On our first night in Reykjavik, we were recommended to try Icelandic Fish & Chips near the harbor area. It wasn't expensive for an organic bistro and it seemed a good way to try some seafood. Depending on the day's catch, there would be only 4-5 fish options to choose from. The place was bustling which was a good sign and we waited a few minutes for a table to open up. It was also our first foray into Icelandic casual dining where often the water, glasses, cutlery and napkins were on a sideboard which you help yourself too. There is no need to tip in Iceland so I guess it's few less things for the servers to be concerned about. For drinks, I tried a Malt Ale - a very soothing light ale with very low alcohol content. It was quite sugary and pleasant though.
Icelandic Fish & Chips does not provide ketchup. Salt&vinegar was something you had to request. Instead, they created their own in-house "skyronnaise" - a rich flavored dipping sauce made from skyr in various flavors including coriander-lime or ginger wasabi.
I chose the ling which came on a bed of mango salad. Ling is a beautiful fish - silky smooth but the batter overpowered the taste a bit. The salad was fine - unfortunately, Iceland does not import the really sweet champagne mangos. The mangos in the salad were crunchy and green.
Paul had the classic haddock and chips. The "chips" were not french fries - but rather Roasted small potatoes halved.
He also had the onion rings which were beautifully stacked, crunchy and sweet.
Overall, the fish was fresh but the flavors lacked punch - perhaps a tad more salt needed? The skyronnaise was fine at first but after a while - I was missing the salt & vinegar. The onion rings were delicious though especially when hot. As they got colder, they started to taste greasy fast. The meal was serviceable - not blow-out fantastic. Or perhaps it spoke to my ambivalence with fish&chips in general. Thinking back...I never ate it when I was in England...
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