We started our trip in the capital city of Reykjavik, by far the most populous part of Iceland (over half of the country's population resides in the greater Reykjavik area). A lot has been made out of how expensive Reykjavik is and with good reason. Quite a bit of the food and goods are imported, as most of the land isn't suitable for growing food. However, being from New York, we were used to hunting for a bargain.
Our first meal was at Saegreiffin, or the Sea Baron, a little seafood shack located near Reykjavik's harbor. The building is a vibrant shade of teal, fitting in well with the city's many colored buildings, and a row of headless fish hangs appetizingly from the roof.
We had read a New York Times article instructing us to try the relatively inexpensive lobster soup. And so we did! Well, Q did, but I tried a bit. The soup was pretty darn generous with the lobster meat, and it was ever so fresh. The soup was accompanied with crusty bread and an Icelandic butter called Smjor. That wouldn't be the last time I ate Smjor. Seriously, that stuff is awesome.
As for me, I perused the menu before deciding on my lunch. They don't have a printed menu, but rather a fridge with various raw fish kebobs that you choose and they cook up for you. Being fresh off a plane and ready to dive into all that Iceland had to offer, I chose the whale.
I had read that whale tasted a lot like beef tenderloin, and now I can confirm this. That's what I do. Confirm facts. The texture is EXACTLY like beef, but the flavor was like cow raised completely on fish. That sounds completely logical, but it was unexpected. Q thought it tasted a bit like liver, but I was stuck on the fish-fed cow image. It was good, but I don't know if I'll be eating whale again any time soon. We did some whale-watching later in our trip, and now I feel a little bit bad. Luckily, I have no soul.
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