I went to Iceland in 2005. I tried the shark but didn’t like it very much.
I haven’t traveled nearly as extensively as some of you others here on the SDMB, but I’ve visited around 15 different countries (mostly in Europe/Eastern Europe) over the past 10 years or so, and about 20 different countries in total, and I always gauge the relative cost of a new place on how much (in USD) a local beer runs in a local’s bar (NOT a tourist trap, as that changes everything; Even in places that are typically very inexpensive, you can always find overpriced watering holes catering to clueless American tourists) and I was led to believe that Iceland was even more expensive for a boozy night on the town than places like London, Tokyo, Zurich or other places renown for separating tourists from their disposable bux…
You’ll soon be gnawing on sheep heads like KFC.
According to this, a beer is on average from 600800 ISK ($5-$7 dollars.) Not exactly cheap, but better than the $8-10 a pint it used to be. From what I understand, it’s more expensive in Sweden and Norway.
My ex-wife spent some time in Iceland, and her answer to this question would have been “canned tomatoes”. Everything else was too expensive to buy. Since she was on a language course and on a limited income, she survived mainly off of spaghetti and that lone vegetable. And since she’d only just started eating meat again after years of vegetarianism, she wasn’t about to try innards, rotten shark, or anything like that. She did say the coffee there was universally excellent, though, probably because like in Seattle everyone demanded the best.
I’m just going to link to this comic and leave it at that. 
Come on now - is this really the common, everyday cuisine of Iceland, or is it a list of specifically-selected “gross” foods? I do not believe that all the cuisine of any country can be summed up by a few of its most unappealing dishes. Surely they eat regular cuts of meat there, prepared by grilling or roasting? Regular smoked, grilled, or baked fish? Potatoes, bread, vegetables? Spices and seasoning? I mean, they’re not a clan of trolls, they’re normal people. There has got to be more to Icelandic food than the meals described by the OP.
. . . must . . . not . . . google . . .
I’ve had maybe one of those items – the blood sausage, which I bought during a stopoff in Reykjavik (and probably violated USDA regulations by bringing into the country). It was really good of its kind, but I like blood sausages.
Wonderful! I’ve seen those comics before, but not that one!
Here’s a relevant Youtube video: Dating Viking Women
Love the snort at the end, which is also supposedly an Icelandic cultural quirk; Icelanders don’t suppress their sniffles, but instead elevate them into the kinds of snorts we only do when there’s nobody around.
I lived there as a kid many years ago. I remember there was an icelandic fish called eysa that my mom deep fried, it was delicious. The bakeries baked fresh bread daily, my mom would give me a few kroner and send me to run down to the bakery and get it while it was still hot. There would be a huge crowd of kids at the same time for the same reason. Then you ran home and ate the hot, fresh bread with butter. Also delicious! I also remember seeing fish dried on long rows of racks with flies buzzing around them and a very not-good smell. Didn’t like the dried fish!
That is awesome. I have to remark on one of the comments: “Surströmming doesn’t taste nearly as bad as it smells… but it’s still pretty bad imo.” See, I’ve heard this from various people, and it’s pure bullshit. It tastes exactly like it smells: like a cross between a rotting corpse and dog shit. Not that I’ve ever eaten either of those items, but I’m pretty damned sure they’d taste like surströmming. And I’m someone who likes pickled, fermented foods in general.
I vacationed in Iceland a couple years ago. Overall the food was good, similar to other Nordic countries I suppose. Went to a couple of very nice upscale restaurants in Reykjavik (forget the names) which were excellent. Tried a sample of harkarl at a farmers market-type place in Reykjavik. It was indeed nasty, probably one of the worst thing’s I’ve tasted but I managed to get it down. My impression is that Icelanders don’t tuck into a big meal of harkarl, they just have a little cube of it on a toothpick before downing a shot of Brenevin (caraway-infused schnapps). The puffin was pretty good, and I became fairly addicted to skyr (similar to yogurt). Not sure if you’re into this, but I also enjoyed the minke whale steak. Their minke whale “fishing” industry is probably fairly sustainable/ecologically innocuous compared to most “real fish” fisheries, but I wouldn’t try the fin whale.
One of the best meals I have ever eaten was at Voxin the Hilton in Reykjavik. It was prix fixe multi-course with an optional wine pairing. Very expensive but well worth it. All of the food was from Scandanavia, but no rotten shark; just good lamb, seafood, cheese, beef, etc. One of the most delightful parts was ice creams that were included with some of the courses. The smoked cream cheese ice cream was amazing. The chef is brilliant, the decor is stunning, and the service was flawless.
I was there in April and yes, that’s the cost of a beer. All in all I was pretty surprised how expensive Iceland wasn’t. I expected it to be a bit cheaper than how it had used to be, but it ended up feeling quite normal.
Then again, normal for me is Stockholm.
I went on a Golden Circle tour (pretty much the one you have to do and it is worth it) and our tourguide decided to take in the site of the last McDonalds in Iceland (McDs deserted the place when the shit went down) and the site of a large Bauhaus (German DIY place) store that was completed just as the collapse happened so they never get round to opening it.
He was an unusual chap.
Good on rye bread.
Kind of an acquired taste but it’s a bit like fish jerky. Really good for hiking, it’s really light and basically pure protein.
Didn’t have this, but “smoked and boiled” sounds a bit like cold-smoked reindeer which is really good. Try the lamb in any form, it’s great.
Also, go here, it’s in the dock area. The lobster soup (it’s not actually lobster, though, it’s spiny lobster) is, like so many other things in Iceland, “besta í heimi”, but this time I think it actually is.
In a recent thread here on the world’s worst cuisine, the topic of Icelandic food was raised. I’ll repost my comments from there, with some minor corrections:
[ul]
[li]There are actually two kinds of hákarl (fermented (or “rotten”, if you prefer) shark): glerhákarl and skyrhákarl. The latter is actually quite nice; it tastes like a very strong cheese. But the former tastes to me pretty much like badly decomposed fish doused liberally in ammonia. Neither of them is particularly popular among Icelanders; I suspect most of them haven’t tried them, and would be just as squeamish as foreigners about trying them. They’re available in supermarkets, but you’ll have trouble finding a restaurant with it on the menu. I don’t think it’s fair to judge an entire culture’s cuisine on the basis of a single objectionable dish which most people don’t eat anyway.[/li][li]So if you’re looking for an offputting Icelandic dish that people actually do eat, consider svið (singed and boiled sheep’s head). The appearance may be revolting to some, and there’s not much meat on the face (apart from the tongue) but what little there is tastes good.[/li][li]Icelandic hot dogs (pylsur) are the best in the world, IMHO. They’re always made with a combination of lamb and one other meat (beef or pork), and served with a delicious mustard (pylsusinnep), remoulade, and fried-to-a-crisp bits of onion. The crunchy onions add a lovely texture. [/li][li]Skyr is a sort of yogurty soft cheese which almost everyone loves to eat. It’s delicious—a bit tangier and creamier than yogurt—and available plain or in various flavours.[/li][li]Puffin and whale are commonly available, both in supermarkets and restaurants, and taste quite good.[/li][li]Anyone who loves seafood will find something to enjoy in Icelandic cuisine. If anyone’s interested in sampling it, there’s a restaurant in Reykjavík which has an enormous seafood buffet every night.[/li][/ul]
If you want to try svið, go to the cafeteria in the bus station (the BSÍ long-distance station, not the Hlemmur city bus station). Most of the nice restaurants (including the ones I mentioned serving whale, puffin, and the fish buffet) can be found in and around the main shopping street, Laugavegur. The fish buffet is in the Restaurant Reykjavík, but there are lots of other great seafood restaurants downtown and in and around the harbour area. Also, if your hotel or guest house has kitchen facilities, don’t discount self-catering as an occasional option. Bónus is the local discount supermarket (there’s one on Laugavegur), and there you can buy hangikjöt (strongly flavoured smoked lamb), sinnep (mustard), and brauð (bread) to make sandwiches, as well as the aforementioned hot dogs, hákarl, and Brennivín (caraway schnapps). Be sure to pick up a bag of kleinur, which is a sort of addictive twisted donut, for munching during the day.
One word: Sissy! There’s really nothing special about the taste, a bit salty, but that’s about that.
I’ve tried Hákarl several times. It’s … interesting. It has very little flavour as such but when chewed it emits a very strong ammonia odour. Like licking a public urinal, I imagine. I’m fascinated by it (in the “how on earth could any culture produce this and call it “food”?”-sense), but I don’t think I’ll ever grow fond of it.
I can definitely see why it is often coupled with strong liquor on the side.
You’ll be just in time for Icelandic Honey Bee Week!
Strueth!