Jul 1

Jul 1 Three Weeks in Europe - Iceland through food

One of our favorite things about traveling is getting to try local cuisine! Since we were only in Iceland for a day and a half, we didn't get to try too many different things, but what we did eat was delicious!

While wandering down the main shopping street in Reykjavik, Laugavegur, we stumbled across the Public House Gastropub, where they had sort of an Asian-Iceland fusion menu. This menu included many things you wouldn't necessarily see in America (like local seafood), but nothing was too crazy looking. Also, the names of several dishes were either punny or pop-culture references! We very much enjoyed it here, even down to the beautifully assembled wooden tables!

I also needed a caffeine boost, so I went to Kaffe & Te, which seems to be a little chain in that area.

For dinner in Reykjavik, we relied on Anthony Bourdain's expertise (always a solid choice), and went to Prir Frakkar, which translates to "Three Frenchmen" or "Three Overcoats" (because I guess a Frenchman is a type of overcoat...?). In the Iceland episode of "No Reservations", he went to this restaurant, and in the past he's steered us right, so we thought we'd give it a go. This was definitely a bit pricey, but we enjoyed the authentic Icelandic seafood dishes, and would definitely recommend it to anyone going through the city.

Both restaurants we went to in Reykjavik had the same brand of local beer, Einstök, so we had that, as well 🍻

Also, we got to experience an Icelandic continental breakfast at our hotel, where they had meats, cheeses, crackers, cereal, veggies (cucumbers and bell peppers for breakfast? ok), fruit, and... caviar in a tube. Odd, but at least it gave us a literal taste of what's normal on this island.

The next day in Keflavik, we had a hard time finding something open that was an actual restaurant, and not a convenience store, but we eventually stumbled upon a Thai buffet, where we stuffed our faces, since we were about to leave for the airport and didn't really know how soon dinner would be. This meal was very satisfying, and, while not local cuisine, all of the ingredients were fresh and local, because they don't import food products to the island (at least according to a nice woman we met and chatted with).

In the airport, we decided to try Brennivin, the local liquor of choice, which was also recommended by Anthony Bourdain. It's kind of like Schnapps, flavored with caraway. Pretty easy to drink, but they call it the "Black Death". I also found Kinder Eggs at the duty free shop in the airport, which was super fun!

On our way home from our big adventure, we had another (smaller) layover in Iceland, where we just ate at the airport. That restaurant was called Nord, and they had delicious pizzas! I got lobster on mine, while Nathaniel got chorizo and truffle. 😋 I also got a coffee at Joe & The Juice where they had a funny tip jar, which I think was poking fun at Americans...

While I know this is not a lot to go off of since we had such a short stay, I can say that we enjoyed the food at each place we stopped, but the restaurants in Reykjavik were our favorites.

And now I'm hungry 😉