Einarshúsið

Visiting Bolungarvík - Dining at the End of the World

May contain traces of advertisement.*

During our summer vacation we spent some days in Ísafjörður. At one of these days we visited the neighbouring village of Bolungarvík. The village with its about 900 inhabitants is located at the western end of Ísarfjarðardjúp fjord - and that is in fact a kind of end of the world. The street does not end in Bolungarvík, but it only leads to a radar station on top of Bolafjall mountain and to a few abandoned farms. We visited Bolafjall mountain and enjoyed the great view from there, and we also visited the fishery museum Ósvör in Bolungarvík.

From the snowslide protective wall you have a great view over Bolungarvík.

The harbour of Bolungarvík was quite busy, when we arrived there in the early evening. Goods were loaded, lots of fish were landed.

Directly at the harbour there is "Einarshúsið", a hotel and restaurant, which furthermore occasionally offers cultural events like musical performances or games evenings.

When we arrived, the restaurant was completely empty. 6 p.m. seems to be quite early for a dinner in Iceland. After calling, a waitress came and welcomed us friendly.

View into the hotel's breakfast room

The restaurant's interior is nicely arranged. There are lots of historic family photos printed on perspex. The wooden walls painted in turquois gave me a feeling of being at home.

Food blogger at work

For drinking my husband chose "Engiferöl", ginger beer. We don't know it from Germany. But in Iceland it is nothing unusual. It's not an alcoholoic beer, but a non-alcoholic lemonade with the pungent taste of ginger. (There was no beer or wine offered on the drinks menu.)

For our meal we selected for one thing a hamburger and secondly the fish of the day, two very common dishes for Iceland. The menu was in Icelandic language only, but the waitress translated it for us - even though our Icelandic is meanwhile good enough to read a menu.

The hamburger named "Víkarinn" contained a fried egg, cucumber, tomato, bacon and Bernaise sauce. It was served with french fries ("franskar kartöflur") and a bowl of ready-made cocktail sauce.

The "Fish of the Day" was cod, the waitress explained to us. They get it every day fresh from the harbour. It was served with fresh salad and potatoes. The salad was fine - with pieces of orange, which gave it a fruity taste. The sauce also had a slightly fruity note.

All in all, the food we had in Einarshúsið was plain cooking in the Icelandic way. Hamburger with french fries - a take-over from America, which meanwhile is very common in Icelandic cuisine. Fresh fish - of course, unavoidable in the fishing nation of Iceland.

Overview:

The menu of Einarshúsið is relativela short. You can choose between hamburger with french fries, the soup of the day with homemade bread (each of them for 1950 ISK, approx. 15.60 €, 18.30 $) , a vegan dish of the day (2900 ISK, approx. 23 €, 27.30 $) and the fish of the day (3900 ISK, approx. 31 €, 36.70 $).

For children they offer baked toast or nuggets, both served with french fries for 1390 ISK (approx. 11 €, 13 $), a smaller portion of the fish of the day for 1490 ISK (approx. 12 €, 14 $) or just simply french fries with cocktail sauce for 500 ISK (approx. 4 €, 4.70 $). 

Under the heading "Eitthvað sæt" (= "Somethind sweet") you find a piece of cake or waffles with ice cream, each for 890 ISK (approx. 7.10 €, 8.40 $).

Soft drinks, ginger beer and hot drinks cost between 350 and 450 ISK (approx. 2,80 - 3,60 €, 3.30 - 4.20 $). 

* Legal note: 

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. If we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.

Til baka frá Íslandi

Back from Iceland

After two and a half week of family vacation in Iceland, we came back home yesterday. We had been in the Westfjords, then some days in the north, before we travelled by in direction of Reykjavík.

Besides relaxing with the family and some sightseeing, it was once again in parts a kind of gourmand trip through various Icelandic restaurants. That's really fascinating! Great food, nice people, interesting locations, ...

The reports about our culinary experiences will follow within the next days. Later I'm going to write some words about our other activities, too.

Mat Bar

Trendy Tapas Bar in Icelandic Style

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Mat Bar presents Icelandic cooking in a very modern style, internationally influenced mainly by the cuisine of Asia. For me this is very exciting and fascinating! Technically speaking, this is "fusion cuisine", i.e. a mix of various food cultures and a combination of traditional local ingredients and ingredients from other parts of the world. This Icelandic tapas bar offers mainly small dishes, but a big variety of them.

Unfortunately I had to fly back to Germany, before we had the opportunity to visit Mat Bar. So my husband, who was still in Iceland for hiking, had to go alone to this restaurant at the end of his trip. I would have liked so much to accompany him to Mat Bar. But I missed it. What a pity!

As recommended by the host, my husband ordered "Matbarsmáltið", the Matbar Meal, for 6.940 ISK (55 €, 65 $).

This meal is served only for dinner (not before 5 p.m.). It consists of 7 different courses, which variate according to the season, since always only the freshest ingredients are being used. (By the way, it's also possible to order a vegetarian variation of the meal or one with fish, but without meat.) For each course, when it is served, it is explained in detail, what you get.

Here the composition of courses my husband got, when he was invited in June:

The first two courses were served together.

As first course he got lumpfish roe with whipped ricotta, fermented chilli sauce and chives. This came together with traditionally Icelandic flatbread. My husband is not really a roe enthusiast. But this one, with hot chili sauce, he loved. And also the flatbread, which looke a bit burnt, was delicious, just due to the roasted spots.

The second course were grilled lambhearts with XO sauce (a spicy Asian sauce, which is based on dried seafood and dried ham), strained buttermilk and raspberry juice.

Course no. 3 was Þorskkinnar, a cod cheek with lemon kosho and pickled red onions, toasted breadcrumbs and sorrel.

This was followed by balsamic glazed red beets, celeriac and horseradish puree, grated chilli walnuts and spanish chervil.

The fifth and sixth course were the main dishes:

On one plate there was a big piece of lamb belly served with red onion and fennel coleslaw and (what you can see in the front of the picture) honeymustard seeds.

On the other plate there was grilled kale with preserved lemons, pickled chilli, pumpkin seeds and dulse.

For dessert almond granita (kind of a semi-frozen lemonade, similar to a sorbet) was served together with Icelandic strawberries, caramellized white chocolate, habanero and a sweet balsamic dressing.

"I did it! I'm completely full!" - that was the last message my husband sent me on this evening from Mat Bar. He sounded satisfied and totally impressed. We have to visit Mat Bar once again together, was his conclusion.

Now I myself would like to say something, too. I'm Ursula's husband. I was absolutely blown away by the meal in Mat Bar. Each course was such a great combination of various worlds of taste. The basis was always something originally Icelandic, which was then combined with a completely different taste. Roe with chilli sauce, lambhearts with fruity raspberry juice, and so on. And within seven courses, one experience of taste was followed by the next. After each of the first courses the waiter asked me, whether it was okay, and I could only praise the food enthusiastically. Later I had a smile over the entire face, so that there was no need to ask again. My enthusiasm was so obvious!

Overview:

Little snacks like smoked almonds with dried olives or grilled flatbread with kale pesto cost about 900 ISK (approx. 7 €, 8.50 $). Vegetable dishes are around 1.500 ISK (approx. 12 €, 14 $) (e.g. grilled kale or grilled kale, grilled aspargus or braised fennel). The price of a seafood dish (e.g. lumpfish roe or grilled squid) is around 1.850 ISK (approx. 15 €, 17 $) in average. You can get the catch of the day for 2.850 ISK (approx. 23 €, 27 $). Meat dishes cost around 2.400 ISK (about 19 €, 22.50 $). And last but not least, the great Matbar Meal takes 6.940 ISK (55 €, 65 $) for its seven courses.

Mat Bar opens Tuesday to Saturday from 15.00 to 24.00. The kitchen closes on workdays at 22.00, on weekends at 23.00.

It's recommended to reserve a table, since Mat Bar is often well-attended.

* Legal note: 

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.

Krauma

Bathing and dining next to a giant hot spring

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The hot spring Deildartunguhver is located in Reykholtsdalur valley in West Iceland, nearly 100 km north of Reykjavík, hence an hour and a half drive from Iceland's capital. Deildartunguhver is Europe's most powerful hot spring. Per second it pumps 180 l of boiling hot water out of the earth. This could fill about 72 bathtubs per minute. In fact it is enough to provide Borganes, Akranes and the surrounding area with hot water.

The greenhouses nearby are also heated with hot water from Deildartunguhver.

You can buy in self-service tomatoes grown in the greenhouses from a stand just in front of the hot spring. (We took this photo in autumn 2016. In the background you can already see the construction works for the spa and restaurant.)

In November 2017 a geothermal bath & spa and an adjacent restaurant opened here, only 70 or 80 m away from the hot spring. It's named "Krauma", which means "simmering", "bubbling" or "boiling" - and this name fits as well to the geothermal water in the hot spring and in the spa as to the pots and pans in the restaurant's kitchen.

From both, spa and restaurant, you have an amazing view on the giant hot spring and the green houses.

The spa is newly build, and its design is simply great. The circular pools are of shiny black stone. The whole building is black with large glass fronts and a grass roof. So it integrates itself perfectly into the landscape. My husband got a very warm welcome, when he arrived after a long day, on which he had been hiking to Esja, Reykjavík's local mountain. In that situation a bath in such a spa is really delightful and enjoyable! (I myself had already been travelled back to Germany, unfortuantely. So my husband had to visit Krauma alone, and I missed it.)

The spa offers five hot tubs of different temperatures. The hottest is at about 42 or 43 °C (108 to 109 °F), a temperature, which is hard to stand for a long time. The coolest hot tub is at about 37 to 39 °C (99 to 102 °F). Additionally there is a cold tub of approximately 7 °C (45 °F) to cool down and get blood circulation moving.

The view out of the hot tub directly down to the valley and the giant hot spring is spectacular. You can even hear the bubbling.

The spa has two steambathes and a relaxation room with fireplace and soft music, where you can lie or sit and enjoy the beautiful view through large windows.

Totally relaxed after bathing, my husband could enter the restaurant.

Krauma Restaurant is focussed in Icelandic cuisine with the freshest ingredients from local production. The tomatoes come from the greenhouses just next to the hot spring. Other vegetables come from surrounding farms. The salmon is got from Borganes, the next harbour village only 35 km away.

As starter my husband took the specialty of the house: "Súpa Krauma" - "Tómat- og paprikusalsa og steinseljuolía", soup with tomatoes, sweet peppers and parsley oil. The soup was delicate and pleasantly hot and spicy. The soup was served with fresh bread and butter.

For the main course the cook recommended "pönnusteiktur lax með grænkáli, tómatum og lauk" (pan-fried salmon with kale, tomatoes and onion) from the menu - with a small deviation: Kale was run out and replace by broccoli. Obviously freshness is more important than sticking to the menu. And actually my husband did not miss the kale at all. The broccoli was very tasty, like the whole meal.

A good, fresh dinner, appealingly served, in a nobly designed restaurant with a fantastic view on a giant hot spring - and all of this after a relaxing bath - that was a great experience.

Overview:

The entrance for the spa costs 3.800 ISK (about 30 €, 35.50 $) for adults, half of it for teenagers between 13 and 16 years. Children up to 12 years are free.

The adjacent Krauma Restaurant offers for lunch a range from a small Krauma soup for 1.600 ISK (approx. 12.80 €, 15 $) via salad, burger, steak sandwich and so on up to grilled lamb for 3.800 ISK (approx. 30 €, 35.50 $). For dinner you can get appetizers for 2.460 ISK (approx. 20 €, 23 $) in average, and main courses for 3.200 ISK (approx. 25.50 €, 30 $) in average. For dessert you can choose between carrot cake, strawberries & basil and fruit salad, all of them nobly refined and served with ice cream or sorbet. Each dessert costs at lunch time 1.490 ISK (approx. 12 €, 14 $) and in the evening 1.600 ISK (approx. 12.80 €, 15 $).

In June, spa and restaurant both were quite empty. It's their first season, hence it's not yet very popular. Currently it's still kind of a secret tip. But I'm sure, this will change soon. It seems obious to combine a tour to Reykholt and Hraunfossar with a bath in this spa and a good meal at such an amazing location.

* Legal note: 

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.

Sjávarbarinn

The Ocean Bar and its TV Cook

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"Sjávarbarinn" literally means "the ocean bar". It's located in the harbour area Grandi. And, of course, it's focus is on fish and seafood.

From the outside inconspicuously, I had passed it some times, not guessing, that it's really interesting. But I had already noticed the pictures of many different fishes in the window.

In the inside you find a wall covered with pretty framed pictures of various fishes and behind the counter some beautiful food photos. However, "Sjávarbarinn" does not look like a posh resstaurant, but more like a diner and a take-away. And in fact, that's what it is. Icelanders working in the harbour area come to here for lunch. And you can buy to-go. But this does not tell anything about the quality of the food.

The restaurant is a family business. It is run by chef Magnús Ingi Magnússon and his wife Analisa Montecello. You can order á la carte. But many guests choose the buffet. This was also Analisa's recommendation, and so chose the buffet, too.

The dinner buffet was rich and inviting. All the fish comes freshly from the harbour. It's bought straight out of the nets. The fishing peers are only a few hundred meters away. Most of the buffet is cooked in traditional style. It's often like that, what Icelanders are familar with at home. This authentic kitchen is a reason for the popularity among the locals. There are also groups of tourists coming to Sjávarbarinn. Magnús told us proudly, that often tourist, which had visited his restaurant at the beginning of their trip, come back at the end to have once again the buffet - because of its high quality and affordable price.

As cold dishes the buffet offered various salads (e.g. colesalad, mixed salad and celery salad with apple), diverse marinated fish and pickled herrings. Furthermore bread with liver pâté, bread crumbed meat snacks, etc. and a very special, typically Icelandic fish snack. I'll come back to it shortly.

There was herb baguette and - again typically Icelandic - "rugbrauð", the slightly sweetish, sticky, dark rye bread. Magnús told us, that in some parts of Iceland it's baked within the hot earth. Here in Reykjavík, of course, not. Here he bakes it for 12 hours at low heat in the oven. Yes, we know!

The warm dishes included the "catch of the day", curry fish, the typically Icelandic "plokkfiskur" (mashed fish and potatoes) and "fiskibollur" (fish cake). If you want to have something different from fish: The buffet included also lamb stew. As side dishes you could get potatoes and vegetables.

Magnús, the cook, told us, that his local customers really can't take a joke regarding "plokkfiskur" and "fiskibollur": Icelanders want to get this traditional food just in the way grandma cooked it. Changes are not accepted. Hence they get it just in traditional style.

So we got a big variety of dishes, and we tried to try a bit of nearly everything. The food was really good, and we were really full in the end!

What we've not yet mentioned, is our personal culinary highlight: The seafood soup. It was served as starter of the the buffet. And it was really great! Hot, a bit spicy, maybe a touch of Asia.

Definitely one of the best soups we've ever tasted!

A highlight of another kind was to meet the cook. Whe we came to the restaurant, I wasn't aware that I "know" the cook. More precisely, I know Magns cookbooks. A few years ago I had found "Eldhúsið okkar - íslensku hversdagskræsingarnar" ("Our kitchen - Icelandic home cooking"), and I really love this cookbook with its traditional, down-to-earth recipes.

You can get his book in Sjávarbarinn. Magnús Ingi kindly gave us one of the English copies for free - and in addition his DVD "Eldhús Meistaranna". Magnús Ingi is not only a cook and a cookbook author. But he's also a famous TV cook in Iceland. In his show accompanied other chefs and presented their work in various famous restaurants in Iceland.

Quelle: Eldhús Meistaranna

Of course, in the show and on DVD he also presented his own restaurant "Sjávarbarinn". And he explains, how he produces the Icelandic fish snack, which was part of the buffet and I already mentioned above:

While filleting fishes, the skin is carefully detached, pulled up and cut into thin stripes. These stripes are covered with flour and fried in hot fat. Let them cool down and dry, before they are served as small tasty snack.

Quelle: Eldhús Meistaranna

When you come to Sjávarbarinn, you definitely must try this typically Icelandic fish snack in the buffet!

For me visiting Sjávarbarinn and meeting Magnús Ingi was an absolute personal highlight. My favorite topic is Icelandic cooking - grounded, substantally and suitable for every day. And that's exactly what I found here and what Magnús Ingi lives for.

I was simply happy! 

Overview:

"Sjávarbarinn" offers down-to-earth Icelandic cuisine, high-quality fresh fish and - for local conditions - affordable prices.

The (smaller) lunch buffet, which also contains typical dishes like plokkfiskur and fiskibollurcosts 2.290 ISK (approx. 18 €, 21 $) per person. The dinner buffet including soup, salads and rye bread is 3.900 ISK (approx. 31 €, 36 $). You can get just the seafood soup for 1.690 ISK (approx. 13.50 €, 15.75 $).

The "Seafood Gourmet Menu" costs 6.300 ISK (about 50 €, 59 $), but it includes in addition to the normal dinner buffet 120 g of Norway lobster tails in garlic butter and a copy of Magnús Ingi's cookbook.

"Sjávarbarinn" opens every day from 11.00 to 22.00.


* Legal note: 

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.

Kattakaffihúsið

The Cat Café in Reykjavík

May contain traces of advertisement.*

The idea of a cat café has its origin in Asia. Cat lovers, who don't have the possibility to own their own cats, have here the opportunity to relax with coffee and cake in cozy atmosphere and in company with cats. Good for the soul! And sometimes a homeless cat is put up and find someone, who adopts it.

The world-wide first cat café opened in 1998 in Taiwan. Many others followed, mainly in Japan. Since 2012 there are cat cafés in some European cities, too.

In autumn 2017 the Icelandic hygiene law was changed. Now pets are allowed in restaurants in Iceland. On March 1st, 2018 the first cat café opened in Iceland, the "Kattakaffihúsið" in Reykjavík. It's located in Bergstaðastræti 10a, in the heart of the city not far from Hallgrimskirkja and Laugavegur.

There are always at least three cats living in Kattakaffihúsið. During our visit we got to know two of them, Felix and Nebba. The guests are a colorful mix. Many locals, some tourists taking photos, many families with small children, mainly women of different age, with and without children.

On the wall, the large painting of a cat is by Helga Björnsson, one of the Iceland's most famous designers - who coincidentally is the mother of one of the café's owners. Besides this pretty painting she also designed cat pillows and cat cards, which you can find and buy in the café.

There are only two simple rules how to deal with the cats: Don’t pick the cats up and don’t wake them up when they are sleeping. And whenever a cat feels overstrained, it can move back through a cat flap.

Felix was sleeping on his chair in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. From time to time he opened his eyes, took a look around and laid down again.

Nebba, the second cat, is already 10 years old. I guess, her favorite place is on the counter.

We were in Kattakaffihúsið on Iceland's national holiday. Unfortunately it started to rain cats and dogs. Hence we fled into the café. But many other people did do the same. Hence it was completely full and we had to wait for a few minutes, to get a seat. A seat next to Felix.

First we got hot drinks to warm ourselves, a cup of coffee for my husband and a hot chocolate for me.

From the cakes we chose Snickers torte as recommended by the host. The cake comes like most of the café's range form "17 Sortir", a confectionary located in the former storage area of the harbour quarter Grandi. The sweet pastries, cakes, tortes and cupcakes of "17 Sortir" were often blinking at me, when I came along.

All that remains for me is to say: Meow! Or how Islanders say: Mjá!

Overview:

Kattakaffihúsið offers coffee and other hot and cool drinks, various pies, cakes and pastries and vegan sandwiches.

One piece of Snickers torte costs 990 ISK (about 7.90 €, 9.25 $). You can get a muffin for 595 ISK, a chocolate brownie for 600 ISK (about 4.80 €, 5.50 $), eine banana bread, a portion of chocolate cookies and a piece of lemon cake each for 690 ISK (about 5.50 €, 6.50 $). The vegan sandwich costs 990 ISK (about 7.90 €, 9.25 $) and a filled sourdough roll 1.200 ISK (about 9.60 €, 11 $).

A cup of filter coffee or tea is 400 ISK (about 3.20 €, 3.75 $), an espresso 500 ISK (about 4 €, 4.50 $) and a hot chocolate 590 ISK (about 4.70 €, 5.50 $).

Kattakaffihúsið opens every day from 10.00 to 18.00.

* Legal note: 

Formally this article can be graded as advertisement, since we had been invited for the meal. Anyhow, we have chosen only restaurants, which we had heard good things about and which we estimated as interesting. Accordingly we're really delighted, and if we fall into words of praise, these are meant honestly.