Traveling to Iceland? Surprising Foods You Should Taste
Iceland tends to get all its attention for the Northern Lights, the volcanoes, and the dramatic landscapes that look like another planet entirely. But anyone who has actually been there will tell you that the food deserves its own conversation.
From bread baked underground by geothermal heat to hot dogs that have been feeding locals and celebrities since 1937, Icelandic cuisine is stranger, more delicious, and more culturally rich than most visitors expect. Here is what to eat before you leave.
The Hot Dog That Requires No Explanation
Do not let the word hot dog fool you into thinking this is ordinary. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, which translates to the best in town, has been serving its famous lamb, pork, and beef blend from a small red and white stand in central Reykjavík since 1937. Bill Clinton stopped here. The Kardashians stopped here. Locals stop here on their way home from work.
Order it ein með öllu, which means one with everything, and you will get raw onions, crispy fried onions, ketchup, sweet mustard, and creamy remoulade all at once. It costs almost nothing and tastes like the best decision you will make all day.
Bread Baked in the Ground
Rúgbrauð is a dense, dark, slightly sweet rye bread that has been eaten in Iceland for centuries, and the most extraordinary version of it is still made the traditional way. The pot is buried near a geothermal hot spring and left to slowly bake underground using the earth’s natural heat for a full twenty-four hours.
The result is something deeply aromatic, moist, and unlike any bread you have tried before. It pairs beautifully with smoked salmon, pickled herring, butter, or a bowl of fish stew, and the Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths offer an experience where you can watch it being pulled fresh from the ground and taste it immediately. That detail alone is worth the detour.
The Creamy Fish Stew You Did Not Know You Needed
Plokkfiskur is one of those dishes that sounds unremarkable until the first spoonful, and then you understand immediately why it has been an Icelandic comfort food staple since the eighteenth century.
It is a creamy stew of flaked white fish, potatoes, and béchamel-style sauce, typically served with a thick slice of dark rúgbrauð on the side.
Order it after a cold day outdoors, which in Iceland means pretty much any day, and it will be the most satisfying thing you have eaten in weeks.
Skyr: Iceland’s Ancient Dairy Secret
Most people encounter skyr for the first time as a trendy yogurt alternative at their local supermarket back home, but tasting it in Iceland, where it has been made since Viking times, is a different experience entirely. Technically a soft cheese made from skimmed milk and live cultures, skyr is thick, protein-rich, and gently tangy in a way that the exported versions rarely fully capture.
It is eaten at breakfast with berries and honey, as a snack, and increasingly as an ingredient in ice cream and desserts across the country. It is also one of the most nutritious things you can eat while you are there.
Humar: The Lobster That Is Not Quite Lobster
What Icelanders call lobster is technically langoustine, but that word does not do justice to how extraordinary it tastes fresh from the cold waters off the South Coast.
Cooked simply with butter, lemon, and parsley and served alongside potatoes and thick bread, it is the kind of seafood that reminds you why simplicity is so often the right answer.
The town of Höfn on the southeast coast is considered the unofficial langoustine capital of Iceland and hosts an annual festival in its honor. If your route takes you along the Ring Road, this is a stop worth planning around.
Ice Cream in a Snowstorm
This one genuinely surprises most visitors. Icelanders have a passionate, year-round obsession with ice cream, and they will queue for it in freezing temperatures without a second thought.
Ice cream parlors are social hubs where families and friends gather regardless of season or weather, and the flavors go well beyond vanilla, featuring rhubarb, licorice, skyr, and local berries.
The soft-serve version dipped in chocolate is particularly beloved, as is the bragðarefur, a customizable soft-serve loaded with candy toppings. Getting one while watching the landscape from a car park somewhere dramatic is one of those small, perfect travel moments.
Hákarl: The Dish You Try Once
No guide to Icelandic food is complete without an honest mention of hákarl, the fermented Greenland shark that is Iceland’s most notorious culinary challenge. The fresh meat of the Greenland shark is actually toxic to humans, so it is buried in gravelly sand for up to twelve weeks to neutralize the toxins, then hung to air-dry for several months.
The result smells powerfully of ammonia and tastes intensely of the sea, in a way that is very difficult to describe politely.
Anthony Bourdain called it the single worst, most disgusting, and terrible-tasting thing he had ever eaten. Gordon Ramsay spat it out. It is traditionally paired with a shot of Brennivín schnapps, a strong spirit nicknamed Black Death, which locals will tell you with a straight face helps with the flavor. Try it once. It is a genuine rite of passage, and you will have a story to tell for the rest of your life.
