How to buy ice cream in Iceland!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream – how to buy ice cream in Iceland!

It may come as a surprise, but in Iceland, we eat ice cream all year round, in any weather and at any time of day.

My guess is that you have eaten an ice cream or two in your lifetime. Buying an ice cream isn‘t complicated, you choose your flavor, in a cup or in a cone, sorbet or frozen yogurt, sundae or milkshake. So why do I feel the need to write this blog about buying ice cream in Iceland? Because we’ve mastered the art of mixing ice cream and candy!

So, most ice cream parlors have both soft-serve ice cream and regular (scooped) ice cream – but I am going to explain to you how to order the two most popular types of soft-served ice cream.

Soft-serve ice cream in a cone

1. In most ice cream parlors, you can choose between wafer style cones (in Icelandic brauðform) or waffle cones (vöffluform).
2. Once you have selected your cone, now choose your ice cream! The flavors can be quite different: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana or many Icelander’s favorite licorice. Or the choice between the “old” style and the “new” style vanilla ice cream. The old style one being very cold and a little bit watery (if we are being honest) and the new one being more luscious and creamy.
3. Now choose your toppings!
   1. First choose your dip: chocolate, luxury chocolate, caramel or licorice – they form a hard shell on your ice cream.
   2. Finally, you choose a sweet topping: Snickers, licorice, rice krispies, Nóa Kropp (Icelandic corn puffs covered with chocolate), nuts, Þristur (Icelandic licorice chocolate sweets) and so much more.

Well ok, the difficult part might be eating it without getting ice cream all over you because the dip tends to crack as you bite into it. So pro-tip: take a napkin and use your free hand as a safety net!

“Tastefox” – the flurry

We call this a “bragðarefur”, which literally means “tastefox” – probably because once you’ve tasted it, it’s gotten a hold on you!

1. You begin by choosing between a small or a big flurry – a small one is my recommendation.
2. Now select your favorite ice cream type (I prefer vanilla…just sayin’).
3. You then get to pick three ingredients for your flurry (usually three, and if you want more you can pay a little extra). Again, you can choose between so many different things – strawberries (very popular), blueberries, bananas, Snickers, Mars, Þristur, nuts, Smarties, Daim, hot chocolate fudge or caramel sauce, licorice, Hockeypulver (salty licorice powder) and more and more and more…

Some ice cream parlors have a flurry menu, but usually, we just mix in what we like – and its sooooooooo good!

My favorite mix includes strawberries, Snickers and Þristur or Mars, Daim, strawberries and hot caramel sauce. If I am in a certain kind of mood, I’ll choose strawberries, Hockeypulver and Þristur. And please don’t be afraid of the licorice! When in Iceland – eat like an Icelander!

You’ll find some ice cream parlors downtown but my preferred are Vesturbæjarís in the west part of Reykjavík and Ísbúð Huppu, a little further than Laugardalur.

My job is done here – be creative and enjoy your ice cream!