July 2017

ICELANDIC VEGAN FOOD

During our 16-hour layover in Iceland (check it out if you haven’t already), Villn and I were excited to check out the Icelandic vegan food. We got to check out two places that served vegan food. Kaffi Vinyl served all vegan food and Ramen Momo had vegan options.  I also saw some vegan food at the Keflavik airport that was pretty damn awesome! Iceland came through with the vegan food, hip hop hooray!

KAFFI VINYL

Kaffi Vinyl is the first vegan kitchen in Reykjavik, Iceland, and is located at Hverfisgata, 76, Reykjavik, Iceland.

It is a bar, café, restaurant and record shop! At night they have DJ’s and live performances. Also, on Fridays they serve vegan sushi!

ICELANDIC VEGAN FOOD: LASAGNA

I ordered the lasagna made with tomato-based sauce, vegetables, béchamel sauce, spinach, cashew cheese and green pesto. It also came with garlic bread and a side salad.

The lasagna tasted just like lasagna with more of the tomato flavor coming through. I was craving more of the cashew cheese. The pesto was pretty good as well but I wanted more garlic lol. The salad was a nice fresh touch to the dish. Although I honestly can’t remember what type of dressing they used, I remember it being tasty and delicious. It was either an Asian type dressing or balsamic.

ICELAND VEGAN FOOD: TAMA THAI NOODLES

Villn opted for the Tama Thai noodles made with stir-fried rice noodles, peanut sauce, vegetables, cashew nuts and crispy tofu.

The Tama Thai noodles had a strong flavor of cashews and peanut sauce. Hands down that’s what made the dish taste so unique. The veggies were cooked to perfection and the pickled radish was a nice contrast to the savory noodles.

Although both dishes were good, the Tama Thai noodles were the highlight for us.

TO JUMP START OUR DAY

We also both got coffee. I got the macchiato and Villn got the Americano. The macchiato had a nice hint of sweetness and cinnamon, while Villn’s was just like a punch in the face, strong!

So if you are in Iceland and looking for a place with yummy vegan eats and good vibes, check out Kaffi Vinyl.

RAMEN MOMO

 After a couple of hours exploring the street art and shops in Reykjavik we began to crave soup to help keep us warm.

Using my Happy Cow app we found that Ramen Momo wasn’t far away!

THE INSIDE

It is a very small restaurant that sits only about 10 people comfortably. The hanging lanterns gave it a nice Asian feel. We waited about 10-15 minutes to be seated.

THE MENU

The menu is written on the wall, which is simple and easy to read.

You have the option of choosing your broth, type of noodle and toppings.

KIMCHI VEGGIE RAMEN

I ordered the miso broth (veggie-based), udon noodles and kimchi topping. The ramen also included corn, green onion, seaweed, pickled button mushrooms and carrots.

As of this moment, I have found my favorite vegan ramen (Mensho in San Francisco) so I was very tough when critiquing this ramen. The broth is not creamy at all. The flavor on a scale from 1-10 was like a 5.

The pickled mushrooms, along with the kimchi, made everything taste overboard sour. I’m not sure why they pickled the mushrooms. I would have preferred having plain boiled mushrooms instead.

With that being said, other than it being warm and having a piece of seaweed and well-cooked noodles, I probably wouldn’t order it again (I still appreciate having something warm to eat that day, though).

TOFU VEGGIE RAMEN

Villn ordered the miso broth, the rice noodles and tofu. I enjoyed Villn’s ramen more than mine and would rate it about a 6 or 7. The rice noodles were a bit odd for a ramen but the flavor of the tofu and soup came together much better than my kimchi.

Villn’s tofu ramen complimented the pickled mushrooms way better than my Kimchi ramen. So both ramen bowls were meh.

PAN-FRIED VEGGIE DUMPLINGS

We also ordered an appetizer of veggie Japanese pan-fried dumplings, which was the highlight of all that we ate here. The dumplings were slightly crisp and the veggie filling was flavored deliciously! The sauce tasted like a mixture of soy sauce and something with a hint of sweetness.

Overall the food was just ok, but the workers were very friendly and accommodating.

ICELANDIC VEGAN FOOD AT KEFLAVIK AIRPORT

The Keflavik airport has a variety of food in the refrigerated area. These include mainly sandwiches, wraps, and salads. In the departing gate area, there is only one place serving hot food and all they serve is pizza, french fries and hamburgers.

I was happy to find they had enough vegan food for me to choose from. There were also vegan avocado sushi rolls that were not pictured.

We ended up getting the Veggie with avocado hummus. It looked like a Hot Pocket and was actually really good! The fresh veggies and the hummus were surprisingly tasty!

If you are vegan/vegetarian and planning a trip to Iceland, don’t worry about the food; there will be plenty of Icelandic vegan options.

Thanks for reading about my Icelandic Vegan Food experience! – VAL PAL