There is just nothing quite like traveling around the world and eating. The best part is....you get to do it three times every day! So we've learned to budget accordingly and eat very well on our trips. The chance to try different foods and experience different culinary traditions is a unique part of traveling. I'm sure that seems pretty obvious to everyone who reads our blogs. This is our chance to relax and socialize with the locals and learn interesting things while visiting.....all while eating great food and, of course, drinking!
Today we planned to go on the Reykjavik Food Tour. I know, I know, I know.....more food? Haven't we already eaten enough this week to feed a small village in Africa? This is a 3.5 hour walking tour through the city to sample some of the finest restaurants and gourmet stores around town.
Let us start at Smurstöðin which is an exciting, newly opened restaurant on the ground floor of the Harpa Concert Hall. Smurstöðin only uses Icelandic grown and harvested ingredients which are the cream of crop at any given time. Open faced sandwiches (on paleo bread) in the style of the New Nordic Cuisine Movement are the main fare at Smurstöðin. These things kinda reminded us of sushi. Paleo bread is made using eggs, oil, seeds, almonds, peanuts, and apricots. Sounds too healthy to eat it.....but it tasted great with the toppings (salmon, fish, roast beef, and turkey).
I've never had steamed mussels before....and this fancy restaurant (Snaps) served us up quite a dish full of them! Our guide said the soupy sauce under the mussel shells added an unbelievable flavor to the taste of these things. I didn't even know how to EAT a mussel....and needed a lesson in opening the shell, breaking apart the meat from the shell, and then scooping the sauce and slurping it all down in one big gulp! No utensil necessary! All the shells had quite a big piece of meat inside....and the sauce was (i agree!) fabulous! We were also served a big bowl of some of the best french fries I've ever had. What's next?
Yup! It's time to eat some horse! We've been hearing about horse steaks all week....and everyone said how tender the horse meat is when comparing it to beef. This stop at the Ostabudin Delicatessen offered us samples of three premium cheeses....and three cuts of meat. The cheeses included a Bonda Brie, Jola Yrja (blue), and Isbui (gouda). Also, we sampled a slice of cheese that smelled (and tasted) a bit like the fermented shark. Once again......YUCK! The three meats included cured horse fillet, cured sheep fillet, and hot smoked goose breast with raspberry vinaigrette. The horse fillet was hands-down our favorite!
On to one of the finest restaurants we've ever been at....the Apotek Kitchen & Bar. Anytime I walk into a fancy restaurant like this I usually turn around and walk right back out. I don't even have to look at the menu, I can just tell by listening to the ambient music in the background that it's too fancy for me! I also hate eating around people with manners fit for the Queen. But, hey....we're gonna sit down here today and try to behave ourselves with this fine dining food tour while eating some mouth-watering free-range lamb (medium rare) and macarons for dessert (black licorice, green pistachio, and orange passion fruit). These macrons are small French cookies that are sandwiched together with a moist, chewy filling.
Are we done yet? It's been over three hours of pure enjoyment all over Reykjavik and our tour guide (Helga) says we have one stop left. It seems they saved the best for last!
Ending the food tour at the Skuli Craft Bar was a great way to wash down all that food we just ate. Each of us had the chance to sample four of the microbrews on tap (lager, pilsner, pale ale, and ipa).
Any chance you get to participate on a local food tour while traveling is well-worth it in our opinion. We never would have eaten at any of these fine restaurants on our own....nor ordered many of these fancy gourmet plates we enjoyed.
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