Earlier, I shared some initial thoughts on our stay at the Reykjavik EDITION, which I enjoyed, for the most part. As I mentioned in passing in that post, we had an interesting experience in the restaurant, which I’d like to cover. I have to give the hotel and restaurant credit, because it’s the best service…
Continue reading: I’m Impressed: Our Very Expensive, Very Free Meal At The Reykjavik EDITION
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@ Vin -- Since breakfast was included and we had lunch and dinner plans, a lot of coffee and alcohol (adn there was still some left over).
@Ben, did you eat Hàkarl - fermented shark with a delightful ammonia smell and Svio - boiled sheep head. I’ve eaten surströmming in Sweden which is vile. I’ve never been to Iceland and would love to. I’ve only ever interacted with one Icelandic person, as far as I’m aware, and it was Björk while she was out and about with what was then her infant daughter.
You could have ordered a bottle or two of wine with your credits and kept them unopened. I'm sure you could have drank them at home or gifted to someone.
@ mangoMan -- Lol. If that were the case, you'd think they would've brought the food out in a timely manner, no? :p
@ FNT Delta Diamond -- We weren't checking bags, and given that a $12 (at retail) bottle of wine was listed on the menu for $130, it just didn't seem worth the effort.
Hah, maybe the fact that they can comp a meal like that (assuming your a random sample of their customers) is part of the reason, or a reflection of, that the prices are sky high.
Similar positive/negative experience at one of the Tokyo EDITION's restaurants.
Breakfast (just eggs) took 45 minutes to come out, and when they did it was swimming in sausage grease. I explicitly excluded the sausage as a pescatarian. They were apologetic and offered to remake it, but at this point I needed to leave for meetings and insisted I just pay for my coffee.
The next morning the restaurant manager provides a copy of the full menu with no prices and says to order whatever I'd like, and I returned that evening to a huge orchid in my room (they knew I like flowers)
My general review of that EDITION (you can guess which of the two) is that it's a factory, but they will absolutely go above and beyond when something goes wrong - especially if you treat the employees as humans
I looked at the menu. $90 for an 8oz tenderloin, wow. I wonder if it was expensive because it's a nice restaurant, if Iceland is just that expensive, or both.
"...and it’s recommended in the Michelin guide (not that I place that much value on it..."
I think this is actually one of the resources that you can put value on that is left.
Rather than manipulated Google reviews, where every hole has 4.4 stars.
Uhhh I dunno if that was over generous to comp the entire meal. 90 minutes from sit down -> main course served is absolutely crazy
The prices are the prices.
Iceland imports everything (other than lamb or seafood) via air or relatively small ships.
The transportation costs they need to eat are astronomical, and just about everything in the country is very expensive as a result.
I misread. 120 minutes including the time to eat the appetizers!! You could've sat down to have a late lunch and ended up having a midnight snack
I am still waiting for 1990's comment. It's always fun to hear from the budget traveler crowd, and I don't mean that negatively.
Some people just don't have that many resources and we shouldn't judge.
Iceland is that expensive.
Basically the only things they don't need to import are seafood and sheep.
For an island of 200,000 people, you're not getting any economies of scale in your transport. Your cargo is either going in on small ships (more expensive per tonne than a fully-loaded large ship), or belly-freight on the Icelandair 757s and 737s (break out the wallet and also start counterfeiting money).
"My general review of that EDITION (you can guess which of the two) is that it's a factory, but they will absolutely go above and beyond when something goes wrong - especially if you treat the employees as humans"
I've personally had the same experiences with Ritz-Carlton properties. I've stayed at a few frequently because to conferences, and while they are resort factories, I've always had above and beyond service from certain people at each property - especially if you treat them like humans.
Iceland is a lovely country.
I visited for a couple days back in 2004.
I was a backpacking college student on my way to Russia for a summer exchange program.
Icelandair was (by far) the cheapest option across the Atlantic. They always offer free stopovers on their tickets, and they were running a promo offering a free day rent-a-car with a stopover.
They also flew out of my home airport (BWI). Why wouldn't I take that, even if a little squeezed for funds?
I haven't been back (to Iceland or Russia) since, but Iceland is a lovely country, even as a poor college kid.
I'm assuming they offer a "Japanese breakfast".
Yeah, you're getting a lighter meal of fish and rice, but the flavor is often excellent, and the presentation is second-to-none.
Western breakfast is very hit-or-miss in Asia. Go for the local food any time of day in Japan or Korea (in China, it all sucks).
I love a good lasagna (of course not at $60 or so), but I can't imagine ordered it in Iceland. But, if seafood or lamb isn't isn't an option for a person, then . . .
Wow. $130 for a $12 bottle of wine? If my math is right, that's a 980% markup. I'm sure alcohol taxes are high in Iceland but even still ...
It actually is a lamb lasagna, and it also includes truffles. Not every lasagna has to be boring 🙂
As a European, I agree! Iceland is wonderful. I didn't find it to be all that budget-friendly, but I am glad our friends like 1990 might be able to afford it.
Would you go so far as to say it's the 'Europe-light' destination for people whose home finances may get harder tomorrow due to SNAP ending?
Yeah, it's kind of rich for Ben and Ford to disregard the Michelin Guide. I love them, but they have absolutely zero taste. Even for Americans. Even for Americans from Florida.
Michelin knows what they're talking about.
Uh, if you waited 45 minutes for appetizers and another 45 minutes after those were cleared, then any decent restaurant should be comping that meal.
I'm sure having a famous and well-followed travel blog had nothing to do with it. You may not tell people who you are, but they know.
10 years ago I was vacationing at the Hilton Lima Miraflores.
The shower water never got above barely warm that morning.
That afternoon I got a Hilton email asking about the stay.
I replied that with no hot water, I probably would not be eating at the restaurant.
Three days later after a side trip to Machu Picchu I returned to find an apology from the manager, a free meal for two at the restaurant, and a three room suite upgrade.
I actually think that as Michelin has expanded the number of their guides in recent years in a pretty blatant cash grab, they have become far less reliable and their ratings less consistent. Even beyond that, their "recommended" lists (as opposed to the stars) have always felt like a hodgepodge of hit-or-miss places that never made much sense.
While they are still better than Google or Yelp reviews, you would usually be better off crossreferencing a couple local restaurant review websites (especially for restaurants without stars and just with "recommended" status).
Service sounds like an all around disaster at this hotel, to be honest. A comped meal should be expected with those waits. I have gotten meals comped at random BBQ restaurants in the rural South for less wait time than that, lol.
$59 for small slice of lasagne. Were they wearing a balaclava because you were robbed blind.
Agreed. I've been to over 60 restaurants with Michelin stars (I treat it as a bit of a hobby) and of those I felt two didn't deserve the star at all and one 2* I thought was more a 1* (and it was downgraded to 1 not long afterwards). The rest I've been at least happy with and in some cases delighted - I'll take a 95%+ hit rate.
It can also be hard for Americans to understand Michelin standards. Michelin is, by nature and culture, European and decidedly French.
Americans value getting a meal done as fast as possible. Europeans don't. Americans want plastic cups with ice water - and lots of them - while Europeans prefer a good mineral water.
Americans typically prefer very sweet, single-minded wines, whereas the European taste is a lot more complex.
And finally, the big thing: Americans think big portions = good. Europeans don't.
All-in-all, it's understandable you don't get it. Even if you consider yourself well-traveled, you're still from a culture that values other things than what the Michelin guide values.
Clearly there was a disturbance in the kitchen!
(How has this not already been said?!)
So am I missing something... the 4 courses tasting menu is 96 gbp / 102 chf /110 euros per person incl. taxes and so services? How is that expensive? It's just that the USD is weak. Otherwise it seems fairly standard or even cheap for a decent restaurant in any large European city.... I mean it includes taxes and services.
Ben, it'd be interesting to see a post about how you choose or vet the restaurants you want to eat at
Wanted to point out that the "destination fee" credit could ONLY be used at the Tides Restaurant and that you have to use the whole STARS credit before the 'destination fee" credit was tapped into. Something that I found horribly annoying during my stay last March.
I haven't ever booked with STARS. Do they have that kind of dining credit promo often?