Loki is a charming not-so-little restaurant on the hill in Reykjavík
It’s not just cod and salmon in Iceland. Nor are the food fishes particularly photogenic.
What does one eat in Iceland? I’ve good news for you. Nearly all menus in Icelandic eateries are in English as well as the Icelandic tongue, a version of old Norse. You can see what you’re getting.
Lamb is a particular favourite, which figures. You can get two crops of lambs and a crop of wool every year, which pleases farmers. Smoked lamb is one of Iceland’s national dishes. And Icelandic knitted sweaters are magnificent. Beef is more expensive because raising cows is dicier. The growing season is short, but they are compensating with imports and greenhouses, so you can enjoy fresh vegetables now.
I tried to have the traditional Icelandic stew wherever I went at mealtime. Each offering was labeled as the authentic Icelandic stew, the real McCoy. No two stews were alike.
The name for deep-fried doughnut-like cakes is Love Testicles, which tends to give one pause. But they are not what they are billed as; go ahead and eat your fill. The best ones are deep-fried in sheep fat, which gives them a special flavour that you’ll love or hate.
Lamb liver sausage is accepted nation-wide as an aphrodisiac. You’re on your own with this one.
But the biggie here is fish. Fish are universal. If you like fish, book an extra couple weeks here in order to sample the vast variety. In a restaurant near the hotel, the various sorts of fishes are pictured in square plaques up on the wall, twenty-six of them, from albacore through shark to wolf eel. Dried fish is a staple left over from the Norse days, but fresh and frozen are everywhere as well, and the dishes are prepared many ways.
Iceland is a piscavore paradise. Enjoy.