Best 5 Places to Eat in Reykjavik
If you’re planning to visit Iceland in 2024, then you have to head to these top 5 restaurants to enjoy a taste of Iceland. Dine on traditional dishes and happy coincidences, from cosy cafes to delicious seafood restaurants. In this blog post, I’ll be letting you know the 5 best places to eat in Reykjavik based on my personal experience.
If you’re rushed for time but still want to know all the best places to eat in Reykjavik, you can watch this short video instead:
There are a couple of things you should know before I dive straight into the recommendations.
These restaurants are not listed in any particular order, and
These suggestions are not vegan-friendly, and
Most of my food recommendations came from my experience in a food tour with Wake Up Reykjavik which I highly recommend going on your first day in Iceland if you’re a foodie!
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
Type of food: Hot dogs 🌭
This hot dog stand is all over social media when you search about what you should eat in Iceland. One of the reasons why it’s so famous is because Bill Clinton visited in 2004 after a UNICEF Conference. Also, the shop’s name translates to “The Town’s Best Hot Dogs”, so why wouldn’t you give it a try?
The best way to order it is to ask for everything on top. This includes their lamb hot dogs topped with raw onions, crispy fried onions, apple tomato sauce, pylsusinnep (i.e. a sweet brown mustard), and remoulade (i.e. a sauce made out of mayo, capers, mustards and herbs). Personally, I normally hate mustard but it was really sweet and didn’t have its typical taste, which I appreciated. All you need to do is ask for “everything on top”, and they’ll handle the rest.
Fjallkonan
Type of food: Icelandic Lamb / Meat dishes 🍖
If you want a taste of traditional Icelandic lamb, this is your place to go! I highly recommend booking a table on their website, since it can get quite full. We had to book ahead of time for any good restaurants we went to since we were travelling with 5 people, so it might be easier for you if you’re in a smaller group.
As appetisers, I recommend ordering either the:
Lamb & flatbread, or
Artic Charr & Blini
Both of these are 3.990 kr (est. £23) each, which is served with 4 pieces but the toppings on the flat bread is very generous. Normally, I’m a save-my-money-for-the-main-course type of girl, but we had a taste of it during our food tour and knew we had to eat it again. Words can’t describe how good these appetisers were!
Now, of course the mains! Honestly, not as good as the appetisers 👀 Is this a hot take? Oops. Since we were celebrating my boyfriend’s birthday, we ordered a feast so I think we covered a good portion of the menu here.
Here’s what I ordered from my most to least favourite:
Confit Turkey Leg - 6.690 kr
Lamb Charmoula - 7.490 kr
Grilled Rib Eye - 8.990 kr
Halibut - 5.990 kr
Grilled Salmon - 5.990 kr
If I had to make any recommendation, it’s to only order the meats in Fjallkonan (with the appetiser as the exception). For seafood, my next restaurant recommendation is much better!
Messin Seafood Restaurant
Type of food: Seafood 🐟
Did you know that Iceland actually touches both the North Atlantic and Artic oceans? So, with that in mind, you’re probably thinking, seafood must be banging here, and listen sir, you are right!
Apart from lamb, seafood is an Icelandic’s next choice of protein. A popular traditional dish is Plokkfiskur, also known as Fish Stew or Fish Mash. The recipe changes for every household, but it’s typically made using mashed fish, such as haddock, potatoes, and a sauce made out of milk and flour. Throw some salt and pepper with a side of rye bread and butter, and you’ll have plokkfiskur! It’s pretty good to be honest, but I find it quite salty, so it isn’t something I can eat super often.
You can also get less traditional seafood dishes which is just as good or maybe better. They serve grilled fish by the pans, and if you’re in need for some carbs, then I highly recommend ordering the seafood pasta too.
Out of all the fish dishes, these are my favourites:
Artic Char - 4.690 kr
Atlantic Wolffish - 4.740 kr
The fish are super fresh, and taste very unique compared to the other dishes such as salmon or cod, but if I had to rate all of them, they still would average at a 7.5 / 10. Delicious 🤤
Krua Thai
If you’re missing a taste of asian cuisine while you’re visiting Iceland, I highly recommend going to this Thai restaurant. It’s in the middle of the city centre, on the same street towards the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral and beside Rainbow Street.
They also have a special lunch menu which was enough to feed 4 people, and the price was well worth it. I can’t really comment about how authentic or traditional the food is, but the staff are from Thailand from those I’ve spoken to and seen in the restaurant. They also have other dishes, such as Tom Yam Gung, Yellow Curry, and Krapao, which also tasted really good.
Cafe Loki
Last but not least, you should visit this cafe during sunset, so that you can try some traditional Icelandic rye bread ice-cream, also known as Rúgbrauð ice-cream, while watching the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral’s lights switch on. It’s a beautiful sight to see, and what better way to enjoy the scenery than with some dessert!
Rúgbrauð ice-cream is a simple dessert that Icelandics can easily make at home (you can also find recipes for it all over the internet) and it tastes very similarly to oreo ice-cream but better. Pair it with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate, a slice of rye bread and you’ll be ready to end the day while feeling all warm inside.
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May your passports be full, and see you in the next post!
