Whales and puffins and sharks oh my!

So this post is for the foodies out there.  For some reason I was expecting the food in Iceland to be pretty average.  Probably all the talk of Icelandic specialities like whale, puffin and fermented shark.

But happy to report I was misinformed.  From the hotdog stand, to drunken waffles, to the top restaurants in Reykjavik it was all great.  (Just to clarify, yes it was me that was drunk – not the waffles.)

So did I eat the whale and the fermented shark you ask.  Whale – yes.  Shark – no.  I think the worst thing about eating whale was the guilt because it actually was quite tasty.  Icelanders say that eating whale is not an issue here as there are so many of them - Minke's aren't endangered or anything.  But when you say that part of the issue is that they are too big to kill humanely they kind of just stare at you blankly.  But when in Rome... so I gave it a go and it was good.  It's a red meat and not fatty at all like imagined.  I also tried some horse, again really good and the puffin - not a big fan, it was kind of like duck I guess.  It's a bird but it's not a white meat.

Nasr found us some nice restaurants and although a bit more expensive than at home they were really nice were lovely - good atmosphere, lovely decor and fantastic food.  They all served yummy homemade breads with Icelandic butter which is so light it’s almost still cream and lava salt.

 

So Nasr, Ali & I went out to one of these restaurants after an afternoon in the pools.  Ali and I went for a swim and hung out in the hot tubs.  Nasr went for a massage relaxing massage but all that restfulness and post-massage calm disappeared after about 10 minutes in a restaurant with Ali.  I'm guessing Ali doesn't eat out much.  After asking Nasr a hundred questions about the menu and being overly-concerned about the lack of shrimp on the menu, he then asked the waitress a hundred questions about the lack of shrimp and finally order a bowl of chips.  The waitress took our order, turned to another table, then Ali was tapping her on the shoulder - when were his chips coming?  Nasr lost his shit at him - gee I laughed.

 

Another thing the Icelanders are a fan of is dried fish.  If you ask me it smells and tastes like cat food - but I liked it and went through a few bags. 

And the hotdogs.  They love the hotdog stand.  They are cheap and they have mustard and tomato sauce and fried onions. Yummo.  Think I went back about four times!  And the last time I went back I was a bit peckish so got two!