Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [179]
Friðrik V (Map Click here; 461 5775; Kaupvangsstræti 6; small plates from Ikr600, 5-course meals from Ikr10,000; 6-10pm Tue-Sun) If you’re going to choose one place to splash out on a gourmet Icelandic meal, this is the right place to do it. Friðrik’s eponymous master chef helped create our ‘Unofficial Foodie Tour’ – see the boxed text – and is known throughout the country for championing the Slow Food Movement. Each dish is a carefully prepared medley of locally sourced ingredients presented in a forward-thinking manner. There’s skyr brulée, filet mignon carpaccio, rhubarb sorbet, langoustine with roasted veggies, skyr mozzarella caprese…the list goes on. In summer, the owners organise a weekly ‘food safari’ (Ikr20,000) where they take visitors around Eyjafjörður to collect ingredients for their evening meal. Those who can’t afford to splurge should at least stop by during the day and sample a few tapas treats at the in-house delicatessen.
Quick Eats
On the pedestrian shopping mall are several small kiosks selling hot dogs, chips, burgers, sandwiches and soft drinks.
Nætursalan (Map Click here; Strandgata) Near the Nyja-Bíó cinema, this is the most popular fast-food place with the late-night crowd. It’s open until at least 3am on Friday and Saturday night. Don’t go here when you’re sober – people will think you’re weird.
Brynja (Map Click here; Aðalstræti 3; 9am-11.30pm) Slightly out of the centre but well worth the effort to get to, this legendary sweet shop is known across Iceland for the best ice cream in the country.
Self-Catering
Akureyri has a great choice of supermarkets. The biggest is the huge Netto (Map Click here; Glerágata) in the Glerártorg shopping mall. Samkaup-Strax (Map Click here; Byggðavegur) is near the campsite west of the centre, and there are two cut-price Bónus (Map Click here; UndirhlíÐ) supermarkets, one of which is behind the youth hostel. There’s also the handy 1011.
Vín Búð (Map Click here; 462 1655; Hólabraut 16; 11am-6pm Mon-Thu, to 7pm Fri, to 4pm Sat), the government alcohol shop, is near the Borgabíó cinema.
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DRINKING
Akureyri has some lively nightlife, but compared with Reykjavík it’s all pretty tame. The following hangouts make up the best drinking dens in town. Make sure to try Kaldi, a local beer; tours of the microbrewery (the only one in Iceland) can be organised at the info centre.
Café Amour (Map Click here; 461 3030; Ráðhústorg 9; 11am-1am Sun-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat) Stylish and sophisticated, Café Amour tries hard to lure in Akureyri’s bright young things with its lengthy cocktail list and New World wines. The small club upstairs is pretty garish but draws the crowds at weekends.
Café Karolína (Map Click here; 461 2755; Kaupvangsstræti 23; 3pm-1am Sun-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat; ) Self-consciously cool and a favoured hangout with the young and trendy, Karolina is a relaxed place serving a limited selection of coffee and cakes. The deep leather sofas and mellow music make it easy to while away a few hours here.
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THE AKUREYRI RUNTUR
Bored, restless and keen to be seen, Akureyri’s teenagers have developed their own brand of runtur (literally ‘round tour’). While Reykjavík’s world-famous equivalent demands a hard stomach and a disco nap (Click here), in Akureyri you just need to be old enough to borrow a car. From about 8pm on any night of the week (though usually Friday and Saturday), you’ll see a procession of cars, bumper to bumper, driving round and round in circles along Skipagata, Strandgata and Glerárgata. The speed rarely rises above 5km/h, but horns blare and teenagers scream out to each other until the wee hours.
Runtur