Food

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Accommodations, Food/Drink, & Budgeting Tips for your Iceland Visit

When you’re are visiting Iceland, you’re probably most interested in the variety of incredible landscapes or the Northern Lights. During your visit, however, you also need to eat/drink and find places to stay. Well, there are plenty of places to stay and more places to dine and drink. Icelandic cuisine offers a variety of delicious options that will satisfy your taste buds, these can come at a price if you don’t plan carefully. Iceland can be notoriously expensive, so you probably will need to budget a little bit so you don’t go overboard.

Be sure to check out our Epic 7-Day Road Trip Itinerary for Southern Iceland

During our visits to Iceland, we wanted to try some Icelandic cuisine and do some activities while also staying within our budgets. It was a fine line to walk, but we had a pretty good balance and got to enjoy a little bit of everything. So, we put together a list of the places we stayed, dined, and also some tips at the end to help control your budget during your visit.

Accommodations

Countryside Airbnb with 3-bed Room, Reykjavik

We stayed at this Airbnb just outside of downtown Reykjavik. At around $122/night for the three of us, it’s a great budget place. It’s a cozy single-story home with several bedrooms that each can be rented out, a full kitchen, and dining room. There is also horseback riding available with this Airbnb and other outdoor activities, and it’s in a good location to see the Northern Lights.

Airbnb, Reykjavik

Airbnb, ReykjavikAirbnb, Reykjavik

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Laugarvatn is a small town that’s perfectly located near several main attractions, including Pingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss. While you’re here, you can stay at the Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel. Starting as low as $90/night, the hostel has just about everything you need, from a mini-restaurant, reading area, entertainment room, and the front desk can help arrange nearby activities. It’s also right by the Laugarvatn Lake and you can check out the geothermal spa, Laugarvatn Fontana.

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn
Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Hostel Skogar, Skogafoss

Literally right next to the Skogafoss waterfall is Hostel Skogar. We paid just over $100 for a 3-bed room, which is pretty much all it had. It’s definitely not fancy, but we could sleep, had Wi-Fi, shared bathrooms, and there was kitchen if you need to cook. There is also the Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar right next to the hostels, which has pretty decent food and drinks, but is a little pricey if you’re on a budget.

ICELAND 1 & 2_457
Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, Fagurholsmyri

If you want to enjoy a bit of luxury, then check out the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. Although it’s expectedly priced higher than a hostel, it’s still relatively affordable. You can find prices ranging around $170-240 on most nights. The hotel has modern and contemporary touches throughout. There is also a bar that has happy hour and a restaurant, though menu prices were pretty expensive and we did not eat there. We did get a complimentary buffet-style breakfast and that was pretty fantastic. It’s also located close to Hof and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, so it’s a good place to rest after the long drive from west Iceland.

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

 

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Food & Drink

Cafe Loki, Reykjavik

Bringing back one of my favorite places to eat, which is Cafe Loki. Located right across the Iceland church, Hallgrimskirkja, you can enjoy some of delicious traditional, Icelandic dishes. It’s not really the budget place to eat, as prices can range from $15-30 a person. But it’s homemade food with fresh ingredients and unique flavors. And if you’re adventurous enough, you can try their fermented shark (not very pleasant but it’s an Icelandic tradition).

Cafe Loki, Reykjavik Cafe Loki, Reykjavik

Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik

If you want the best hot chocolate in the world (in my humble opinion), you’ll have to check out Sandholt Bakery! I’m pretty serious, IT’S THAT GOOD, and you’d be hard-pressed to find me rave about something like hot chocolate! Will it run you about $6? Perhaps…but it’s totally worth it!

Ok, aside from its amazingly awesome hot chocolate (sorry!), they also have breakfast/lunch/dinner menus, make artisan bread, sandwiches, desserts, pastries, chocolates, and other beverages. Though not that cheap, it’s not terribly expensive either, and they deliver exceptional quality and tasty food…and hot chocolate!!

Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Another cafe to check out is Te & Kaffi, which also has good hot chocolate but is better known for its delicious crepes and ice cream. It appears to be a very popular place as even by closing time, it was still jammed pack with people. There are so many combinations for crepes to choose from; you can’t really go wrong with what you pick, but they all also look really good!

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik
Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik

Apparently, Iceland takes great pride in cultivating the best hot dogs. The country has some sort of odd obsession with hot dogs as it’s sometimes considered the unofficial national food. We’re not going to argue why, as we honestly think Iceland may have one the best hot dogs in the world. You can check its most famous hot dog stand, Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, a spot that former President Bill Clinton ate at. At about $4 per hot dog, it’s probably the cheapest food item you can get in the country, which is great for your budget but terrible for your health. Nevertheless, you can find Icelandic hot dogs just about anywhere you go, and it doesn’t hurt to eat 1 or 2…or 3…once in a while…not like 2 or 3 times or something.

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavik

Honestly, we didn’t eat here; I just wanted to put this in because it’s Chuck Norris. They are known for crafting good burgers, as well as providing many entertaining Chuck Norris jokes. “There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.”

Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavic Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavic

Sushisamba, Reykjavik

If you’re really looking to splurge on a luxurious meal, you can head to Sushisamba. The restaurant does serve traditional sushi and a variety of rolls but also prepares a number dishes with Icelandic traditions. The food here is really good, with the fish being some of the freshest I’ve ever had. It’s also the first time we tried puffin, which surprisingly tasted like smoked salmon, and there are other traditional Iceland dishes you can try. Expect to easily spend $30-50 per person, if not more for several dishes.

Puffin
Puffin

Sushisamba, Reykjavik

B5 Bar, Reykjavik

For such a small city, Reykjavik has a surprisingly active nightlife. Though you won’t find many “clubs,” there is a big selection of bars and pubs, many that are converted into mini-clubs during the weekends. One that you could check out is B5 Bar, a pretty trendy, more upscale looking venue compared to some other places. It supposedly has a dress-code but we walked in with our winter gear on a Friday (but it is right in the middle of winter). Drinks are pretty reasonably priced and the live music that was playing was pretty amazing.

B5 Bar, ReykjavikB5 Bar, ReykjavikB5 Bar, Reykjavik

Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn

There aren’t really many places to eat in Laugarvatn, so perhaps the best-known place is Lindin Restaurant. It was the first time I tried a reindeer burger and it was pretty good. Overall, the food is good but will run you around $30-40 a person for just a main course meal with pretty small portions, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re on a budget.

Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn

 

Budgeting Tips

Like we said, Iceland can be pretty expensive, especially for food as you won’t be finding many cheap restaurants around the country. So we’re going to drop a few tips to help you save some money for your visit.

  1. Book with WOW Airlines – WOW Airlines has become the go-to budget airline for Iceland. With one-way and round-trip flights starting as low as $99 and $199, respectively, you won’t find better flight prices than WOW Air. However, you don’t get a lot of luggage to pack; any oversized carry-on and check-in will cost a fee each way, so check their website for luggage specifications and pack accordingly. They’ll also charge you for any in-flight requests, including water and food.
  2. Pack or carry lots of nut bars/snacks, any kind of food –  Because food is expensive in Iceland, you should pack snacks, bars or any acceptable food you can fit. If you don’t have a lot of packing space, you can bring a jacket and stuff them with your snacks. This is what I shamelessly did and I filled my jacket pockets with at least 30 granola/nut bars and leftover turkey from Thanksgiving dinner. You can imagine the looks I got from TSA agents, but those things were lifesavers.
  3. Bring or reuse a water bottle – In Iceland, water is incredibly pure and clean wherever you drink it. Buying water will run you $2-3 a bottle, so instead of doing that, just reuse that first bottle and fill from the tap. It’s also good for the environment.
  4. Camp, hostels, split renting a car – Though we didn’t do any camping, you can legally camp in many places for free (with abiding rules) or a small fee for campsites, which makes it the cheapest option available. If you’re not camping, the next best option is the split hostels/Airbnb, the cheapest forms of accommodation, and it’s best to split those. A car rental can run you as low as $60-70/day, usually not including insurance unless in winter, so splitting between 3-4 people can save quite a bit from tours.
  5. Go grocery shopping – This is probably the best tip we have when it comes to saving money on food, hence being underlined. We got bread, cheese/jelly spreads, crackers, and fruits that would last us our road trip. This helped balance our dining out costs along with the bars/snacks we brought, but if you want to forgo dining out, then grocery shopping will really help save a ton. You can also buy things to cook, as hostels/Airbnbs will have kitchens to use. Grocery/convenient stores can be found all over Iceland.
  6. Eat lots of Icelandic hotdogs – Not going to be the healthiest piece of advice I ever give, but at $3 a pop, this is by far the cheapest and most filling option compared to anything else. Even most sandwiches you find in a convenient store will even run you $8-10. Plus, they’re actually pretty delicious and you can find them just about anywhere.

Iceland impressively has plenty to offer outside of its beautiful landscapes. Let us know what are some of your favorite spots to visit and also some of your best budgeting tips!

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Celebrating Winter Holiday, Christmas in Edinburgh & Paris

The winter holiday season may be over for 2016, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning for your 2017 winter holiday! Here is how Edinburgh and Paris celebrated their holiday season in 2016:

Scotland – “Edinburgh’s Christmas 2016”

Edinburgh started its Christmas celebration on November 18th and is still slated to run through January 7th, 2017. There are various locations where celebrations and activities are held.

At the Scott Monument on East Princes Street, you can find the European Christmas Market for a very festive shopping experience! As the name suggests, the market contains a large number of food, drink, arts, crafts, and cultural stands being represented by numerous countries. You’ll have no trouble chowing down on various delicacies, satisfying your sweet tooth with candies and chocolates, or keeping warm with some hearty hot wine!

The market also has a variety of rides, including the Big Wheel and the fairly intimidating Star Flyer that swings near Scott Monument (this is actually more terrifying than I had expected it to be)! There are also smaller rides, an ice skating rink, and other activities for kids and families.

Throughout other parts of the city, you’ll see brilliantly decorated lights and smaller markets. George Street features “The Street of Light,” a spectacular castle-shaped light display which has a dazzling light show with music.

Edinburgh makes sure that there is plenty to enjoy your holiday season there. How does Paris stack up against the competition?

France – Winter in Paris

Just when I thought I had my fill of Christmas Markets in Scotland and Belgium, Paris made sure I would never be satisfied! Many of the Christmas Markets this year started as early as November 11th and will continue through January 9th, 2017.

In the vast city of Paris are numerous Christmas Markets, with the largest or most prominent ones located on Champs-Élysées, La Défense, and the Eiffel Tower. Between the Christmas Markets at these three locations, there are approximately 600 stalls in total! In comparison, the main markets in Edinburgh and Brussels had 100 and 200 stalls, respectively.

We spent most of our time on the markets lined up on Champs-Élysées. The entire street is covered with Christmas lights and decorations while the sidewalks on each side of the street are set up with a total 200 stalls. Like the other markets, there is plenty to satisfy any craving or shopping need, and the shops remain open until as late as midnight, unlike other markets that usually closed around 9:00 PM. There are also many exhibits and play areas for kids, which includes an ice-skating rink, slides, animated displays.

Spending the holidays in Belgium, Scotland and France was a wonderfully festive experience and I am really looking forward to spending more winter holidays in other parts of Europe. Let us know where are your favorite places to celebrate the winter holidays!

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Indoor Shrimp Fishing – Taiwan’s Unique Take on Fishing Pastimes

If you’re looking for a truly unique activity in Taipei, then you have to check out indoor shrimp fishing. We first saw this on Anthony Bourdain’s show, “No Reservations,” and we put it down on our to-do list for our visit.

Traditionally, to go fishing people had to go to lakes, rivers and oceans but many times that would be too expensive or impractical. But shrimp fishing solves all of those problems which makes it a perfect activity for people of all ages and sizes and has become a national pastime in Taiwan.

You’re probably wondering, what exactly is shrimp fishing? In a nutshell, it’s a very popular activity Taiwan where you go into large indoor facilities and fish from giant murky water pools for large freshwater shrimp. It may sound somewhat unappealing [even I wasn’t sure what to think when I first saw this] but it is actually very entertaining and a great social activity.

There are many of these indoor shrimp fishing buildings in Taiwan. Each building can hold several large pools that are about several feet deep and houses lots of freshwater shrimp, which are refilled every hour or so. You will see dozens of people sit on each side of the pool wherever there is space. You are given a simple rod and hook, a bobble, dried shrimp bait and a net to hold your catch [and you can also bring your own equipment too]. If you’re a beginner, not a problem! There are experienced fisherman or employees that will teach you the basics to shrimp fishing.

Fishing for shrimp is simple enough: you hook your bait and drop your line into the pool hoping for the shrimp to bite. There’s no reel and the line is a finite length. If your bobble goes down, that’ll indicate that a shrimp is biting at your bait and could be time to pull out the shrimp.

Although it looks easy, there is actually quite a bit skill involved and some patience needed. Newcomers may be fortunate to catch 2 or 3 per hour, but you can even go an entire hour without catching a single shrimp! Other experienced shrimp fishers will bring their own equipment and can easily catch 10 or 12 shrimp per hour. A group of young kids next to us were catching shrimp pretty easily, maybe one every 5-10 minutes!

While catching shrimp is the goal, it is also a perfect environment for friends and families to socialize. Many people can be seen eating snacks, drinking beer and having a good time with each others’ company.

We did pretty well for our first time. We spent about 2.5 hours and it was pretty fun and relaxing. Overall, we ended up catching 21 shrimp between the four of us.

With our catch in hand, we reaped the rewards and went to grill our shrimp. We used available sinks for washing and skewering the shrimp and salt is provided for seasoning. An employee helped us grill our shrimp as we ordered some additional dishes.

We were skeptical how good the shrimp would be coming from that murky water. But we will say that it’s some of the best and most fresh tasting shrimp we’ve ever had. It does make a lot of sense that cooking shrimp right after catching them ensures them being very fresh. It was totally worth the effort and lots of fun doing it.

Shrimp fishing cost us about $10/hour per person and you keep everything you catch. If you’re an experienced fisherman, you can easily catch enough for a large meal within an hour. But if have trouble catching the shrimp or don’t have the patience, these places will offer a full menu, including the same shrimp that you can catch. Shrimp fishing is also open 24 hours and 7 days a week, so you can expect a steady stream of customers from 4 pm to even 4 am in the morning. It really is a unique experience and a fun activity that any visitor should try.

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Din Tai Fung and Those Amazing Soup Dumplings, Taipei 101 Observatory

Taipei 101 is undoubtedly a signature tourist destination in Taiwan. It’s well-recognized for its architectural design looking like a tall bamboo stalk. Standing at 508 meters, it is far taller than any other building in Taipei and, at one point, was the tallest building the world. The first five stories of the building is basically a big mall comprised of various luxury brand stores and a food court in the basement level.

While there is plenty of shopping that could be done there, we had one main goal in mind during our visit at Taipei 101: To dine at the Din Tai Fung restaurant! Din Tai Fung is a Michelin Star restaurant that serves a full menu of Taiwanese dishes but is notably famous for its xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. While we’ve eaten at Din Tai Fung in Southern California locations, there was no doubt in my mind that the food would be far better at Taipei 101. We heard wait times could be as long as three hours but luckily we arrived around 4:30 PM on a weekday, which was just before rush hour, so we only had to wait five minutes to be seated!

One of the things I thought was mesmerizing was watching the entire process to making the famous little soup dumplings. No less than 20 employees were churning this fine-tuned-dumpling-making-machine. Each individual had a responsibility from making the dough, creating small balls of dough, rolling the dough into small circles, making the filling, enclosing the filling with the dough and putting them in the bamboo steamers for cooking. I’ll post a video to show this process.

Being that we were all starving and wanted to try as many things as possible, we ordered a bunch of items from the menu. Of course we got several orders of the xiao long bao soup dumplings. Those delicate little dumplings alone, filled with tender meat and deliciously hot broth, would’ve made the visit entirely worth it. I’m pretty sure I had at least 10 soup dumplings by myself! But we didn’t stop there and also ordered their braised beef noodle soup, hot & sour soup, shrimp wontons, green dishes, steamed dumplings and buns. The dishes were all delicious and were overall better compared to the restaurants in Southern California. The ingredients and soups tasted much more authentic and flavorful. The staff was also very nice and service was great.

The total bill for our meal was about $70 for the four of us for a pretty significant amount of food. Each dish ranges from $5-10. I’d recommend going during off hours and weekdays when possible to avoid long wait times, but it’s well worth the time and price for any visitor try out some famous Taiwanese cuisine.

After our meal, we did the next touristy thing to do which was go up top to the observatory of Taipei 101. Tickets are available for $10/person on the fifth floor and our wait time to get to the elevator was about 15 minutes (but can be longer). When you get into the elevator, you will experience the fastest elevator in the world. According the the Guinness World Records, the elevator can reach the 89th floor from ground level in 40 seconds with a max speed of 37.6 mph.

From the observatory, you can walk around the observatory for a 360° view of Taipei. The views at night are beautiful and picturesque. It’s definitely part of the Taipei experience and worth checking out.

Here is the address, phone number and hours for Din Tai Fung at Taipei 101:

B1, No. 45, Shift Rd., Taipei City (Taipei 101 Mall)

TEL: 02-8101-7799  FAX: 02-8101-7800

Sun-Thu 11:00 am – 9:30 pm

Fri, Sat 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

 

For more information, visit their websites: Din Tai Fung and Taipei 101.

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Addiction Aquatic Development – Paradise for Seafood Enthusiasts in Taipei

If you’re looking for fresh seafood, the Addiction Aquatic Development is a must-see in Taipei. Seafood enthusiasts will be able to try a variety of fresh seafood such as fish, crabs, lobsters and other shellfish.

We first went into the seafood market that houses tanks of various live marine animals, including huge king crabs, spiny lobsters, tiger shrimp, various mollusks, and fish. You can see the selection and pricing of the seafood and make purchases here. Although the prices seem expensive, items are relatively reasonably priced since there is no middle-man driving up costs. You can also buy already prepared and cooked food.

Next to the tanks in the same building is the market, kitchens and restaurants. You can see the kitchens preparing a wide selection seafood meals such as sushi and sashimi boxes, raw oysters, other seafood and frozen goods. It also serves as a normal market where you can also buy fruits, vegetables, beverages and other goods.

We were excited to try some fresh seafood, so we went to the sushi bar for lunch. Although it was very busy, we only had to wait 20 minutes for our space. We ordered a platter of items that included lobster, crab, tiger shrimp, oysters, and fish, which cost us around $120 USD for four of us. It was well worth the price as the food quality was so fresh and delicious! There wasn’t anything we didn’t like and would’ve gotten a lot more if we had more cash! The service was also good and the waiters were very patient with us when we asked for something. It’s definitely a must-eat when you visit!

Afterwards, we did get a few sushi boxes to try out, which were pretty affordable at around $8-10 USD. They were good but you could tell the quality was not as high compared to the sushi bar. It’s more comparable to store-bought sushi than restaurant quality sushi, which is what you’d expect for those prices. There is also an outdoor restaurant for hot pot and grilled seafood but we did not get to try it.

So if you’re craving some seafood, the Aquatic Addiction Development is the place to go!

Some tips to know when you visit:

1. It can be very crowded during peak hours and weekends. Seating is very limited but there are standing tables available. It may be better to visit during off hours and weekdays.

2. Only cash is accepted at the Addiction Aquatic Development, no credit cards. Be sure to bring enough cash for the amount you want to eat, which I recommend around $50-100 USD (about NT$1500-3000) per person to be safe.

3. Menus do not provide English translation, but you can point to the menu based on how much you want to spend. Most of the items are pre-set platters so you don’t have to order individual items. You can also try bringing translations for what you want to order specifically.

Visit the Aquatic Addiction Development website here for more information.

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