Favourite shops of an Icelandic foodie

There is much to be said about the bounty of Icelandic restaurants and the great variety of food they have to offer, none of which will be stated in this article. This is all about the best places to shop for great food.

Kolaportið is a giant flea market located in the centre of Reykjavik. There are stands that sell wool sweaters, second hand clothes, shoes, old books, sunglasses, and you name it. The interesting part is however the food corner of this market. There you get a glimpse of rural Icelandic food culture. There are so many types of dried fish available that it is hard to choose (luckily many of the vendors offer a taste of their product). There you can buy traditional Icelandic bread, like flatbrauð (dense, thin flatbread), Icelandic rye bread and soðbrauð (fried white bread), and a variety of sweets that were popular when my mother was young. Also a great variety of fish, both cured, smoked, and frozen (good quality though). It is also a home to a lot of the pickled and fermented food often offered to tourists to shock them. This food is usually only available in supermarkets in January/February but all year around in Kolaportið, for those who actually love it. In addition to this, Kolaportið is one of the best places to buy Asian products in Iceland, even the fish- and meat venders sell cuts not common in Icelandic cuisine but popular in Asian cuisine. It is a bit of culture clash, but in the best possible sense.

A ddress : Tryggvagata 19 , 101 Reykjavik

Búrið is an acclaimed gourmet store in Reykjavik. It is a shop that first and foremost sells cheese but has a great variety of other gourmet products, a lot of them from Icelandic producers. A personal recommendation is the horse salami from Tairello, an Italian that relocated to Iceland a few years back. Búrið has a big role in the Icelandic food scene as 2-3 times a year they put up a giant food market in Harpa concert hall, featuring local producers and companies importing gourmet food.

A ddress : Grandagarður 35, 101 Reykjavik

Matarbúrið is one of the best places to go for beef. It is run by the farmers of Háls and they mostly sell meat from their own animals. The beef is grassfed, relatively cheap and the flavour is great. They also make beef jerky, jams, chutneys and mustard which they sell in the store. The staff is really knowledgeable so it is great to have a chat and get ideas on how to cook what you are buying.

A ddress : Grandagarður 29, 101 Reykjavik

Frú Lauga is the place to visit to buy organic groceries and to buy vegetables and meat “straight from the farmer”, who sell their meat directly to Frú Lauga. The variety of vegetables depends on the season but there is always something interesting to be had which is not available anywhere else.

A ddress : Laugalækur 6, 105 Reykjavík

Pylsumeistarinn is one of the best things about Polish immigrants in Iceland (their brand refers to Poland). The name translates as the master of sausages, a title the shop lives up to. Even though sausages are a favourite fast food in Iceland, the Icelandic sausages available in shops by the ring road are a far cry from the great sausages found in Germany and Poland. The sausages available in Pylsumeistarinn are the real deal, they are made on site so the staff know exactly what is in them. The variety is great, there are traditional sausages, some with exciting spices and others with an Icelandic twist, like lamb sausages with blueberries.

A ddress : Hrísateigur 47, 105 Reykjavik

Hagkaup is a supermarket brand with stores in Reykjavik and in three other towns. The reason for which a supermarket gets a place on the list of shops for foodies is their variety of fruit and vegetables, which can be lacking in other supermarkets. It is always fun to check the produce in Hagkaup and see if there are some fruit or vegetables you have never tasted before.

Locations: See map and addresses here

Melabúðin is a small grocery store about a 15 minute walk from Reykjavik Centre. The amount of stuff cramped into this small space is nothing short of astounding. The variety is great, there you can find just about everything you need in addition to a lot of gourmet products not easily found in other places in Iceland. The variety of vegetables is just about as good as it gets, and a lot of it is organic and the variety of cheese is better than in just about any supermarket. There you can even buy food to go, like crispy pork, Icelandic meat soup, French fries, sheep head and Icelandic blood pudding.

Address: Hagamelur 39, 107 Reykjavik