I was in Iceland a few weeks ago, and hot dogs and burgers seemed to dominate the national cuisine. I expected more fish, but fish and chips was usually the most expensive item on the menu.
Tbh, I have been to Iceland twice and I have managed to eat very well! (Italian here)
There is no much variety, but I have eaten very good lamb (as you are saying), stews (both mean and fish), even baked goods (there was a tiny house with very good cakes in the middle of nowhere in Westfjords).
My favorite probably was a fusion sushi place (I.e. sushi with local fish) in Seydisfiordur (the town where Ben Stiller arrives to in the Walter Mitty movie BTW). I don’t think the place exists anymore (that was in 2018) but it was very good.
Sometimes you can find very good food in unexpected places (for example, I have never eaten better Mexican food than in Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland!).
Yes, very good lamb and seafood. I had a seafood stew that was excellent. I almost made myself sick because I stuffed myself with their herring too. I called it Viking sushi. :D
Yeah, the food isn’t bad at all, just not terribly varied. Except for their hot dogs; hot dogs with fried egg, vegan hot dogs with blue cheese, and a few dozen other variations.
Yah, it was lamb and salmon 99% of the time. Don’t knock seafood there though. I went to a nice place In Reykjavik and it was some of the best seafood I’ve had.
For real? Last time I was there the fish dishes were the only affordable option. A full fish plate at a restaurant was 20 euros while a simple burger was 35. Fish is the only thing they don’t have to import. In a local supermarket a loaf of bread was 8 euros, a six-pack of cheap beer 20 euros. And a beer at a bar was 17 euros. Like, wtf. I just ate fish the whole trip as it was the only affordable food there. While I’m normally a vegan, but vegan food would completely drain my wallet.
Small countries are very sensitive to price fluctuations on food. In Norway something might cost 40 nok one day and 20 the next (usually the other way round) especially imported things.
The Netherlands is part of the EU, darling. Norway isn’t. Also the exchange rate isn’t as steady so if fish is local then it’ll keep the same price in Icelandic kroner but the price for a tourist will vary because you convert the price to your own currency in your head when you travel.
Norway may not be EU but Norway is Schengen, so trade wise it’s the same.
Yeah I do convert the prices in my head, but the currency does not fluctuate so much that in the morning a beer is super expensive and in the evening fish is cheap. When I was there I was there twice for 3 days. There’s no hyper inflation in Iceland so when I compare 2 products, I bought them on the same day, maybe 1 day apart and the currency should be stable enough to barely fluctuate compared to the euro during that time.
We dont use the Euro. We pay the same price day to day in nok for local goods and get charged the same price in euros for imported goods. So if the krone drops in value compared to the Euro, the price in nok goes up. So someone could come to Norway when the crown was strong and the locally produced fish would seem very expensive compared to imported meat. Or come when the krone was weak against the Euro and think the fish was really cheap. Im not saying the price would fluctuate significantly day to day but it stands to reason that you could regard the fish as cheap and someone visiting at a different time might think it’s expensive. Even if the price in isk is the same.
The price of things produced in Norway are tied to the strength of nok, things produced in Iceland are tied to the strength of isk and things produced in the Eurozone is tied to the strength of the euro. Iceland only produces fish, sheep, root vegetables and bananas. So the price of those things will remain stable to people who live in Iceland whereas imported stuff will cost more or less based on the relationship between isk and euro. A tourist paying a set price in isk for a serving of rotten shark might think it’s expensive relative to a steak imported from the EU if the exchange rate is such that you get more Icelandic kroner for your euro. If the exchange rate is such that you get fewer kroner for your euro the rotten shark will seem pretty expensive. Because despite the price of the rotten shark being exactly the same in isk, its more expensive in euros.
But to take your example, the price of Hansa, Ringnes, Mack, and Dahls is about the same but Heineken and hoegaarden have gone up in nok despite paying the same price in euro. But Norway isn’t a great example tbh because the prices are set by a cartel of 4 large companies who are prone to price gouging.
From what I remember, burgers were usually about 3500 isk, while fish and chips awas 5000 isk. I think that’s about €25 and €35. I’ve seen several restaurants with prices in that range, but I didn’t remember all the prices.
I was in Iceland a few weeks ago, and hot dogs and burgers seemed to dominate the national cuisine. I expected more fish, but fish and chips was usually the most expensive item on the menu.
No sheep ? I remember mutton being half the dishes, and fish being the rest.
But then if you go to Iceland for the food, you’re probably coming from a terrible place.
Tbh, I have been to Iceland twice and I have managed to eat very well! (Italian here)
There is no much variety, but I have eaten very good lamb (as you are saying), stews (both mean and fish), even baked goods (there was a tiny house with very good cakes in the middle of nowhere in Westfjords).
My favorite probably was a fusion sushi place (I.e. sushi with local fish) in Seydisfiordur (the town where Ben Stiller arrives to in the Walter Mitty movie BTW). I don’t think the place exists anymore (that was in 2018) but it was very good.
Sometimes you can find very good food in unexpected places (for example, I have never eaten better Mexican food than in Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland!).
Yes, very good lamb and seafood. I had a seafood stew that was excellent. I almost made myself sick because I stuffed myself with their herring too. I called it Viking sushi. :D
Yeah, the food isn’t bad at all, just not terribly varied. Except for their hot dogs; hot dogs with fried egg, vegan hot dogs with blue cheese, and a few dozen other variations.
Yah, it was lamb and salmon 99% of the time. Don’t knock seafood there though. I went to a nice place In Reykjavik and it was some of the best seafood I’ve had.
For real? Last time I was there the fish dishes were the only affordable option. A full fish plate at a restaurant was 20 euros while a simple burger was 35. Fish is the only thing they don’t have to import. In a local supermarket a loaf of bread was 8 euros, a six-pack of cheap beer 20 euros. And a beer at a bar was 17 euros. Like, wtf. I just ate fish the whole trip as it was the only affordable food there. While I’m normally a vegan, but vegan food would completely drain my wallet.
Small countries are very sensitive to price fluctuations on food. In Norway something might cost 40 nok one day and 20 the next (usually the other way round) especially imported things.
I live in the Netherlands, we don’t have that. Might it be because so much is imported and needs to be transported far to many rural areas in Norway?
Also, fish should be steady in Iceland as it has a steady inflow, being a local product.
The Netherlands is part of the EU, darling. Norway isn’t. Also the exchange rate isn’t as steady so if fish is local then it’ll keep the same price in Icelandic kroner but the price for a tourist will vary because you convert the price to your own currency in your head when you travel.
Norway may not be EU but Norway is Schengen, so trade wise it’s the same.
Yeah I do convert the prices in my head, but the currency does not fluctuate so much that in the morning a beer is super expensive and in the evening fish is cheap. When I was there I was there twice for 3 days. There’s no hyper inflation in Iceland so when I compare 2 products, I bought them on the same day, maybe 1 day apart and the currency should be stable enough to barely fluctuate compared to the euro during that time.
We dont use the Euro. We pay the same price day to day in nok for local goods and get charged the same price in euros for imported goods. So if the krone drops in value compared to the Euro, the price in nok goes up. So someone could come to Norway when the crown was strong and the locally produced fish would seem very expensive compared to imported meat. Or come when the krone was weak against the Euro and think the fish was really cheap. Im not saying the price would fluctuate significantly day to day but it stands to reason that you could regard the fish as cheap and someone visiting at a different time might think it’s expensive. Even if the price in isk is the same.
That would mean all prices would go up or down, not just fish. It’s not like fish is connected to the strength of the nok, but bread and beer are not.
The price of things produced in Norway are tied to the strength of nok, things produced in Iceland are tied to the strength of isk and things produced in the Eurozone is tied to the strength of the euro. Iceland only produces fish, sheep, root vegetables and bananas. So the price of those things will remain stable to people who live in Iceland whereas imported stuff will cost more or less based on the relationship between isk and euro. A tourist paying a set price in isk for a serving of rotten shark might think it’s expensive relative to a steak imported from the EU if the exchange rate is such that you get more Icelandic kroner for your euro. If the exchange rate is such that you get fewer kroner for your euro the rotten shark will seem pretty expensive. Because despite the price of the rotten shark being exactly the same in isk, its more expensive in euros.
But to take your example, the price of Hansa, Ringnes, Mack, and Dahls is about the same but Heineken and hoegaarden have gone up in nok despite paying the same price in euro. But Norway isn’t a great example tbh because the prices are set by a cartel of 4 large companies who are prone to price gouging.
From what I remember, burgers were usually about 3500 isk, while fish and chips awas 5000 isk. I think that’s about €25 and €35. I’ve seen several restaurants with prices in that range, but I didn’t remember all the prices.
It’s insane how expensive fish is in Iceland. Yay fishing monopoly!