It is a bit embarrassing when another country does your national dish better than you do, but it would be hard to beat the fish and chips served at Reykjavik Fish Restaurant––oh, except perhaps for that cod and chips that time in The Anchor in Faversham.

On the corner of Geirsgata and Norðurstígur, close to the harbour front, Reykjavik Fish Restaurant is an attractive, 3-storey, red-and-white building, with their familiar cod logo above the door; an image that is also replicated on the restaurant’s napkins.

Inside, it is busy, but I manage to lay claim to a small table by the window, before going up to the counter to make my order.  I’d dined there the evening before, so this was a return visit and, although I briefly considered ordering Atlantic Char or Plokkari––a traditional Icelandic fish stew served with mash potatoes and Béchamel sauce––it was inevitable that I would repeat my previous order of fish and chips, without the need to consult the large chalkboard menu on the wall behind the counter.

The meal was substantial; good value––for Iceland; arrived swiftly to my table; and was every bit as tasty as the previous day.  Seated in sight of the masts in the harbour, it was possible to believe my cod had been freshly landed: from sea to ship to table.

The cod theme even extended to the restaurant’s décor, where overhead lights shone through dried cod skins in place of lamp shades––almost as gruesome a spectacle as it sounds, although not quite so graphic as the collections of cods’ heads I encountered hanging from front doors in the Lofotens.

Meal finished, I already find myself speculating where I will eat tomorrow night.  Somewhere different?  Nah.  When the food is this good, why go anywhere else?

© E. C. Glendenny

E. C. Glendenny knows what she likes.