delicious, even tho when my steak was cold, it was very tasty, I did not want to say anything about it as the service was bad enough already. It’s a shame to be visiting such nice town and getting such terrible service. I wouldn’t recommend this place at all. And whoever hired this lady should consider to give her a proper training because employees like her make the business go down. You can have nice facilities and good food, but if service is poor the rest doesn’t matter. Every costumer deserves respect but she doesn’t know the meaning...