Tag Archives: icelandic

Grillmarkaðurinn

29 Aug

Green SaladMy favorite dinner spot in Iceland was Grillmarkaðurinn. The inside of the restaurant was super cool, feeling like it could have been in New York. I found the waiter to be very understanding of the gluten-free diet. I started with the Green Salad which had a lot more to it than I was expecting of a side salad. For my main dish, I had the vegetarian Peanut Steak.

Peanut SteakMade entirely from nuts, beans and vegetables, this was very generous in size. My favorite part of the meal, however, was the Grilled Corn with Icelandic Butter.

Grilled CornPerfectly charred, this corn was unbelievable. Even though I was full, I considered getting a second order of it since it was that good.

Gullfoss Kaffi

28 Aug

Gullfoss KaffiOne of the numerous gorgeous spots in Iceland that we visited was the Gullfoss (or Golden) Waterfall.  Before we descended a few flight of stairs to the waterfall, we ate at the little cafe adjacent to it. Per our guide’s recommendation, I had the traditional Icelandic Meat Soup after confirming that it was gluten-free.

Traditional Icelandic Meat SoupThis had big chunks of lamb, cabbage, onions and carrots. It was the perfect thing to warm my body up as we had just finished frolicking on a glacier.

Nauthóll

27 Aug

Carrot SoupOne of my favorite lunches while in Iceland was at Nauthóll. Located five minutes from downtown Reykjavik, they were very accommodating once we showed them the GF travel card. I started with the carrot, coconut milk and ginger soup. In the soup, there was greek yogurt, roasted pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. It was an interesting mix of ingredients, but it was delicious nonetheless. After the soup, I had the Sweet Potato and Red Beet Salad.

Sweet Potato and Red Beet SaladThis salad was so good. It had spiced red beets, melon, grilled sweet potatoes, goat cheese, caramelized nuts and chicken. I couldn’t manage to finish it since it was huge, but I was thinking about this meal days later. If you have any gluten eaters with you, make sure they order the grilled garlic bread as it got rave reviews.

Sjávargrillið

27 Aug

Víðir´s saladA short walk from our hotel in Reykjavik was Sjávargrillið, a seafood grill. I started with Víðir´s Salad which came with arugula, tomato and cheese. The dressing was extremely light and lacked a lot of flavor, but it was nice to be able to order salad. For my main dish, I had the Grilled Leg of Lamb.

Grilled Leg of LambThis dish usually comes with fried lamb shoulder as well, but I just requested the grilled lamb to avoid any gluten issues. It was served with turnips, onions and cabbage and was quite good.

101 Restaurant & Bar

27 Aug

EdamameOur first night in Reykjavik, we had dinner at our hotel. Prior to the meal at 101 Restaurant & Bar, we had let the restaurant know about my brother and I being gluten-free. We also presented gluten-free travel cards to our waitress when we sat down (We did this at every meal in Iceland). I started with the edamame which was pretty heavy on the salt. Our waitress then informed us that there was one dish that they could prepare GF as a main course. Since this was our one option, we both had the salmon with ratatouille.

Salmon with RatatouilleThis was good, although it would have been nice to have some other choices. In Icelandic schools, it is mandatory to learn Icelandic, English and a third language of their choice. For this reason, it was easier to communicate with restaurants than I had anticipated.