Iceland Day 6 - Of Fish and Freshness

Last night I fell asleep to the drunken lullabies of two guys outside the bar across the street singing what sounding like Icelandic opera. This morning I woke to the serenading tappa-tap of frozen rain being blown against my window. I think I preferred the drunk tenors, at least they gave up after an hour. The wind and frozen rain on the other hand faded in and out all day long. Despite the weather I was determined to get out and see a little more of the city. Up today was a jaunt downhill to the harbor, which sadly meant I had to jaunt back up the hill once I was finished.

In an attempt to get out of the cold for a bit I found myself in the Reykjavik Museum of Art. The museum is rather odd in both it's choice of art and in it's awkward layout and setup. Instead of the typical “exit through the gift shop” mentality, it has you going in through what was probably the gift shop and wandering around some stuff that may or may not have been exhibits. However I didn't know the enter through the gift shop part and started by going upstairs to watch a weird French film and then look at a small selection of props, a large exhibit by collage artist Erró and then find myself in a small cafe. At first I thought that was it and was a bit pissed considering it was close to $10 to get in, and then I found the beginning. Then I found myself back upstairs in what I presume is the middle of the tour, but had to turn around because it dead ends at a crosswalk over the entrance. I had finally had enough, and was fairly certain I had seen all that was on offer, so I ambled back out into the cold in search of a tasty lunch.

That tastiness came in the form of fish and chips from Icelandic Fish and Chips. I'll admit that my world travels are extremely limited and that extremely long list of places I haven't been to includes the very progenitors of the fish and chips, but these were the best I've ever had. Well, the fish part..the chips were actually a mango salad. Which honestly isn't very chippy. The choice of fish varies from day to day depending on what is brought in fresh to the harbor and your given the choice of about a dozen different varieties of skyronnaise dip like ginger and wasabi, rosemary and green apple, and coriander and lime. I opted for the Atlantic catfish with chile and roasted pepper with the aforementioned mango salad. Less than 10 minutes later a steaming hot pile of fish appeared before me and it was amazing. The breading is very light and delicate, the fish is fresh and moist, and the sauce is great though entirely unnecessary. I have every intention of going back at least once before I leave Iceland.

Dinner on the other hand wasn't exactly a big winner. I probably should have known that a Mexican restaurant so far from the home land was going to lose something in translation. That and the fact that the cooks were speaking English in the kitchen and not Spanish should have been a warning sign. I of course had to make up for it by gorging on a giant piece of cake from Bakari Sandholt, which has yet to let me down. The service isn't great, it's kind of expensive, and the place is fucking cold in the morning, but the breads, pastries, and cakes are phenomenal and worth it all. I had thought I would top it all off with a few pints of Guiness to celebrate St. Patricks day, but at about $6 a pop I decided the always delicious Icelandic tap water (no, really..it's that good) would have to suffice.