JDiver

Kaffí Loki is a good place to enjoy informally served Icelandic food. The adventurous can try items like

lundi (Puffin - the entire diet is small fish rich in oils - fishy, oily)

kæstur hákarl - Greenland shark, which can easily live to 300-500 years, has such high concentrations of urea and trimethylamine oxide in the toxic flesh it must be cut up, hung and aged for several months to become edible. It still smells like a powerful household cleaner. Hakarl’s generally consumed in appetizer sized portions and washed down with caraway-flavored Brennivin (a type of distilled potato aquavit flavored with caraway; you’ll frequently see called svarti dauði (“Black Death”). I do like Brennivin as an aperitif, and it’s quite gentle and delicately flavored. (I always bring some home.)

Minke whale. Usually consumed as steak from the grill.

(The above have been consumed for generations, dating back to the days the Norsemen settled here. My own preference is even though I have Norse blood in my veins, I don’t partake of any of these three.)

Tamer Icelandic specialties like kjötsupá (lamb meat soup) and plokkfiskur (haddock, potatoes, white sauce and onion), rye ice cream, etc. are available too. Icelandic lamb is among the best, and the Icelanders certainly know how to make the most of any fish. Langoustine and seafood soups are typical as well. Loki is a centrally located tourist place frequented by Icelanders craving reasonably priced local food. I’ll be noshing there again in a few days.

skyr, is a delicious yoghurt-like preparation made from skimmed milk. It tastes sinfully rich, but in fact it’s high in protein and low in fat. It’s often flavored (and sweetened) with fruits such as blueberry or strawberry. Easy to find in shops, often as dessert in restaurants.

For other local food, see the article by ViaHero here.

Also, most restaurants seem to offer vegetarian fare, and a few offer vegan fare.

Icelandic breads are often home-made or artisan, and delicious. Often rye flatbraud or flatkökur will be served topped with smoked lamb, salmon or trout.

ástarpungar (love balls, deep-fried, spiced balls of dough often served for dessert)

pönnukökur (thin sweet pancakes / crepes, usually cinnamon flavoured)

kleinur (twisted doughnuts, are sweet and chewy treat

pastries are plentiful - blame the Danes and their occupation

Vegetables and fruits.

Root vegetables are very typical and local, others are grown in hothouses and greenhouses, and many are imported. Bananas definitely do not grow in Greenland, and you’ll find fruits can be expensive. Rhubarb is common, and deliciously tart.

Some seafood you might encounter served in many ways, including fiskisúpa (fish soup, usually rich and flavorful).

bleikja (Arctic char - like fresh water king salmon, delicious)

þorskur (cod - white, mild and prepared many ways including fish and chips, Icelandic cod is a major export to North America)

harðfiskur (dried haddock, torn into strips when brittle, popular snack eaten with butter)

hörpudiskur (scallops)

humar or leturhumar is often called lobster, but it’s actually their smaller cousin the langoustine - definitely not lobster.

kæstur hákarl (Greenland shark, fermented to render it edible; see above)

kræklingur (blue mussels)

lúða (halibut, a delicate and flaky white fish from a large flatfish)

oskarkoli (plaice, a small flatfish)

rækja (shrimp)

sandhverfa (turbot, another flatfish)

síld (herring, can be fresh or preserved in oils, sauces)

silungur (fresh water trout, fresh in summer and smoked year round)

skata (skate - skate wings taste rather like scallops)

skötuselur (monkfish, eely fish with mild white flavor)

steinbítur (catfish)

villtur lax (wild salmon); eldislax is farmed salmon

ýsa (haddock, one of the true cod family)

If it’s supposed to be fresh and it smells fishy, it’s not.


Meat is consumed in Iceland, but fish rule.

hreindýr (caribou, reindeer) is more common in the east in summer, somewhat gamey

hrossakjöt (horse meat) is still popular, considered a delicacy and usually expensive.

lamb (uh, huh, lamb) is delicious, hay fed during winter and pasture (grasses and herbs) at other times. Lamb soup, kjötsupá, is more like a goulash, is hearty, filling and delicious - and often economical.

minkehvalur (Minke whale) is beefy and usually consumed as grilled steaks.

nautakjöt (beef) is scarce and pricy, grass fed if local, but hanburgers are popular.

svínakjöt (pork)

pýlsur (hot dogs) are popular and you’re apt to find queues at Reykjavik’s pýlsur stands.


Birds have always been part of the Icelandic diet.

heiðagæs (pink-footed goose, often served roasted in autumn.

lundi (puffin) has typically been smoked or broiled in lumps, and as it eats fish exclusively has a fishy, oily flavor. Not as common as puffin colonies are diminishing.

rokkhlíf (rock ptarmigan), a land bird about the size of a pigeon, is a Christmas delicacy

svartfugln (often called “blackbird” in English is actually guillemot)


Drinking: skyr and Brennivín are mentioned above.

Alcohol was banned in Iceland for years, but today one must be 20 years old to imbibe legally. Alcohol is expensive in Iceland. Alcohol is only available from licensed bars, restaurants and the government-run Vínbúðin liquor stores (www.vinbudin.is).

Wines are imported, mostly from the European continent.

Beers fall into several categories: 2.2% plonk sold in petrol station shops; local mass produced beer like Egils, Gull, Thule and Viking lagers or Pilsners; imported mass produced beers; locally produced artisan brews well worth trying.

All alcohol can be expensive, but many places have early evening “happy hours” that bring prices down a bit. If you want to exploit happy hour, download the Reykjavík Appy Hour app to your mobile.