Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2006, Side 25

As a candy critic, my goal was to find out where you’ll
get the best “bland í poka” (mixture of candy in a small
plastic bag) in downtown Reykjavík. Here in Iceland,
these candy stores, scattered all around the city, are called
“sjoppur”, always in a maximum 10 minutes walking dis-
tance, with a selection usually far beyond what is needed.
Just to mention some of the diverse sugary sweets to be
found in Iceland’s candy stores-highlighting the candy
makers creativeness in the meantime- there are sweet,
sour and peppery bonbons, gummy-lips and gummy-
mushrooms, chocolate fingers, liquorice coins, sour apple
rings, salted skulls, not to mention the ever-popular salty
smilies.
With 2000 krónur in my pocked, I headed up Lauga-
vegur, feeling like a kid again as I was scouting for the
best candy in town. As a kid, I always took my time to
select diligently what sweets would end up in my small
plastic bag, but on my first stop at Víkivaki I decided
to change my old habits and allow the smiling saleslady
make the pick.
“Want anything special?” she asked as I handed her
200 krónur. (For 200 krónur you get roughly about 200
grams of candy, but somehow the quantity varied quite
a bit between shops… rarely did anyone use the scale.)
Víkivaki doesn’t offer a great variety, and some of the
candies weren’t the freshest found on my route, but I
didn’t come out empty handed.
Picking out my favourites, I kept on walking up
Laugavegur and went into Vínberið, a crowded candy
store, with an inviting variety of fancy chocolates. There
I had to queue in front of the self-serving candy bar as
a group of kids were stuffing their bags. “You know, it’s
50% off on nammidagur (candy day) “ a small boy said to
me, “so you get twice as much candy,” he continued with
a big smile and swallowed a marshmallow.
It’s worth noting that many candy shops now have
a discount on “bland í poka” during weekends, but
unfortunately I picked the wrong day to go candy hunt-
ing. Although the bags at Vínberið are fancy and all, the
portions aren’t large. Unsatisfied with my small amount,
I decided to make a right turn and look for the candy
shops in the small streets around Laugavegur.
Drekinn on Njálsgata was my first pick. Featuring
a particularly yummy candy counter, with all kinds of
sweets and loads of Icelandic specialties like “kúlusúkk”,
“bombur” and lemon, cherry, liquorice flavoured bon-
bons. As I set of with a packed bag and a lollypop in my
mouth, I decided that Drekinn has to be regarded as one
of the tops in town, with great variety, tasty candy and
fairly cheap compared to the others. Also on Njálsgata,
Heimabíó offers a rather good candy selection although
the quality is nothing above average. In Krambúðin, on
the other hand, I got some delicious creamy caramels as
I spotted the big selection of chocolates at the candy bar,
offering everything you could dream of, even my favou-
rite, peppermint chocolate-covered animals.
As the small lion melted in my mouth, I continued
my walk to Aðalhotnið on Barónstígur, where choco-
late frogs with green stuff inside are a recommended
pick, and headed back on Laugavegur to the small shop
Vitinn. While Vitinn offers the tastiest candies in Reyk-
javík, the size of the servings is a bit of a tease.
Finally, we got to the working man’s candy stores,
the supermarket 11-11, where the candy bar was far from
being desirable- the liquorice just plain yucky, and the
caramel so old I spit it out before finishing. Located only
minutes away, 10-11 gets a better grade, only because the
selection was a little more inviting, but there you surely
will not get the most for your money.
My last visit was Svarti Svanurinn where I ran out
of my money, thankfully. As I tore the head of my
giant gummy lizard I started to feel terrible, with a
headache and my stomach in pain I crawled home in
something of a drowse wandering if I truly had chewed
on my last bit of candy.
Now, to my final verdict: For the tastiest sweets go to
Vitinn, for the variety and quantity Drekinn is a shop
where you’ll be stuffing your mouth and finally, for those
who get a craving at 5 in the morning, 11-11 is always
open and, at that time in the night, it really doesn’t mat-
ter what the candy tastes like, does it?
Drekinn, Njalsgata 23, 101 Reykjavík
Heimabíó, Njalsgata 49, 101 Reykjavík
Krambuðin, Skolaverðustígur 42, 101 Reykjavík
Svarti Svanurinn, Laugavegur 118, 105 Reykjavík
Vikivaki, Laugavegur 5, 101 Reykjavík
Vitinn, Laugavegur 62, 101 Reykjavík
Vínberið, Laugavegur 43, 101 Reykjavík
11-11, various locations.
10-11, various locations.
How and Where to Eat Candy in Reykjavík
by steinunn jakobsdóttir photo by gúndi
Edda Hotels – the traveller’s choice
Hotel Edda is the summer hotel group that brings the wonders of Iceland right
to your doorstep. Great value for money and a great gateway to adventure.
See www.hoteledda.is for more info and offers.
All around Iceland
www.hoteledda.is
Tel: +354 444 4000
Fax: +354 444 4001
edda@hoteledda.is
xxxxxx_Edda_Landscape_ad 30/5/06 11:50 am Page 1
Total value items on display
Over one billion krona
www.bilarogsport.is
Hornafjörður er blómstrandi samfélag í ríki Vatnajökuls. Auk stórkost-
legrar náttúru og útsýnis sem á sér vart hliðstæðu er á Hornafi rði að fi nna
fjölbreytta þjónustu og afþreyingu fyrir ferðamenn s.s. hótel, veitingahús,
tjaldstæði, verslanir, sundlaug, söfn og sýningar, golfvöll og margt fl eira.
Hornafjörður er því sannkölluð ferðamannaparadís.
Jöklasýning á Höfn var opnuð 3. júní
2005 eftir miklar breytingar. Markmið
sýningarinnar er að miðla á fjölbreyttan
hátt fróðleik um náttúru landsins og
bjóða ferðamönnum upp á áhugaverða
afþreyingu allt árið. Sýningin er opin alla
virka daga frá október til apríl. Daglegur
opnunartími er frá byrjun maí til loka
september. Sýningin er opnuð fyrir utan
hina auglýstu opnunartíma þegar þess er
óskað.
Jöklasýning
á Höfn
www.joklasyning.is
Untitled-1 15.5.2006, 16:361 FOREX_grapevine_MAR06.indd 1 2006-03-31 14:20:10