Iceland (Countryside)

Following on from Reykjavik, outside of the capital you get to really appreciate the multitude of landscapes in Iceland. Similar to Reykjavik, you can get the hot dog all around the country. However, as far as restaurants are concerned, the variety becomes less apparent and modern Icelandic food becomes the most available.

Café Borgir

Situated at Dimmuborgir (or “Dark Castles”), this café served some nice café food. The café itself overlooks Dimmuborgir which is a site of very old lava pools that have since formed interstingly shaped dark lava rocks across the land. Not only do you get a view of Dimmuborgir, but you can also walk along the trails of Dimmuborgir before and/or after a meal. Or, you can avoid Café Borgir altogether and go straight to the trails but personally if you’re looking for somewhere to sit, relax and eat it’s worth the stop.

Steak Sandwich – ISK1,950

This steak sandwich, presented on a lightly grilled, rectangular sandwich, had a thin layer of steak, melted cheese, salad, and herbed aioli. It was also served with salad, and half a potato.

Hamburger – ISK1,900

This hamburger had a marinated meat patty, melted cheese, salad, aioli, and was also served with salad and half a potato.

Chocolate Cake – ISK650

This great finish to a meal was a sweet chocolate cake with ganache, giving you that extra big of energy to tackle the Dimmuborgir trails. Mind you, Dimmuborgir doesn’t exactly have challenging trails so perhaps it was a bit indulgent of me.

Swiss Mocha – ISK450

The Swiss mocha was a coffee with added chocolate and cream.

Café Latte – ISK350

The café latte was more like a flat white and pretty standard.

Fjallahaffi

This café in the middle of nowhere (and I mean nowhere) offers light meals to the passing traveller. It isn’t exactly situated on a main road either, instead along a loose gravel road which leads to an even more loose gravel road which makes this café either for locals, tourists who get lost, or people who have been told to head that way.

The café has partial walls made of piles of compacted soil, and inside seats a fair few patrons on bench style tables. The food is generally light meals including sandwiches and waffles, and the coffee is unfortunately only percolated (which to me says don’t bother!).

Ham and Cheese Grilled Sandwich – ISK570

This very simple and plain looking sandwich had two slices of thin ham and thin cheese. It was grilled and quite plain but at the same time quite satisfying (well, maybe if I had about 5 of them but I get quite hungry at times).

Kaffi Hornið

This café, being one of the few restaurants in the area of Höfn, was packed full of customers and had a small waiting room at the front. After about 20 minutes of waiting, we managed to get a table.

Langoustine with Cream – ISK4,990 (left); Langoustine with Garlic Butter – ISK4,980 (right)

Given the area is well known for seafood and especially langoustine, which is like a scampi or a small crayfish, we opted to try the local produce. The langoustine tasted as great shellfish should taste, and this particular batch was tender and flavoursome.

The two different versions tried were the garlic butter and the cream. The garlic butter added and enhanced the langoustine taste, whilst the cream was a rich, garlicky, creamy sauce that added a lot of flavour to the langoustine. The langoustine was served with grilled bread that was good at scooping up the leftover sauce. You can probably tell that I preferred the saucier option.

Fjaorargljufur Systrakaffi

Lamb Burger – ISK1,650 (right); BBQ Burger – ISK1,450 (left)

This lamb burger had tender lamb as well as roast veggies and herbs. It was also served with potato skin chips. The marinated tender lamb was full of flavour and tenderness and in the burger was surprisingly good. The potato skins were hand-cut chips.

This barbecue burger, filled with hamburger meat, bacon, and salad, was also good. However, I personally preferred the lamb burger.

Apple Pie – ISK750; Cappuccino – ISK350

This apple pie had raisins amongst the apple filling. The apple pie was of a moderate sweetness (to my liking) and nicely baked, giving a good buttery pastry and golden brown top.

The coffee was very smooth and a good, decent strength. There was also a slight and light bitter aftertaste.

Some select few photos from country Iceland: