Our first night in Iceland, we decided to embrace the local food scene and ended up at a spot called Islenski Barinn.

It's known for serving up some classic Icelandic dishes, and we were curious to see what that meant. Spoiler: it means some daring options, though we didn’t dive all the way in.

For instance, one of their most famous dishes is fermented shark, but we took a pass on that.

Instead, we tried smoked lamb, which was incredible. Icelandic lamb has this amazing reputation because the sheep are all free-range, wandering and grazing across the countryside. Plus, thanks to the climate, there’s no need for pesticides or chemicals in their grazing areas, so the flavor is clean and pure.

My wife also tried a lobster dog—or, technically, a langoustine dog. It’s not a hot dog in the traditional sense. It’s more like strips of langoustine meat, breaded, fried, and served on a hot dog bun. Kind of like if a lobster roll and a hot dog had a really tasty baby. I went with a reindeer burger, which was tender and delicious. I know, eating all the cute animals, right?

The menu also had some more, let’s say, “unique” offerings. One of the nearby tables ordered a lamb dish that involved the skull. As we were leaving, I noticed the plate had a bifurcated lamb head on it, and the woman at the table was enthusiastically explaining how the eyeball pops when you bite into it.

We skipped that one, too.

Apparently, you can even find horse fillet on menus here, though we didn’t go to the place that served it. Whale, lamb, reindeer—basically, if it’s cute and exists in Iceland, it’s probably on a menu somewhere.

All in all, Islenski Barinn was a perfect introduction to Iceland’s food scene.

Some dishes pushed the limits of what we were willing to try, but everything we did eat was fantastic. It set the tone for an adventurous trip ahead.

CONTACT

https://islenskibarinn.is

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Islenski Barinn - The Icelandic Bar / Facebook