Thrír Frakkar hjá Úlfari

We were seated immediately, without reservations, on a sleepy winter night in Reykjavík.

We came for the whale: cut from the remnants of a 35-ton block of “old stock” fin whale, the meat had been in deep freeze for about half of my lifetime, since before the 1989 ban on whaling.

For starters, whale sushi, tasting something like raw lamb.

The whale pepper steak in pepper sauce (hvalkjöts piparsteik með piparsósu) was quite good: two square-cut steaks, the top one delicious, the bottom steak tougher and slightly gamey. The creamy pepper sauce was delicious.

For dessert, skyrtaerte, a light cheesecake made with the slightly sour yogurt-like skyr. Lighter and less dense than cheesecake, but extremely smooth.

Founded by three Frenchmen,Thrír Frakkar (or Þrír Frakkar for those of us with thorns in our fonts) can be interpreted as either “3 Frenchmen” or “3 overcoats” — hence the logo.

After a while Chef Úlfar Eysteinsson came out to sit with another table, so we got to thank him on the way out.