The Best Meal I've Ever Had

I know what you're thinking. It's a bold statement. Audacious. Judgmental. Final. It's all true. I can easily tell you that I remember the best meal I've ever had. Will it be the favorite of my life? Perhaps. Knowing all this, I feel like I have to share it with you. You can't share the flavors or the experience, but hopefully my sharing it with you  will help it live on in my memory for just that much longer.


For years I had wanted to go to Iceland. There was something, not so much mysterious, but unknown, about a land so close to us. The more I read about the beauty and the culture, the more I wanted to go.  I had heard about the $12 glasses of beer, the $400/day car rentals, the terrible exchange rate. The 2008 collapse of the Icelandic economy, though not so good for its citizens, was the only circumstance under which I could have ever afforded to go. In the summer of 2009, with the help of two of my best friends, I finally got to experience the land of fire and ice. I'd love to go into great detail about all the beauty we saw there but I must focus! This is a food blog, and I'm going to share with you a most wonderful meal we had in a hotel restaurant. I think it was a Hilton; I know that the creativity, the craftsmanship, and the flavors made it the best meal I've ever had. 


Vox, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 2009


Amuse Bouche--smoked haddock, fennel puree, and 2 little drops of black bean sauce ( I forgot to take a picture of it)

The bread was served with a delicious honey lemon butter.

Langoustine with buttered milk, crisps, and Swedish tomatoes in various versions. There was a fresh cherry tomato, a tomato puree under the whole dish. What's a Langoustine? Well, it sort of looks like a giant shrimp but it tastes like a mild lobster. I would love to eat them again. 

Slowly cooked suckling pig served with apples and celery root, wild chervil (wild parsley), and glaze.
There was also a celery gelee/mousse on this plate--I traded with a tablemate for more of the apple puree. If I remember correctly, at least one of these pieces of baby pig was poached in milk. Did I feel guilty about eating a baby pig? I did. I felt so guilty that I had to eat the entire plate so that the baby pig wasn't killed for naught.

Arctic Charr from Kirkjubæjarklaustur fried on a shell of bread and served with cauliflower purée, broccoli, almonds, and herbs.
There was also arctic char slow-cooked. I have to say that this was my least-favorite dish even though it was very good. That dark, dry, fried thing taking up most of the plate? ehh. The sauce underneath was delicious and the fried char was yummy. The slow-cooked char was a little too raw-fish for me.  

Pre-dessert--raspberry mousse with frozen almond sprinkles, nuts, and a fresh raspberry.The frozen sprinkles were bright and crunchy; the mousse was sweet and light and fresh and amazing. 

Red and green, fresh, frosty and crispy with cream cheese and tarragon

Fresh strawberries, green strawberry ice cream, strawberry mousse, and sweetened cream cheese, with dehydrated strawberries, strawberry crisp, and strawberry gelee. The best non-chocolate dessert EVER. Normally I do not like non-desserty things like tarragon in my dessert. I have to say, though, that this is one of the best desserts I've ever had in my life. Honestly? I still think about the green strawberry ice cream on this plate. Every element on this plate (except the cream cheese ice cream) tasted like a different fresh strawberry. Oh, how I miss this plate...