In many places the local food store had to close because of this.>>

you are not alone in this. it has happened a lot in the UK too. our local village store is trying very hard to provide a good range of fresh foods but it's so difficult for them to compete on price, which is what a lot of people by on ,rather than freshness and provenance.

also a lot of people round here grow their own which I anticipate may not be an option for a part of the year in Iceland.

Well,Iceland has, just like the UK,a maritime temperate climate, making the winters a lot less severe than the latitude might imply but for growing your own around here over the winter you need a greenhouse.
Geothermally heated greenhouses, with big lamps, make it possible to grow vegetables througout the winter and many vegetable farmers are doing that increasingly, providing us with a variety of fresh vegetables year round.
Fresh fruit is another matter, most of that is imported.

Topping..

It's an oldie but goodie. Thanks Ann for this great report and it looks like we will get to do the Grand Circle tour next year!
In November we will just have time to check out the Blue Lagoon.
Did you eat at the posher restaurant or the cafe at the Blue Lagoon?

hi sassy cat,

glad you enjoyed the read.

i wish that we had done the grand circle too - I'm sure that we covered the same mileage or more, - but I'm not sure that we could have fitted all that in AND gone to the western fjords, which was the BEST BIT.

the cafe at the blue lagoon wasn't much - but the restaurant was pretty good. that's where we ate.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

Thanks Ann, The western fjords sound great but our stopover next July will probably be for 2 nights. Just long enough for a Grand Circle trip.

Maybe these brief visits will inspire us to spend longer in Iceland one day but on the other hand I hate lamb and it sounds like the food outside Reykjavik is not that wonderful!

sassy_cat,

Please read the comments on food by myself and astein12. I had great food, not only in Reykjavik, but also in the countryside!

SusieQQ, I did read your comments but alas my family does not eat fish or shellfish and I don't eat lamb. My DD is absolutely horrified at the thought of seeing whale on a menu LOL. Rotten shark? Don't even go there!

Looking forward to the skyr though!

SusieQQ, I did read your comments but alas my family does not eat fish or shellfish and I don't eat lamb.>>

not sure that you're going to have a terribly good time from a culinary point of view. some of the best things we had were soups - meat [often lamb, sometimes oxtail] or fish. occasionally there was chicken on the menu, sometimes puffin or guillimot. veg and fruit was not of very high quality, except in Reykjavik and at the hotel glymur which was reflected in the cost of the meals there.

on the bright side, breakfasts were good, there are lots of eggs, and endless coffee. if yo're only there for 2 days, you'll probably survive OK.

sassy_cat,

well, in Reykavik there were Italian restaurants, Hamburger joints, pizza etc. You also have to have a hot dog from the hot dog place at the harbor...sorry, don't remember it's name.....also, at truck stops and cafes at the major tourist stops, the sandwiches with veggies, eggs, ham, etc. were fresh and quite good.
Have fun!

Yeah, a 10 hour layover in November followed by a stopover of less than 48 hours next July.. we can survive!
We'll spend more time in Paris on both trips so I'll consider Iceland my 'diet' time.

SusieQQ, I don't eat hot dogs or hamburgers either and I've never considered myself difficult LOL .

Ann, I know you brought cucumbers from the UK. I might just bring some fruit from the US if anyone can confirm that they'll let me bring it in. I'm a fruit bat or at least I was in a previous incarnation.

sassy cat - I have no reason to believe that you won't be able to "import" with you a reasonable amount of fruit.

iceland is NOT California or Florida. they really don't care if your luggage is crammed full of apples, pears, oranges, tomatoes or indeed, cucumbers.

if you have "veggie" tendencies, i suspect that you will do better in "high end" places [like the restaurant at the Blue Lagoon] than you will at petrol stations, which bizzarely are very popular meeting and eating places in Iceland. Howevr some of these places, like the posh hotel opposite the geysir site on the golden circle, are quite heavy on trad icelandic food. as you ahe mentioned the golden circle, here's the link to the hotel geysir website:

http://en.hotelgeysir.is/?c=webpage&...8&option=links

I was hoping that they would have a menu posted but you could e-mail them to see what they say about whether they have the sort of food you like.

otherwise i fear that you may have to eat in Reykjavik and bring a packed lunch!

sassy_cat,

Here are a few suggestions of restaurants where I ate>

Rossopomodoro--Italian right on main street Lauganegur

Vox---in my hotel Hilton Nordica--excellent, but pricey.

Brasserie Askur--near Hilton--known for its Steak Buffet on Sunday evenings.

Also, there were ethnic restaurants such as Thai and Indian which I didn't try.

I think you will be suprised at how good the food is!!

Ann, we've decided we'll eat at the Blue Lagoon restaurant in November. I think it's called Lava. That will probably be all we'll need to eat apart from a cup of coffee and something sugary to kick start us when we arrive off the red eye. Thanks again!

SusieQQ, Thanks for the restaurant suggestions.
Thai and Indian restaurants are my favourites so I will look out for them!
I'm sure we'll find plenty of good food for our 2 day stay next year and we're unlikely to stay anywhere other than Reykjavik.

OMG! what a fabulous report.

I ahve no plans to visit Iceland as of now, but your report kept me reading on.

FANTASTIC - thank you ann!

sassy cat - good choice.

if you are staying near Reykjavik, you should be fine.

s_n_t - thanks! i hope I didn't put you off Iceland as it has some truly fantastic sights. hopefully those who are planning a trip there can learn from our mistakes.

PS - another restaurant/cafe tip - the museum of Iceland, which is a great place to visit, also has a very nice cafe, strangely staffed mainly by non-icelandic speakers, which was a surprise, given the name of the museum!

annhig,

I had a delicious ham and leek quiche and fresh salad at that cafe in the National Museum.

susieQQ - at least we agree on something about the food in Iceland.

marking for later digest - parts i've read are so so enticing

perhaps annhig went to Iceland to get her money from her retirement funds back?

perhaps annhig went to Iceland to get her money from her retirement funds back?>>

fortunately I did not have any money in Iceland. unlike Cornwall county Council which had about £5 million there.

So far as i know, all the UK local authorities have got their money back now, but I'm not sure about private individuals.

we actually went before the crash, but when Iceland went belly up it surprised me not at all - there was very little infrastructure to underwrite all those loans. just a lot of lava and sheep.