Salt Cafe & Bistro

My husband and I discovered the wonderful Salt Cafe & Bistro practically next door to our hotel, so we headed there for dinner; it turned out to be one of the better meals we've had in Iceland so far.

We started with a salmon appetizer, which came with
both smoked and marinated salmon, crusty bread, and
a garlicky yogurt sauce.

I ordered the Arabic Health flatbread, which included
marinated lamb, roasted almonds, sesame seeds, and
yogurt sauce.

My husband ordered the calzone, which came with
ham, blue cheese, and mushrooms.

I'm not sure what sort of dessert this was, but it was
chocolatey and good.

This was the inside of the dessert: It was a bit similar to
gingerbread, and had jam in it, as well as something
resembling white frosting.

Skriðuklaustur

My husband and I headed to Skriðuklaustur in the late morning today, and after we'd seen the very interesting archaeological exhibits, we stopped off in the attached cafe for lunch, where a very good buffet was being served.

The buffet included (clockwise from left): quiche,
lamb stew, reindeer pie, bread, and a fish casserole.

There were also chocolate cake and little Icelandic donuts.

Krua Siam

Tonight was our last night in Akureyri, but we stayed close to our hotel, heading to Krua Siam, a Thai restaurant, which turned out to be a good choice; we were ready for something a bit different.

appetizer: deep fried shrimp

appetizer: spring rolls

entree: panang curry with lamb

Strikið

My husband had discovered Strikið, a restaurant in Akureyri that sits on the fifth floor of a building (and therefore given to nice views of the locale), so we headed there for dinner after Mass tonight.

appetizer: Langoustine on garlic bread 

appetizer: salmon tartare

my entree: Icelandic hamburger (beef, goose, and
reindeer), and Icelandic cheddar. Came with blueberry jam
on the bottom.

husband's entree: the Atlantic char

dessert: Skyr cake

íslenska Hamborgarafabrikkan

After the last two rather disappointing meals, my husband and I stopped by íslenska Hamborgarafabrikkan - the Icelandic Hamburger Factory. I have to say, these were the best burgers I've had in Europe so far (having had subpar burgers in Ireland, Estonia, and Finland).

My husband had the No. 2 Lamburger, which he said was very good, but I had the No. 8 Morthens Burger, which came with bacon, garlic grilled mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Bearnaise, and French fries. I was quite pleased (and thankful that my burger didn't come with any weird Thousand Islandesque sauce on it).

Bautinn

In our first night in Akureyri, my husband and I explored an area not too far away from our hotel, with the idea that we'd see what restaurants were nearby, and choose one that looked good. We only encountered three restaurants during our short walk (it had started to rain): a burger joint that we agreed we'd try another time, a small Indian takeout place, and Bautinn, which was the first place we'd come across and which another American said was good, and had a good salad bar.

I ordered the Mexican chicken soup, which tasted like
very warm salsa with chicken in it. It came with some
good tortilla chips, and creme fraiche, which I thought
an odd thing to have with alleged Mexican soup.

I also ordered a baguette that was served with Bearnaise
sauce and mushrooms. This wasn't too bad, although a bit
greasy.

My husband ordered one of the specials, which consisted of
guillemot, a seabird, and came with a potato, gravy, and some
manner of jelly.

Icelandic Fish & Chips

After our foray into the Blue Lagoon earlier today, my husband and I drove north to Reykjavik, where we're staying overnight. We scoured our guidebooks and travel guides for dinner suggestions; although we're coming back to Reykjavik in about a week and a half (and will be staying for several days at the end of our trip),  we didn't want to go out at a fancy restaurant (we don't have the clothing for it); we didn't want a burger joint or American (we can get that at home anytime), nor did we want Italian, Indian, or other "ethnic" food. We're in Iceland, darnit - we want Icelandic food!

As such, we eventually decided on Icelandic Fish & Chips for dinner. It wasn't great, although it had initially promised to be: One of my pieces of fish wasn't quite cooked all the way through, and my potatoes were dripping in oil. Our order had also been misplaced, and we wound up waiting nearly 45 minutes for our meal. (And the price of the bread basket we ordered had to be refunded because they'd run out.)

wolf fish with garlic potatoes