Sjávarpakkhúsið Restaurant Experience

I recently had the pleasure of visiting and trying the menu at Sjávarpakkhúsið, a lovely restaurant in Stykkishólmur, right at the charming harbour. 

Stykkishólmur is a beautiful town situated in the western part of Iceland, in the northern part of the Snæfellnes península, where most of the people make their living from fishing and tourism. Stykkishólmur also has the most charming and colourful houses in Iceland!

Our table was reserved for 7pm and when we arrived we were warmly greeted by the staff and directed to our table. The restaurant was small with fishermen pictures hanging on the walls and looked so cozy with low lights and candles, just the perfect atmosphere.

We started by ordering appetizers and we chose cod cheeks with rhubarb barbeque and smoked mayo and scallop ceviche with ponzu dulce and pickled onions. 

I can’t really pick a favourite from these two appetizers because they were both sooo good but the scallop ceviche was perfection! Just wow! All those flavours and textures! Absolutely amazing!

After the appetizers it was time for the main course and we had wolfish with celeriac puree with a beautiful and marvelous sauce made with horseradish cream and kombu caviar that Sara poured beautifully at the table. We also ordered lemon sole with chanterelles, brown butter and almonds. I still can’t get over of the wolfish! Again all those flavours brought so well all together and the beautiful presentation…! At this point i just wished i could pause the time and just enjoy that moment where I felt so happy and grateful for this experience that was so special!

After the main course we still kept a little space for dessert and Sara recommended us the chocolate mousse with vanilla ice cream and cardamom crumble and love balls with vanilla custard sauce, in Icelandic “ Ástarpungur”.

Ástarpungur technically means “love testicles”, probably named like that due to it’s shape. They are sometimes called “ Ástarkúlur” - or love balls - as well, which is usually used in English, it just sounds better than love testicles :)

Ástarpungur it’s also used by sweet grandmothers when refering to their grandchildren as a cute way of calling them!

Never the less both the love balls and the chocolate mousse were delicious! The vanilla sauce for the love balls was heaven!

This place is adorable and the whole experience was beautiful and I can’t recommend this place enough! 

For me this was one of the best dinning experiences i have had so far!

Sjávarpakkhúsið benefits from being so close to the fish market and therefore easily gets fresh food daily from the sea.

The food tasted as good as it looked and is beautifully prepared and presented, and the chef surely knows how to put all those flavours together with so much creativity.

I can’t recommend enough this restaurant! Make sure to add this place to your list when visiting Stykkishólmur and also not a bad idea to make a reservation to avoid disappointment due to its limited capacity and popularity this place tends to be fully booked easily!

Thank you Sara for the warm welcome and the lovely evening we had and see you again in the summer! 😊

Sjávarpakkhúsið Restaurant