ÓX — Restaurant in Reykjavik

I wish I could give Ox 5 stars, but I can’t. Ox definitely puts in the effort, so I think 4 stars is more than generous. For me, 5 stars would mean that I will definitely dine here again. However, that is uncertain. I may consider it in a few years. Maybe that would be long enough for some improvements. When I say I would dine again at a restaurant, that has to also mean that the food, for one, has to taste good, no matter the price. Was the meal at Ox better than anything my husband (who is not a professional chef) cooks for me at home? Absolutely not.

My husband and I dined at Ox at the end of 2023. The atmosphere and the experience as a whole at Ox was amazing. The experience began from the entrance. I appreciated all the artsy decor and details, as well as the secret door to the kitchen/dining area. Even the bathrooms were amazing. To be a true Michelin starred restaurant, it isn’t just about the food. It has to be an experience. But, it still ultimately comes down to the quality of the food, and everything else is secondary. The food has to be able to stand on its own without all the frills.

Overall, I found the desserts and the sparkling tea in one of the courses to be the most tasty ones, and that is never a good sign. A course we really liked wasn’t even made at Ox (the lava bread). Most of the “main” dishes weren’t memorable and started to taste the same (not sure if the same sauce was used more than once or the sauces started tasting the same as well). Most of the sauces overpowered the main ingredients, rather than complementing them. Frankly, a lot of the dishes were too salty. They also claimed to use Icelandic langoustine in one dish, but another guest (who was a local Icelandic fisherman) told us that it was a lie because there’s been a ban on fishing langoustine in Iceland due to serious decline in the supply. When he confronted staff, they admitted that it wasn’t Icelandic but continued to tell other guests that it was. Not cool.

In addition to coming short in the taste department, one thing that did really bother me is that when they were heating up sauces in full view of the guests, they took them out in cheap plastic tupperwares! The dishes they used to serve food for the guests were beautiful and commissioned by local artists and their attention to detail in everything else was immaculate, then this! It was almost too comical. Everything was so classy, artistic, and beautiful, then to see plastic tupperwares was very off putting and confusing.

My husband and I spent about $1,000 total. For one Michelin star (it definitely doesn’t deserve more than one), I think the price tag can only be justified if the food improves. I’d like to see more creativity in amplifying the wonderful ingredients and each course be more distinctly unique and different from one another. Everything else about the experience (minus the plastic tupperware)...

The best meal of my entire life. This meal is hands down a core memory for me. This Michelin star restaraunt has a speak easy vibe starting with the unassuming door off the street you have to buzz in to. You begin at Amma Don, a cozy bar and waiting area modeled after the grandma's cozy living room where you have drinks and the first four of your twenty course meal. You meet other guests, imbibe, and get to know one another before heading through a hidden door/bookcase into Ox for a chef's table style meal. It's hard to describe the food as anything other than mind blowing, creative, complex, and tasty. The entire experience, and it was an experience not just food, was incredible from start to finish. You feel like you're having a meal with close friends where everyone is laughing, having an amazing time, sharing stories, marveling in the food, and by the time it's over you don't want the night to end. While I've said a lot, the entire 3.5 hour dining honestly can't be put into words. We left with new friends, great memories, and food we can't stop thinking about. I loved that drinks were included in the price so you don't have to worry about choosing drinks that pair well with the food as they have chosen a variety of both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages that enhance and elevate the dishes served. Highly recommend this restaraunt for a true Icelandic tasting menu elevated beyond belief.

Of note, they are unable to accommodate dietary restrictions, vegetarian/Vegan, and the building is a historic building with stairs and I am not sure they have an elevator. While the dietary part might offend some, it's important to understand that this meal is twenty courses, intimate, the menu is preset, and part of the dining experience is talking with each other about the mutual food and flavors; therefore it would be very hard to cater to individual requests (imo). I honestly believe if multiple people had different items/flavors it would distract from the overall feeling, conversation, and vibe of the dinner. I don't find this to be non-inclusive, but rather this particular restaraunt is set up and presented in a way to make everyone eating feel part of a collective whole and making a shared memory together.

Lastly, if you have a degree of social anxiety do not worry, after the first thirty minutes and first few courses all of the nerves will ease away and you'll be excited to continue your food journey with new friends, I promise! The entire experience is set up to make you feel very comfortable and get to know each other in a laid back, non stuffy way and relax in a living room before heading to dinner. I was nervous about the set up and I shouldn't have been. It's really an amazing time and makes you feel like you're part...

Quite a secret, I must say.

First of all, there were only two Michelin-starred restaurants in Reykjavík, perhaps in whole of Iceland despite that it appears there seem to be a lot of amazing restaurants just in Reykjavík alone.

For my trip, I had the pleasure of making a reservation at ÓX Restaurant and the amount of excitement was building up for that dinner. However, I wasn't made aware that it would be a speakeasy style restaurant so hunting down for that elusive address was really getting on my nerve. I rang at a door in what seemed to be a private residential apartment entrance with a boring white facade so, as a reflex reaction I stepped back cautiously thinking I might disturb someone in his/her privacy. I had to ask the nearby building for directions pointing me to the same entrance I hurriedly tried to avoid. I rang again and remembering the code, "Amma Don", I was let in, still in frustration despite the fact that the chef himself actually picked me up from the entrance (of course, I didn't know him then) and still looking grumpy. But I am such a fan of speakeasies. I love the hunt and the suprise so when I saw the actual restaurant, it was so beautiful and chic and historically transporting.

I love that we started the amuse-bouche in a table with the other guests forcing us to mingle with each other (mind you, I was still throwing mentally my silent tantrums) so you cannot really comfortably escape into your own little quiet corner. And that was sneakily strategic.

My favourite of the amuse-bouche was the potato crisp as an opening, in the same breath as the chicken skin flake at the close with the desserts; both of which were orgasmic to the palate. And the rest just flowed smoothly and harmoniously giving full, bold flavours sourced locally. There was just so much character in all of that night's menu and we've had all been kept in the dark on what was to come. There was no menu to refer to until at the last part of the dinner service.

It was such an amazing night considering that we get to really know, perhaps haphazardly who we were dining with and we get the chance to have casual and easy conversations together by their in-house bar with their cute mixologist, injecting humour and occasional belly laughs that we get to meet again outside for more drinks and a spontaneous bar crawl to cap off the night. It was one of the most exciting dinners I've had so far, even...