I am leaving for Iceland tomorrow and will be staying in Guðjónsgata, Iceland (a village in the Golden Circle) for 3 days. I have heard a lot of mixed reviews on food in Iceland -- would anyone have any food / restaurant recommendations for that area of the country?

Thanks!

I've heard the same mixed reviews and I can only think they've come from people with very little experience of non-chain restaurants. I've been to Iceland a few times and have never found an issue with the food in any of the restaurants I went to, and in fact found some of it to be the freshest and tastiest I've had anywhere.

Now that I've got that out of my system, you might think I'm being facetious by saying if you're ever stuck for something to eat, get to the nearest petrol station and get a hot dog.

Hot dogs in Iceland seem to have almost become a point of national pride, in fact here's an article written from an American point of view about fine dining in Iceland;

http://flygirl.jezebel.com/fine-dini...ice-1714296842

The last item on the list might surprise you...

I agree entirely with the suggestion to go to a petrol station for something to eat [and not just hot dogs], but not with the rest of Jay-G's post.

We did find it difficult to find reasonably priced fresh food; even in the guest houses that we stayed in, offerings were mixed. Fresh fruit and veg was pretty limited and we watched one local berating a supermarket employee for the quality of the potatoes which were indeed dire.

This was about 8 years ago, and it is possible that things have changed. Be prepared however for quite a lot of oxtail soup, limited fresh fruit and veg, and for food overall to be quite expensive.

OTOH, once you've paid for one coffee there are unlimited refills, [one place it was even free!] the yoghurt [called Skyr] is great, and if you are adventurous, you may even get to eat guillemot.

Apologies, I should have made it clear that I was referring to eating in restaurants. And as with all things Icelandic, everything costs more than you expect / want it to.

I can well imagine the food served in guesthouses being hit and miss as I suppose you're beholden to the culinary skills of your host.

Totally agree on the coffee though! In one restaurant the lovely owner insisted on re-serving my cup of (untouched) coffee that one of the other staff had made as the crema wasn't to her satisfaction. They take their coffee very seriously over there...

Iceland actually grows a lot of fruits and vegetables on the island (in greenhouses, using geothermal energy) so they're more inclined to use what's easily available, but I can't say I ever noticed it being enough of a problem to spoil my enjoyment.

I think if you calibrate your wallet's expectations accordingly, you can eat very well in Iceland.

I went in March, and visited a few guesthouses near Vik and Lake Myvatn. All served basic but high quality meals, with salads for dinner, usually fish or beef as the main course.

While the guesthouse meals were not gourmet, and I had no problems with the food I had on the road at petrol stations, the guesthouse meals always involved more fruits and vegetables and were very satisfying.

I can't make any specific recommendations for restaurants where you're staying, but I can say, having just got back from Iceland, that I thought the food was very good. I don't eat meat, eggs or dairy (and only limited quantities of fish and shellfish), but I didn't have trouble finding vegetable-based meals (supplemented with a few fish dishes) while I was there. There isn't a huge variety of vegetables in restaurants, but there always were fresh (and tasty) salads and very good soups. There is somewhat less fresh fruit (I was told they can grow vegetables in greenhouses in Iceland but very little fruit), but there were berries, apples, bananas and citrus.

In comparison with other places I've visited, I suppose I'd say that there were fewer choices (in terms of restaurants) in some areas (except Reykjavik of course) but that the food you're served in the restaurants that are there is quite good.