Here is some of the street food and quick bites we ate in Iceland.
Reykjavik
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur – hot dog – Watch any show or read any guide on Reykjavik, and you will see this hot dog stand as a must do. It was our first stop after checking into our hotel. There was a line but it moved quickly. Basically, there are only two things on the menu. A hot dog and drink.
…and here it is…they ask you if you want everything, and I said “yes” so it comes with ketchup (which I usually do not put on my hot dogs), mayo, some brown sauce, and crunchy onions. The bun was good, the dog had a good snap and the flavor was ok. I would not go out of my way again to have this, but if I was passing by drunk at 2 in the morning I would not mind having it again.
Vaninn – Fish & Chips – After the hot dog we walked to a fish a chips place on the harbor.
You have to pay extra for sauce, and can choose between tartar, curry and a few others. By the way, food in Iceland IS expensive. Every guide will tell you that. The chips were good but under seasoned as was the sauce. The fish itself was very fresh and moist. The batter was different. It wasn’t the fluffy beer batter that most fish & chips have. Nevertheless, it was good, but I prefer a fluffier crispy batter.
Sandholt – Bakery/Breakfast Food – Very good croissant sandwich. Good for a quick breakfast.
Nailed It Fish & Chip – Glacier Lagoon – At the glacier lagoon, there are a number of food trucks and we tried two of them. The first was the fish and chips.
In contrast to the ones in Reykjavik, these ones did have the fluffy crispy batter. The fish was again, very fresh and moist. The problem with these was that apparently, people in Iceland do not eat fish and chips with tartar sauce so the truck did not have any. In fact, they did not have vinegar or any type of sauce but ketchup. According to the guy there, “people in Iceland don’t use tartar but a mix of ketchup and mayo; 99% of the people coming here don’t get it so I just don’t give any sauce”.
Heimahumar Langoustine – This was the second truck we tried at the glacier lagoon.
We had the lobster soup (bisque) which was delicious. Full of flavor and perfectly seasoned. Just like everywhere else in Iceland, it was expensive. The 8oz portion below was about $19. I have provided the menu with prices below. This is not a complaint, it is what it is, and I knew before coming to this country that food was expensive.
The second thing we had was the lobster roll. Now, you are probably looking at the photo below and thinking “thats not a lobster roll”! You would be right. Its not what I expected in the North American sense (but we ARE in Iceland). This one came with grilled lobster, veggies, fried onions, some sauce etc. It was good, but I prefer the lobster roll as we know it in North America. I believe that the “traditional” preparation is simpler and lets the lobster shine.
I would skip the lobster roll in the future and just have the bisque here. I am probably the least picky eater in the world, and usually, I love local preparations of food. However, in this case, I believe the simpler a lobster roll, the better.
Skyr Yogurt – If you love data like I do, you will see that the highest growth in sales for yogurt globally is Icelandic yogurt. It has surpassed even the Greek version. This is something I was intent on trying in Iceland. Usually, I like my yogurt plain with some fruit and maybe honey. However, I wanted to try all the different kinds here. The one pictured below is creme brulee. I also tried coconut and strawberry.
Overall the taste is not as strong as Greek yogurt and is slightly sweet. I did not try the plain version but all the flavored ones just had a hint of sweetness and flavor. Not overpowering, and tasting of high sugar, like a flavored yogurt in North America. I would probably make this my yogurt of choice over Greek.