Restaurants

You've not eaten in Iceland until you've tried the seafood, which runs the gamut, from lobster and ocean perch to turbot, tindabikkja (starry ray), salmon, and trout. Herring is pickled and often marinated in wine, garlic, and other spices. Salmon is cut from ample fillets and typically smoked with aromatic woods or cured with dill to create gravlax.

The Best of the Rest
Italian
Steakhouses
Vegetarian

Cafés and Bars, General

Reykjavik enjoys a real café society. You'll find plenty of comfortable spots in which to take a break, enjoy some of the superior Icelandic coffee, drink a beer, or grab a quick meal. They range from the cozy and intimate to the large and sleek. Many transform themselves at night into the hot spots among which the young (and often not so young) of Reykjavik roam to party.

Cafés and Bars

The Best of the Rest

Apótek bar - grill, Austurstræti 16. Tel. 354 575 7900. Website: www.veitingar.is
The "fusion" cuisine combines Western and Oriental styles to create exciting flavors and one of the best experiences you can have in international dining. Look forward to a large wine list and sumptuous chocolate desserts. Although the building was once a pharmacy, you'll still find mints in the dish by the door as you leave, not Viagra. Highly recommended.

Café Ópera, Lækjargata 2. Tel: 354 552 9499. Website: www.cafeopera.is
If you're one of those do-it-yourselfers, bring some of that independent self-service spirit up the stairs to this well-known restaurant where you can cook your own dinner. Café Ópera is known for its menu of "fantasy" fish and meat dishes grilled on top of special hot glowing Icelandic stones" by the guests themselves. You're given a chef's hat and apron to turn you into a real "chef" for one memorable night.

Carpe Diem, Rauðarárstígur 18. Tel: 354 552 4555. Website: www.carpediem.is
Seize the day by seizing your travel buddy, and head to this romantic restaurant that places great emphasis on fish and lamb dishes created with an international flair. It's the only place we've seen where "jalapeno poppers" are on the cocktail party menu. A scary concept. Not to worry, the fabulous food will give you a much better "high."

Einar Ben, v/Ingólfstorg 101. Tel: 354 511 5090. Website: www.einarben.is
A restaurant situated in the older section of Reykjavik's mid-town, close to the harbor. You will find both Icelandic specialties and international offerings here, all to be enjoyed in an atmosphere accentuated by chandeliers, heavy red drapes, and soft lighting. Some have said it's like a photo from Gloria Swanson's personal family album!

Humarhúsið (The Lobster House),Amtmannsstígur 1. Tel: 561-3303.
The place to eat lobster in Reykjavík, although it is hideously expensive: Claw your way to the top of culinary delight by dining at this seafood restaurant with attitude. You won't leave crabby after gnashing into a plate of juicy red lobsters you picked out. Fantastic lobster and langoustines etc. Great service. Like having dinner/lunch in your auntie's house! Lunchtime very good value and peaceful.

Jómfrúin, Lækjargata 4. Tel: 354 551 0100.
Those Danes are great, especially in the culinary arts, and you too can send your taste buds to Nether, Netherlands at this cute deli smack dab in the middle of the old city. The owners are a married gay couple and they specialize in sandwiches as open as their sexuality.

Laekjarbrekka, Bankastraeti 2. Tel: 354 551 4430. Website: www.laekjarbrekka.is
Charm, charm, and more charm. This classic Icelandic restaurant occupies one of the city's oldest houses, built in 1834. Specializing in traditional Icelandic fare, including seafood and Icelandic lamb. Special meals include the Puffin Party and Lobster feast.

Naust, Vesturgata 6-8. Tel: 354 552 3030. Website: www.naustid.is
Celebrating its 50th birthday in 2004, this restaurant boasts having the longest history of service of all Icelandic restaurants. They must be doing something right with their more than 80 menu items. Locals will tell you Iceland's modern cuisine was first introduced here. Today, its charming decor, romantic atmosphere, outstanding meals, and reputation for unforgettable evenings have made Naustid a part of Iceland's cultural heritage.

Siggi Hall Restaurant, Thorsgata 1. Tel: 354 511 6677. Website: www.siggihall.is
The restaurant headquarters of Siggi Hall, a famous chef and television personality. Siggi Hall has presented Icelandic gourmet food all over the world. In a stylish setting and an informal atmosphere, this master chef uses his talents and imagination to lead you where he has led Icelanders before: on an exciting culinary voyage.

Tveir Fiskar, Geirsgata 9. Tel: 354 511-3474. Website: www.restaurant.is
Chef Gissur Gudmundsson, President of the Nordic Chefs Association and chef Tveir Fiskar, Iceland's Chef of the Year in 2003 are rightfully proud of this successful establishment. The house specialty here, always on the menu, is bouillabaisse, made from a southern French recipe. You'll find a wide choice of seafood entrees, as well as selected lamb, beef, and chicken dishes.

Við Tjörnina, Templarasund 3. Tel: 354 551 8666. Website: www.islandia.is/~vidtjornina
The most novel fish restaurant in Iceland. The owner, Chef Runar Marvinsson, author of several cookbooks, is known for innovative fish dishes made from a variety of rare fish and shellfish. The tantalizing menu, home-baked bread, and friendly service have made this restaurant a magnet for both locals and visitors. After dining, guests are given their own bag of "duck-bread." Just outside, on the lakeshore, the feathered friends are always ready to eat.

Italian

Caruso, Thingholtsstræti 1.Tel: 354 562-7335. Website: www.Caruso.is
This beautiful three-story building in the middle of downtown Reykjavik is crafted from old grey bricks but its live music is fresh and new. Celebrate before, during and after dinner at the brandy bar or dine sober on lovely cheese and ham tortellini-it's great either way.

Hornið, Hafnarstræti 15. Tel: 354 551 3340. Website: www.hornid.is
Espresso yourself at this warm and open Italian bistro sipping high-octane caffeine in a forest of potted plants and natural wooden architecture. Pizza, pasta and other staples from the boot-shaped country won't surprise you, but the lamb steak and seafood soup just might. Save room for small cakes for dessert.

Ítalía, Laugavegur 11. Tel: 354 552 4630.
The people of Reykjavik like this restaurant because they feel it always gives good value for money. Quaint, cozy surroundings compliment good sturdy Italian fare from pasta to pizza and beyond.

La Primavera, Austurstraeti 9. Tel: 354 561 8555. Website: www.laprimavera.is
A contemporary restaurant that has its most notable influences from Northern Italian cooking and the local Icelandic produce. The menu features homemade pasta, risotto, gnochi, polenta and a wide variety fish, poultry, and meat. The wine list is exclusively Italian.

Madonna, Rauðarárstígur 27. Tel: 354 562 1060.
Like a virgin being touched for the very first time, your stomach will hurt but ultimately learn to love its experience here at Madonna - a sensual Italian restaurant. Tasty lasagna and palatable prices will keep you coming back to this centrally located spot.

Pasta Basta, Klapparstígur 38. Tel: 354 561-3131. Website: www.pasta-basta.is
As Italian as apple pie! What?? Come to this slightly eccentric Italian restaurant where beside the aforementioned dessert, you can dine on pasta, fish, lamb, and other culinary delights in a pleasant century-old building. A lunchtime favorite is the homemade pasta buffet. Popular with a younger crowd.

Steakhouses

Argentína Steakhouse, Barónsstígur 11. Tel: 354 551 9555. Website: www.argentina.is
Don't cry for me, Argentina, just grill me a delicious steak over an open fire! Take a ten minute stroll or so from downtown Reykjavik and dine here with other fellow carnivores.

Rauðará (Red River Steakhouse), Rauðarárstígur 39. Tel: 354 562 6766.
Red is not only the color of the river in this steakhouse's name, but the ideal hue of the meat they set out to cook. Forget the seafood, nabbed fresh from the North-Atlantic ocean, this here is a steak house first and foremost. A quick glance at their website will display what color red you'll get with what temperature. E.g. 14-50°C, brown on the outside, red through. 50-55°C, you get a dark red rare steak. And at 60-65°C you'll discover a marvelous bright red medium slab.

Vegetarian

Á Næstu Grösum, Laugavegur 20b. Tel: 354 552 8410. Website: www.anaestugrosum.is
The menu changes often here, insuring fresh and varied choices. Sandwiches, soups, salads and more hearty entrees are all available. Very vegan-friendly. A bright and cheerful atmosphere and prices that won't stun.

Garðurinn, Klapparstíg 37. Tel. 354 561 2345.

Grænn Kostur, Skólavörðustígur 8b. Tel: 354 552 2028.
Like it spicy? This popular place is happy to oblige, while offers low-cost, vegetarian cuisine. The food here is made without yeast, sugar, bleached flour, eggs or milk. Eat in or take it out.

Salatbarinn Hjá Eika, Pósthússtræti 13. Tel: 354 562 7830.
Located two blocks from the city's harbor, you'll keep your heart healthy with cardio-friendly fresh vegetarian delights, perfect for keeping you in shape for Icelandic hiking and sight-seeing. Stop in at lunch time for the special buffet.

Cafés and Bars, General

Kaffi 22, Laugavegur 22. Tel: 354 511 5522.
Some have said this is a popular spot with lesbians. It must be said, not in huge numbers. Nevertheless, you never know quite who you'll see here. Popular spot with full bar and good inexpensive food from burgers to daily plate specials. Years ago, the place where Reykjavik's gay nightlife was born.

Dillon Bar, Laugavegur 30. Tel. 354 511 2400.
Comfy as you can get on the main shopping street, the ear is as important as the stomach at this café, with its music library brimming over with Jazz, Rock, and Drum and Bass. Great spot for a mid-afternoon pint. A hot nightspot on Friday and Saturday With DJs spinning 'til the early morning - and we don't mean 1 am!

Kaffi List, Laugavegur 20a. Tel: 354 562 5059.
Neon has to be the classiest of all the inert gases and it looks best in pink-which is why this Kaffi choose to hang a huge sign filled with the stuff over its door. Intimate dinners for two are welcome, lovely tapas open sandwiches, and other Spanish dishes will cost a reasonable 1200 ISK for lunch. The mushroom soup is supposed to be pretty darn bueno as well.

Kaffibrennslan, Pósthússtræti 9. Tel: 354 561 3600.
One of the most busy and popular spots in Reykjavik, this place has a huge range of beer on tap - more than 50 brands. Do we need to go on? Solid delicacies offered here range from burgers, to salmon, to tortillas to Greek salads. And sweet-toothed vacationers will love the cake and ice cream, scoop it up while enjoying the scenery of Austurvöllur square. Gays, lesbians, straight folk all eventually find themselves here.

Café Paris, Austurstræti 14. Tel: 354 551 1020.
For a taste of Paris in the far north, stop here for anything from a cup of coffee to a light meal. Wonderful pastries and sweets. A place where your coffee is served in a press, you tea in a ceramic pot. Your gaydar can go off quite often here. Window seats let you people watch, and in summer months this activity is enhanced by outdoor seating on balmier days.

Prikið, Bankastræti 12. Tel: 354 551 3366.
Another popular watering hole serving light fare, beer, wine, hard liquor. If your heart beats to the rhythm of a swing beat, check it out. Often live funky jazz bands, in fact! Located just at the foot of the main shopping street. On Friday and Saturday nights it's host to a raucous crowd of young party-mood Icelanders.

Kaffi Reykjavík, Vesturgata 2. Tel: 551 8900.
A restaurant, bar, and disco all rolled into one. A quick beer? A great meal? Find it here. Popular with the over-35 crowd at night. Music turns to jazz, soul, R´n´B, funk and groove

Café Romance, Lækjargata 2. Tel: 354 552 9499.
Hungry for pianists? Check out this cute little club, in the same building as Café Opera, for live piano music where you'll be surrounded by scented candles. It's the only piano bar in Reykjavik, and brings in pianists from all over the world. There's no cover charge.

Súfistinn Book Café, Laugavegur 18. Tel. 354 552 3740.
Upstairs at the Mal og menningar bookstore, this cozy, unpretentious spot serves great quiche, salads, and other light fare, as well as delightful cakes and pastries. Broswe the bookstore, take your guidebook upstairs, and plan your next move over coffee and sustenance.

Vegamót, Vegamótastígur 4. Tel: 354 511 3040.
Alas, once the site of a hot gay bar, no longer with us. Now an elegant but casual two-floor bistro, café, and bar that is very popular for lunch and supper. It has a really modern, funky feel to it - cosy corners, lots of low-lights with a clubby twist. The food is excellent with large portions, and the sweets are great. As the evening lengthens, the place transforms into a very straight dance bar with typical loud and boisterous crowd.

Café Victor, Hafnarstræti 1-3. Tel: 354 561 9555.
Once a falcon-house for a Danish king, this café/bar is popular throughout the day. The monkfish and Mexican dishes come highly recommended. On the weekends this becomes one of the clubs on the circuit.