wkwb42a

My husband and I are going to Reykjavik with another couple. We will be there for 5 days in March. We will be staying at the Icelandair Marina Hotel. We will be going out on a boat one evening in search of the Northern Lights. We also have plans to go to the Blue Lagoon and take the Golden Circle tour. Any other suggestions?

Do you have any recommendations for restaurants? (We like seafood and lamb). Please give specifics as to what you enjoyed there, price range, location, etc.

I have planned many journeys to various destinations, with the valuable help of Fodorites. Many thanks in advance for your advice!

StCirq

We have been to Reykyavik twice in the past year, for a total of about 8 days. I wish I could say that we happened upon good food, but I can't. We tried everything from the famous Icelandic hot dogs (blech) to fancy wharf-side seafood restaurants, and...no go. The best place we found was Iceland's only Turkish restaurant, Meze. And there are some fabulous coffee shops for light meals. The Town Hall actually has a nice little café in it, but the service was appalling both times we were there. Maybe we just made poor choices, but we didn't scrimp on the research ahead of time. Other than Meze, the best meal we had was at the airport, and that's saying something. Apart from our food experiences, though, we love Reykyavik!

MaineGG

If you have an interest in Iceland's history and culture, the National Museum is excellent. The size is not overwhelming and the exhibits are arranged chronologically.

http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/english

There are many Golden Circle tours. We were happy with Iceland Horizon's minibus tour. The guide was excellent.

http://icelandhorizon.is/

We liked the rack of lamb at Le Bistro

http://lebistro.is/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...al_Region.html

Also enjoyed lunch at Sandholt, a great bakery-cafe.

http://sandholt.is/#_=_

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...n.html#REVIEWS

Hot dogs are not my favorite, but my husband loved the ones he had from the famous stand. He especially liked the addition of crunchy fried onions to the usual range of toppings.

http://www.bbp.is/information-in-english

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...al_Region.html

Despite some truly awful weather, we really enjoyed our visit and hope you do too.

wkwb42a

Thank you very much for your prompt and helpful replies!
Golden Circle tour company sounds good. Le Bistro and Sandholt both appeal to us; I looked at their websites. But I was not able to view TA reviews when I clicked on them. We're looking forward to our trip.

annhig

We only had one day in Reykjavik and spent most of that trying to get a punctured tyre mended but in what time we had there, we found a nice cafe at the National historical museum, which I thoroughly recommend [museum and cafe] and there's a reasonably good, though quite expensive restaurant at the Blue Lagoon.

On the Golden Circle, there is a nice pub at Thingvellir and another opposite the Geyser, but avoid the cafe by Gulfoss where they wanted £10 for oxtail soup! [this was about 7 years ago, and things may have changed a bit but then it was a real tourist trap].

One unusual habit Icelanders have is to allow free top ups of coffee after you've paid for your first cup - you could carry on drinking it all day long for the price of one cup, in fact we even found one pub where it was free. some places also have a cake buffet - all the cake you can eat for one price! and if you have a car, often the best place to eat is a petrol station - many of them have cafes or even restaurants attached, some of which are very good.

as St Cirq says it's not a place you'd go for the food but the natural sights and attractions are so amazing that it really doesn't matter.

Fodorite018

We had an excellent meal at Snaps Bistro this fall. DH had the bouillabaisse and I had the duck confit, which came with roasted potatoes and a really good salad. We also had wine, and our bill came to only around $125 US dollars. Our kids (in their 20's) also had a great meal there over New Year's. I don't remember what they said they had, but they said it was very good. Another place we had a good meal was the Icelandic Fish & Chips. The fish was very fresh and prepared in a nice light coating, not greasy at all. It was very good, but not on par with Snaps, just different. We also had excellent chai's at Stofan Cafe, along with a bagel/lox/salad, which was quite good.

Fodorite018

The Golden Circle is an excellent day! We used Grayline and while it was a big bus, it was maybe 1/4 full, if that. Anyway, at the waterfalls there is a gift shop and limited restaurant. The lamb soup there was good. Expensive, but good

Jay_G

If you like seafood and lamb, you could try the restaurant at Hotel 101.

As with all restaurants in Reykjavik, it isn't cheap, but the langoustine specials they do are quite something. Some of the freshest and tastiest I've had anywhere.

They also have lamb and other fish dishes on the menu, as well as burgers (which every Icelandic restaurant seems to be required by law to serve) if any of your party want 'safer' options.

Another bonus of this restaurant (and the hotel itself) is that it is great for people watching. After dinner you can retire to the lounge, have a few drinks and watch the great and good of Iceland (and visiting foreign celebrities) let their hair down. I've never failed to eat well, or have a good time every time I've stayed there.

MileHighHC

following for all the food suggestions headed there with my husband in May and looking for meal recos all over the country

Gordon_R

If you like seafood, you should try the delicious Arctic Charr (actually it's a freshwater fish from the many cold water lakes in Iceland). We had a wonderful arctic charr dish at Cafe Rosenberg in Reykjavik.
http://www.caferosenberg.is/

pirouette

We spent 5 days in Reyjkavik in July last year and loved it! For restaurants, try these: Resto, Apotek, Kol....I have reviewed each on the "other" site. There is also a wonderful bakery/bistro on the main street which is highy recommended for a light lunch : Bakari Sandholt.

We did daytours through GeoIceland and had a great experience. We were picked up (on time) at our apartment and returned there at the end of each tour. The guides were wonderful. I am often not impressed with natural sites in other countries given that I already live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Iceland blew us away!

I would also recommend a daytrip to Greenland if you can possibly afford it. It is offered through the domestic air carrier Air Iceland (?) and leaves from the airport which is in the city. It was an unforgettable experience.

wkwb42a

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions! We will be leaving for Reykjavik in about 2 weeks or so. I appreciate your advice very much.