Dinner in Selfoss

Tryggvaskali

When my husband was traveling in Iceland in the summer and told his landlord that he and his friend had come to Stokkseyri specifically to eat in the restaurant "Fjöruborðið", the landlord recommended that he definitely go to the "Tryggvaskáli" to eat. to go to Selfoss. And we did that together when we were in the corner during the fall break in October.

The Tryggvaskáli owes its existence and its name to the Icelander Tryggvi Gunnarsson, who was born on October 18, 1835 in Laufás in northern Iceland. Tryggvi was a carpenter, later also a member of parliament in Alþing and director of the Landesbank. He died on October 21, 1917 at the ripe old age of 82.

It is thanks, among other things, to his commitment that the first suspension bridge was built here at Selfoss in 1891 across the Ölfusá River, the most water-rich river in Iceland. The construction of the bridge meant an enormous economic boom for the town, which had previously only consisted of farms. Today Selfoss is the largest city in southern Iceland with over 7,000 inhabitants.

As part of the bridge construction, the enterprising Tryggvi also had the oldest house in the city built next to the river in Selfoss, as a restaurant and guest house - the Tryggvaskáli, i.e. "Tryggvi's Hut".

Today Tryggvaskáli is an upscale restaurant with a unique ambience. Regional products are used here and the mix of traditional and modern elements gives the food its very special touch.

The restaurant is usually open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The old house has a very pleasant, warm atmosphere, and the different rooms and rooms make it feel very cozy.

When my husband and I ate at Tryggvaskáli, we both opted for the 3-course menu that was offered for dinner - if it was lavish, then really lavish!

As an appetizer, very tasty bread was served with a delicious, soft salted garlic butter, so incredibly creamy... fantastic!

As a starter there was humarsúpa, i.e. langoustine soup. On our plates that were served, the langoustine with tomato and braised Jerusalem artichoke were arranged, then the waiter at the table poured the humarsúpa from a jug over the "solid ingredients". It tastes extremely delicious, intense and spicy.

For the main course you could choose between salmon and lamb.

The beautifully grilled salmon was served with pearl barley, broccoli, very tasty, slightly melted Icelandic blue cheese (" Ljótur "), warm blueberries and caramelized butter.

For the meat dish, the lamb was prepared in two ways: once as a slowly braised rack of lamb, still really nice with a good rind of bacon on it, and then as a lamb rillette, cooked so wonderfully juicy and soft that I have long-buried memories of the goulash my grandmother woke up. There was also a braised parsnip, I think, a cube of "mashed potatoes" with potato pieces, spinach and parmesan and thyme - plus a sweet, incredibly delicious carrot cream.

For dessert there was pistachio ice cream on chocolate mousse with roasted coconut flakes, almonds and both fresh and dried strawberries.

The menu cost 8,500 ISK per person, or around €68.

Then there were the drinks, the beer for my husband and the orange juice for me. In total we paid 17,850 ISK for the evening, just under €145.

We definitely enjoyed the evening!

[Translated from here.]