Sometimes when you are cruising, it is just simply a nice idea to not go back for lunch, and to try some local stuff. I know it means paying for a meal when it was already included, but it is a break from the on-board style and company, and gives you a chance to have something completely different, as the food may never adapt to local supplies.
We broke away from an organised tour in Akureyri to sample the delights of the town. The local church/cathedral was on the list but it was closed for an hour or so for a funeral, so we decided to have lunch and go back. Our good intention was that the big breakfast would mean that a small lunch would suffice.
We chose Bautinn http://www.bautinn.is/ because it was convenient, with no other recommendation or thought and that it had a menu we could understand and a price that was manageable. However, looking at the menu suggested that there were things here that we might never get anywhere else:
Guillemot was not to my taste, but when did I last eat Grilled Whale, and when would I get it again?
So decision made. It works out about £24.
So this is what you get alongside your soup and salad. Two kinds of sauce, but I am not a great one for cowberries with my whale, and I am not certain what Cowberries are.
It looks like a hunk of red meat off the grill, a bit like a chunky rib chop. Tastewise, it was like game - venison like. It was also hot enough scoring an 8.5 on the CHOF scale. It was a heavy meat, and you would have not guessed it came from a sea creature: it did not have the salty/fishy taste of the sea. I asked and was told that this was minke which some campaigners would prefer you do not eat.
http://uk.whales.org/campaigns/visiting-iceland-please-do-not-eat-locals but if you eat one animal.....
This may be a tourist curiosity, but what the heck. It is worth the experience, but game is not something that I would eat every week.
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