Icelandic Foodie Tour

For our last night in Iceland, we booked ourselves a Foodie Tour! Figured it would be a fun way to sample all the traditional Icelandic foods and say goodbye to our Iceland Vacation. The tour did not disappoint us – we had such a good time, despite the weather being so windy & cold I considered canceling to stay curled up in our hotel room with a good book and a cup of tea. Thankfully, Bryan convinced me to go – and also thankfully the wind died down after a bit.

Our guide for the evening was Ásthildur, a young local who was very energetic and fun. Her name translates to something like “Warrior of Love” so she goes by Love, since that’s easier for Americans to pronounce. She took us on a 3-hour tour of downtown Reykjavik, stopping at 5 different places for our meal that night.

First stop was the Forréttabarinn for their Lamb Appetizer. I don’t much like red meat (as most of you know) but I did try a small piece of the lamb at least, and then gave the rest of it to Bryan in exchange for his veggies. Both of us were quite happy with our apps!

Second stop was at the Sólon Islandus restaurant for some Arctic Char, some Hákarl (fermented shark) and a shot of Brennivín (a traditional Icelandic drink similar to vodka). Bryan and I were excited to try the Hákarl as we had heard a lot about it. We both found it to be rather okay – not horrible at all, which is what the other people on the tour thought of it. The Arctic Char was fabulous – Bryan is going to see if he can recreate the dish here at home even!

Third stop was at the Hannesarholt, a restaurant located in the historic home of the late Hannes Hafstein, Iceland’s first prime minister. They served us Plokkfiskur (a dish made with arctic char mixed in with mashed potatoes with chives and butter) and rye bread (more of a sweet brown cake).

Forth stop was the Bæjarins bestu pylsur, or the town’s best hot dog stand. Pylsa með öllu (One with everything) is apparently a MUST for every person visiting Iceland – but I have to admit that I just don’t care for hot dogs, even when I’m in Iceland. I took a couple bites of mine and then handed it off to Bryan – who not only ate his & mine but had gone earlier to get one when we first got to our hotel (we didn’t know we’d be getting one on the tour, and he wanted to be sure to try them) – so he ended up eating THREE of them!

Fifth and final stop for the evening was at the HótelBorg for a piece of their Hjónabandssæla (happy marriage cake), rather like a Rhubarb Crisp only a lot less sugary than what I’m used to. It is thought that if a wife makes this cake well enough, she will have a happy marriage.