Vagninn in Flateyri

The “Der Wagen” inn in Flateyri

May contain traces of advertising.*

Flateyri is a small town on a small flat headland ("flat eyri") on the Önundarfjörður. Flateyri now belongs to the municipality of Ísafjarðarbær. In 2012 the town still had 214 residents, but the number of permanent residents is steadily declining. According to official information, only 184 people now live here permanently.

As the population moved away, property prices in Flateyri fell - and this made the abandoned houses interesting for people from other parts of the country, who were able to buy a house here for the summer relatively cheaply and renovate the houses. So there was a certain upswing in the place again. There is actually a certain amount of activity in Flateyri in the summer. We saw a noticeable number of people on the streets and children running around playing.

Three couples, who originally purchased summer homes in Flateyri and are now long-term residents, purchased the village's old pub in 2017 to breathe life back into it. With the help of the Karolina Fund, a crowdfunding organization that promotes a variety of projects in Iceland, the funds were raised to repair the partially collapsed roof of the old pub and the business was put back into operation.

The pub is located on the town's main street, Hafnarstræti. It is called "Vagninn" (= "The Wagon") and is an inn ("krá") and restaurant ("veitingahús").

Events also take place regularly in Vagninn on the weekends. When we were there, there was a circus performing in the evenings, and there are often music events, including with well-known Icelandic artists such as the singer Ásgeir Trausti.

Overview of the upcoming events in Vagninn

When you enter the restaurant, you immediately feel at home and, at least for me, memories of days a good 20 years ago come back.

Here's a look at the music area of ​​the pub.

The guest area is also simple, but bright and tidy.

And the ceiling in the counter area is really something!

There is really enough choice of drinks here, and Vagninn also serves alcoholic drinks.

However, we decided on water - after all, we were "on duty"!

For dinner we opted for the fish soup and the house-style fish.

The fish soup ("Fikisúpa Vagnsins") sounded really exciting when I read it: A classic fish soup with fish and crabs - but also with smoked rhubarb and sorrel oil, with sourdough bread and dipping sauce. The bread was really tasty on its own, as were the two different dips - and the soup was simply brilliant, absolutely to die for! So wonderful and spicy and intense and delicious - perfect.

By the way, there was a tortilla strip on top of the soup, spread with garlic and spices. At the same time soft and crispy and gently spicy. A great, interesting idea!

The “Fiskur Vagnsins”, the house-style fish, is fresh cod from the sea, topped with caviar. The fish is served on sweet potato mash, with regular potatoes and with lime sauce. There is also a bit of broccoli puree, half a braised carrot, grated radish slices and also a stick of baked tortilla dough.

It simply tasted fantastic and with the different consistencies and textures, this mixture of hot and cold, soft and crunchy, sweet and sour, it was an absolutely exciting dish in every respect. So delicious!

The view from the window was also just beautiful.

On the way back, we made a quick photo stop at the fjord a little bit before the town: the Norwegian Hans Ellefsen (1856 - 1918) built the Sólbakki whaling station here in 1889, but it burned down completely in 1901. You can just make out a few foundation walls under the meadow. Only the tower is still standing - but it has already been gnawed away by the ravages of time.

With one last look at the town of Flateyri, we had to say goodbye and move on.

We were definitely really impressed with the Vagninn, the food was interesting and brilliant and definitely recommended. If you're ever in Ísafjörður or around the corner, it's definitely worth a trip to Flateyri for food!

At a glance:

The Vagninn menu (as of July 2018) is short but definitely good:

There is the fish soup or a vegan mushroom soup, which each cost around €18.

The main course is the “Fiskur Vagnsins”, Plokkfiskur and hamburger or a “vegan burger”. The burgers cost 2,400 ISK, the fish 3,400 ISK and the plokkfiskur 2,900 ISK (the equivalent of between €19 and €27).

The children's meal (homemade fish cake with potatoes) costs 950 ISK, or around €7.60.

For dessert there is white chocolate skyr or rhubarb grits for 950 ISK each.

If you want to eat here, you should make a reservation if possible - the restaurant is really popular and it was busy when we were there.


* Legal notice:

Technically speaking, this is advertising because we were invited to dinner. But we only went to restaurants and bars that we had previously heard good things about and that we found exciting - for a variety of reasons. In that respect, we were honestly thrilled and when we burst into praise, we really mean it.



[Translated from here.]