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The scenery wasn’t the only thing that was nice in Iceland, the food proved to be something to write home about. I don’t have a bad word to say about any of the places we stopped at on our gallivant around the city of Reykjavik and the southeastern part of the country. And without further ado…
I am trying to grow a green thumb (if that is possible), so when I was able to go to a greenhouse-esque restaurant, I jumped on the opportunity. We had a short wait until our table was ready so we grabbed a beer at the bar to pass the time. The bar menu was vast and the bartenders were much more talented than most back in the States (I’m dogging on myself here too, as I was a bartender back in my college days). I opted for seafood for our first “official” meal in Iceland, and was not disappointed. Great ambiance, it’s all about the experience people!
Baked Salmon – basil sauce, sautéed spinach and asparagus ($39)
Duck Breast – mashed potatoes and orange sauce ($44)
I am custom to some very fresh, home grown, beef as I grew up on a farm and have rarely eaten store bought meat (we currently have half a cow in the freezer), so I was skeptical when our Airbnb host said that this was “the best burger in town,” it had a lot to measure up to. But to my surprise, this burger and fry joint was quite tasty.
Cheeseburger, French Fries, Coke (roughly $15)
3. Fridheimar
This place. As mentioned before, I’m all about all of these greenhouse restaurants that I got to visit. During the wait for our lunch, we were able to gaze around this GIANT greenhouse that supplies 80% of the country with its tomatoes. I believe every single dish on its menu has tomato in it, even the cheesecake has a tomato jam atop, which was very good I might add (they have samplings of the jams and Bloody Mary mixes in the gift shop). The soup was set up as an “All You Can Eat” style along with fresh baked bread. The garnishes served with the soup were unique, but delicious – cucumber salsa, sour cream, and fresh basil at the table. Make sure to try to Happy Mary, a green tomato based, alcohol concoction. Not enough good things to say about this place – one of my favorites on the trip.
Tomato Soup (roughly $20)
Fresh pasta – Ravioli with home made pasta sauce and pesto (roughly $20)
4. Sudur Vik
After a long day of road tripping and hiking, this was the perfect stop on the road for an early supper. This restaurant sits atop a hill overlooking the black sand beach of Vik, the quaintest, cutest little town. I would fly back over to Iceland solely to visit this restaurant and town again. The food was so, so fresh and I wish I could have brought a suitcase full back with me to the States. The soup was TO DIE FOR, if you go anywhere in Iceland, go here.
Seafood Soup with Homemade Bread ($23)
12″ Pepperoni Pizza ($17)
No pictures from this restaurant, but this is the beautiful beach that was half a mile away.
5. Tapas Barinn
In true tourist nature, I felt obligated to try some “Icelandic” food while on the trip. What seemed most fitting was a tapas style restaurant (small servings of an assortment of foods), in order to try all of what the country had to offer in one sitting. I’m not going to lie to you, I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the native cuisine, but I can now proudly say that I have tried whale along with some other Iceland staples. Additionally, the server was very accommodating and gave us a round of drinks on the house since our dessert took so long to get to the table.
Icelandic Gourmet Feast – Shot of Icelandic Brennivin, Smoked Puffin, Sea Trout, Lobster Tails, Blue Ling, Grilled Lamb, Minke Whale, White Chocolate Mousse ($71)
xoxo
Kels