Fire & Ice - Best Meal in Iceland

A little unexpectedly, the best meal we had in Iceland was not at a restaurant - but at a guesthouse near Akeureyi. The Skjaldarvik guesthouse provided dinner if you ordered in advance - they also offered special "Ride & Bite" tours which consisted of a 1.5 hour horseback riding tour plus dinner for a decent price. There were two choices for starters and entree - I had the "Secret" Soup - a vegetarian concoction - they would not reveal the ingredients or the recipe. The secret soup was fine - I detected onion, swede, paprika.

Paul had the foal carpaccio which was amazingly tender - dressed in olive oil, lemon, s&p, some arugula and parmesan.

The foal was a very good dish. For the entree, chicken lasagna didn't entice so we both had the organic lamb with mint creme fraiche which was excellent. It was paired with a little salad and a beautiful slice of potato galette cake. This is quite a fiddle to make as I have looked into it. After making very thin slices of potato with a mandolin, you layer them over one another with onion etc. before baking. Afterwards, we gave our compliments to the female chef and she asked if we would like dessert.

We were both full but if this was the standard of her cooking, we should not refuse! We were both given a beautiful dessert which she called "Fire & Ice". A hot molten chocolate cake bomb in a hot glass paired with ice cream which was devastatingly well-executed.

Beautifully presented - the chef used tear-outs from old books to serve as liners. Home cooking at its very best.