Grillmarket Reykjavik Iceland

Grillmarkadurinn, which means Grillmarket in English, is a restaurant located in the center of Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik.  It doesn't have a street front, but behind another restaurant, so you have to walk behind the other restaurant to get to Grillmarket. 

We were there at 5.30pm, when the restaurant just opened for dinner service, as we didn't make a reservation before hand.  The place was quite empty at that time.  The atmosphere of the place was very cosy.  Warm lights dominate the place, very comforting in a cold winter evening. 

As a norm, bread and cheese were served as the 'capitol'.  The cheese was definitely worth mentioning.  They served 3 types of cheese:  cheese with sea salt, cheese with yogurt, and cheese with Iceland's iconic lava salt.  This experience was really unique for me.  First time having cheese with yogurt, which offered a layered sensation to the taste buds.  The black lava salt was less salty than your normal salt.  The waitress was kind to explain to us the difference between the different types of cheese. 

Whale Meat Steak, ~USD69.00

The 'exotic' dish we ordered to share was the whale meat steak.  It looked very much like your normal beef steak, but the texture was quite different.  It was very tender, and the texture was fine and smooth, a quality that beef steaks don't possess.  The cuisine here was a bit of fusion, providing soy sauce and wasabi as condiments.  Personally, I prefer to eat it as is, without any additional foreign taste to the very fine flavor of the whale.  It is a must-try if you visit this restaurant. 

Lamb Fillet, ~USD60.00

Main course was lamb fillet.  Lamb cooked to medium well, and served together with some preserved vegetables.  The fillet was a bit on the tough side for me, and the preserved vegetable was a bit too salty.  Maybe it was due to the local taste and weather. 

The staff there were very friendly and service was prompt.  Overall experience was excellent.  Price-wise it was a bit on the high side, but hey, it is Iceland.

Best Hotdog in Town Reykjavik Iceland

Hot dog to me is very much part of American culture, so I heard that the best hot dog in the world is from Iceland, I must give it a try.  The hot dog stand is called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur in Icelandic language, which means "Best Hot Dog in Town" in English.

The place is not so easy to find, hidden in the labyrinth of buildings near the harbour area of Reykjavik.  The stand is really small, as you can see from the photo above.  It is just a tiny stall, and some benches and stand-up tables around the stand for people to enjoy the hot dog. 

When we got there, there was a small queue of customers queuing for the food.  And a group of tourists probably on a gourmet tour just arrived and elongated the queue almost immediately. 

We got our hot dog in about 10 minutes, and voila, here it is.  A piece of sausage sandwiched in a piece of bread, covered by 3 types of condiments of ketchup, mustard sauce and remoulade.  Underneath the sausage, there are some chopped onions to provide some sense of spiciness.  Having plenty of sheep in the country, the sausage used is made from lamb, instead of the normal stuff.  It is less salty, more flavors. 

Overall the hot dog is nice to eat, especially in a cold cold place like winter Reykjavik.  However, it is just a hot dog, may be it has some variations and special flavors, but it is still just a hot dog.  I am neither a hot dog expert nor a fan, so I can't really proclaim it is the best, I can only say it is edible food, good for a hungry stomach for sure.