Food in Iceland was definitely an experience.

There were plenty of things we enjoyed, but there were also more than a few menu items that made me lose my appetite almost immediately. Puffin, minke whale, and horse were all things I saw listed and knew, without hesitation, that I was not ordering.

And then there was hákarl—fermented Greenland shark.

It is one of Iceland’s most famous traditional foods, known for its extremely strong smell and flavor, and is often described as one of those foods you try just to say you did.

I was perfectly comfortable letting someone else have that story.

One of our favorite finds in Reykjavík was actually a vegetarian restaurant that we ended up going back to several times. It became our reliable little spot when I had reached my limit on menus featuring animals I had no interest in eating.

We did go out for one really nice Icelandic dinner one night, and decided to order mocktail Moscow Mules. They were delicious.

Then the bill arrived.

Sarah apparently saw the price before I did and made the executive decision not to tell me until after we had left the restaurant.

Probably wise.

Had either of us known what those mocktails cost while we were still sitting there, we would have eaten the entire lime, sucked every last drop from the ice, and seriously considered asking if we could take the copper mug home.

That became one of our biggest takeaways about eating in Iceland:

Food is expensive. Very expensive.

You quickly learn that a casual meal can cost considerably more than expected, and drinks can become their own financial event.

Still, there were some memorable meals along the way. When we stayed one night near Jökulsárlón, Sarah ordered lamb at the hotel restaurant and said it was the best lamb she had ever eaten.

That is saying something.

So while I may remember Icelandic food partly for the puffin, whale, horse, fermented shark, and shockingly expensive mocktails, Sarah remembers it for one incredible lamb dinner.

Either way, Iceland made sure the food portion of the trip was memorable too.