Koks award winning with fish, seafood and lamb made by old methods
TORSHAVN, The Faroe Islands: The reputation of fish and shellfish from the cold sea are well known and so are the sheep walking the mountains. Add wild herbs, seaweeds, lichen and beer and rhubarb, you imagine some of the food served on plates made of driftwood. This is new Nordic cuisine – and absolutely food of Faroe Islands.
Koks is an award winning and top ranked restaurant. From the beginning, housed in Hotel Føroyar in the height above capital Torshavn. And Koks won The Nordic Prize for best restaurant in the Nordic countries. After my visit, Koks moved location. First to Kirkjubørur, and now reopen in an even more remote location, near Lake Leynar, half an hour northwest of Torshavn.
First Michelin Star
“The greatest honour we have received and few restaurants can boast of such wonderful view of the ocean and the surrounding islands”, head chef Poul Andrias Ziska said after the islands first Michelin star.
The head chef masters the artistry. Taste and the smell come forward directly from the Faroese landscape. Ziska´s exquisite dishes is local, honestly Faroese and always with an eye on sustainability. And he explores the old practices – drying, fermenting, salting and smoking.
Old, modern and seasonable
My food. Chef Ziska has commitment to local products. The style is a combination of old and modern, definitely seasonable with history of making age-old food delightful to modern taste. The menu includes Crab and capelin, air-dried mutton (skerpi), lamb and seaweed and beer and rhubarb, just to name a few of the ten courses menu. All the food is harvested, caught, shot or cultivated on or around the Faroe Islands and if it’s not smoked, it’s fermented. The simple and pure, what is fresh and traditional characterises my food. All the wines were wonderful chosen.
Not poor man´s food
Service. The smell of smoked spruce next to the fried lobster, in combination with a smiling waiter and view of Torshavn by midnight, was the gastronomic highlight. That view hapened when Koks still was at Hotel Føroyar. Anyway, the waiter was a perfect storyteller and made me feel exactly where I wanted to be.
The bill. For a meal you need to sit down for 2-3 hours and relax. Cost of a ten-course menu was about 145 Euro, wine not included. Lately the prize has increased to 220 dollar a person, wine not included. I can assure you my meal was worth every Euro as this was a lifetime food experience. But a dinner at Koks is hardly poor man´s food, if you manage to find their new location.
Key information Koks
Address: Frammi við Gjónna, Leynavatn
Faroe Islands. Email: koks@koks.fo
In Faroese, koks means a flirt.
Read more about The Faroe Islands: Green and impressive, rough scenery, vibrant culture, nice people, sheep all over and lots of fish in the sea.
