Eating

Holidays by Destination Europe Iceland Eating 

The clean environment makes the local food some of the healthiest in Europe, and the seafood in particular is excellent, along with salmon, trout and char. The salmon comes smoked or gravid, marinated with herbs. Most is plain cooked. Specialities are unlikely to appeal to children relying as they do on smoking, salting and pickling of various kinds. Options include rotted shark and less worryingly smoked lamb and wind dried haddock or cod - often eaten as a snack, sometimes with butter spread on.

Vegetables are available, though not widespread, but local cheese and dairy produce is decent and you could look out for skyr, which is a kind of low fat yoghurt, similar to German Quark, sometimes served with berries or fruit. Mysa (whey) is a by-product, traditionally used as a thirst-quenching drink and in cooking. Pancakes are traditional for Christmas, and there is a good local rye bread.

Smorgasbords are a good option but nowadays expect to find also relatively international fare including burgers, pizzas (or ‘pizzur') and sandwiches and Icelandic hot-dogs, available from stalls all over the place, are also very popular. However, hamburgers and other fast food will come dripping with "kokteil" sauce (gloopy ketchup/mayonnaise) unless you tell the staff otherwise.

There are also some ethnic restaurants including Thai, Chinese, Italian, French and Mexican. In keeping with the levels of car ownership, petrol stations often serve food as well, as do bars. And if you want something familiar the country runs to KFC, MacDonalds, Subway, and Dominos.

The main problem is price. Outside Reykjavik in particular look for set menus such as soup and fish pie for around £6. In the city if you don't want to spend much, look for a caf?.

Water, including from the tap, is spring water and is excellent. Let the tap run a little first to ensure there is no faintly sulphurous hot water mixed in. More details at Orkuveita and Spacity . It's just as well as soft drinks can be startlingly pricey.

If organising your own lunches (to save on expenses) a pocket knife and a couple of thermoses might be helpful, and it can be useful to bring portable snacks like nuts and dried fruit.