Saturday, March 3, 2012

You Have To Try It


Ísbúð Vesturbæjar’s legacy of tasty, old-fashioned ice cream
6.7.2010
Words by Julia Staples
Photos by Emily Burton
For the last 40 years, Ísbúð Vesturbæjar has served some most delicious ice cream in Reykjavík. A well-known favourite amongst locals, this neat shop that looks like the inside of a spaceship is tucked away in the lovely west end of Reykjavík. It has consistently offered some staple varieties of soft serve along with some fabulous toppings to crazy up your cone.

We asked owner Baldur Bjarnason how he got started in the ice cream business. “I worked as a pilot for Icelandair... I have no idea what I am doing in this ice cream business,” he admits. “It’s fun, though.” He says Ísbúð Vesturbæjar has a lot of young customers and very old customers that have been loyal to the store for many years. “It’s a nice business. It’s always busy, and it’s a lot of work.”

Baldur says that one of the most popular ice cream choices is vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate sprinkled with snickers. There are no plans to change anything, because Baldur thinks the customers wouldn’t like change. “We serve old-fashioned ice cream which is different from other places’,” he tells us, refusing to divulge any secrets on the recipe. “We are an independent store. We make our own ice cream which you cannot buy anywhere else. It’s a special place.”  Ísbúð Vesturbæjar’s ice cream is one for the ages that will hopefully keep on service up delicious cold treats for years and years to come.

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