Icelandic Adventures: Eating Reykjavik

This weekend I flew to the capital of Iceland with my friend Siu Yen in an attempt to chase the Northern Lights. To cut a long story short, we did technically see them- but we didn't know what we were looking at at the time because they were in the grey spectrum. In other words, they looked like weird flat, thin streaks of cloud. Next year I'll explore another Nordic country in the hopes of catching the Aurora in colour!

I had an amazing time even so, seeing the Strokkur geyser, Gullfoss the golden waterfall, Thingvellir national park in a blanket of fresh sparkling snow and more. Plus I had an awesome girly trip away with my good friend, complete with cocktails and food.

Which brings me to my Icelandic food blog post.

We only stayed for three nights, but we pretty much packed all of Iceland's specialities in to the short trip (apart from Hákarl and Brennivin..!) Fish, lamb, hearty soup, and skyr (technically a cheese but a lot like yogurt) featured.

I highly recommend all of the following!

What: Slow cooked whole lamb shank with root vegetables, followed by blueberry skyr dessert
Where: The Laundromat Cafe, Laugavegur (the main shopping street)

On a side note, I was impressed at how family-friendly the city was in general.

What: Loki Tea (with Icelandic moss), Icelandic Platter III (with herring, egg, rye bread and sweet rye ice cream) and skyr cake
Where: Cafe Loki, Lokastígur (near Hallgrímskirkja church)

What: Mushroom soup served in a bowl of crusty bread
Where: Svarta Kaffi, Laugavegur

(Alas, the picture of the front of the cafe accidentally got deleted).

Featuring my travel bunny Smidgen (I've had him since birth)

What: Rye flatbread with smoked lamb and 11-layer kanil (cinnamon) cake
Where: Around Iceland (that's the name of the store!), Laugavegur

(The picture of the store front befell the same fate).

What: Famous lamb hotdogs (as enjoyed by the likes of Bill Clinton), ordered 'eina með öllu' (one with everything)
Where: Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, Tryggvagata

This place is so popular, there's always a queue.

Bonus: Bubble Tea in Iceland

Look at what I found! This place is on Laugavegur, but never seemed to be open when we wanted it to be open. Still, it seems popular with the locals, and it's nice to know that one of my foodie addictions can be found almost literally all over the world, nowadays.