Reykjavík offers everything from traditional Icelandic dishes to modern Nordic cuisine. This guide covers what to eat and where to find some of the city’s best food.
Reykjavik is a genuinely good food city for its size. A capital of 130,000 people that supports two Michelin-starred restaurants, an excellent street food scene, some of the best bakeries in Northern Europe, and a hot dog stand that has been drawing crowds since 1937 is doing something right.
Eating in Reykjavik is expensive by most standards. A main course at a mid-range restaurant runs ISK 3,000 to 5,000. Fine dining tasting menus run ISK 15,000 to 25,000 per person. Budget eating is possible but requires specific choices.
What to Eat in Iceland: The Dishes Worth Ordering
Before the restaurant recommendations, understanding what Iceland actually produces helps you order well rather than defaulting to international menu items.
Lamb is Iceland's most important ingredient. Icelandic sheep roam the highlands freely all summer and produce meat with a distinctive mineral, almost gamey flavor from their diet of wild herbs and grasses. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, kjötsúpa (lamb soup), and rack of lamb, prepared simply, show it at its best.
Fish is everywhere and consistently excellent. Arctic char, cod, haddock, and langoustine (lobster) are all local and frequently superior to what you find in European fish restaurants. Plokkfiskur, a creamed fish stew made from mixed white fish, onions, and potatoes, is Iceland's most comforting traditional dish.
Skyr is a thick, protein-rich cultured dairy product somewhere between yogurt and fresh cheese. It has been made in Iceland for over a thousand years. Available at every supermarket and increasingly on restaurant dessert menus.
Icelandic hot dogs (pylsur) are made from a lamb and pork blend, served in a soft bun with crispy fried onions, raw onions, sweet mustard, and remoulade. They taste completely different from what you expect from a hot dog. The Bæjarins Beztu stand is the specific and correct place to eat one.
Hákarl is fermented Greenlandic shark with a powerful ammonia smell and a texture somewhere between rubbery and chewy. It is not pleasant for most first-time eaters. It is also one of the most genuinely traditional Icelandic foods in existence, eaten with Brennivín (Icelandic caraway schnapps) as the traditional accompaniment. Try it once.
Fine Dining in Reykjavik
Dill
Iceland's first and most established Michelin-starred restaurant. Dill has held its star since 2017 and built its entire identity around Icelandic seasonal ingredients. The tasting menu changes regularly and runs seven to ten courses. The cooking is precise, inventive, and rooted in the natural environment in ways that feel specific rather than generic. This is not Scandinavian fine dining dressed up in Icelandic packaging. It is genuinely its own thing.
Booking is essential and should be done weeks ahead for weekend reservations. The wine pairing is well-considered. Expect to spend ISK 15,000 to 20,000 per person without wine.
OX
A six-seat tasting menu restaurant connected to Sumac, an Icelandic restaurant nearby. OX holds a Michelin star and operates at the most intimate scale of any restaurant in Iceland. Six diners per service, a chef's counter format, and a menu that changes based on what is best that week. The experience is as much about the cooking being done in front of you as the food itself.
Reservations open months ahead and fill quickly. This is the most exclusive dining experience in Iceland and is priced accordingly.
Traditional Icelandic Restaurants
Matur og Drykkur
The name means food and drink in Icelandic, and the restaurant earns it. Located in the Grandi harbor district, Matur og Drykkur treats traditional Icelandic ingredients with genuine seriousness. Cod head prepared traditionally, plokkfiskur done properly, lamb in various forms, and skyr desserts that demonstrate what skyr actually tastes like when treated with care.
The atmosphere is warm and not pretentious. The cooking is thoughtful without being precious. This is the best recommendation for visitors who want to eat traditional Icelandic food prepared well, rather than Icelandic cuisine designed for tourists.
Þrír Frakkar (Three Overcoats)
A small, warm institution near Hallgrimskirkja that has been serving classic Icelandic food for decades. The menu includes plokkfiskur, guillemot (seabird), whale steak, and hákarl on request. The atmosphere is genuinely local: this is where Reykjavik residents go when they want traditional food rather than a tourist experience.
Messinn
Near the Old Harbour, Messinn specializes in Icelandic fish served in cast-iron pans. The langoustine and the pan-fried fish of the day are the dishes to order. One of the best seafood restaurants in the city, and consistently busy. Book ahead for dinner, particularly in summer.
Casual Eating and Street Food
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
The hot dog stand at Tryggvagata, open since 1937, is genuinely one of the things you should eat in Reykjavik. The pylsur is an Icelandic lamb and pork blend served with crispy fried onions, sweet mustard, raw onion, and remoulade. Order it einn með öllu, which means one with everything. It costs around ISK 600. It is the best ISK 600 you will spend in Iceland.
The stand has served a long list of visiting heads of state and celebrities. It is also just a very good hot dog.
Icelandic Street Food (Lækjargata)
Serves lamb soup and fish soup in hollowed-out bread bowls at affordable prices by Reykjavik standards. Fast, filling, and genuinely Icelandic in character. No reservation required. The best budget meal in central Reykjavik.
Coffee in Reykjavik
Reykjavik takes coffee seriously. The specialty coffee scene is small but strong, with several independent cafes competing on quality rather than volume.
Reykjavik Roasters on Kárastígur is the most respected specialty coffee operation in the city, roasting its own beans and serving excellent pour-overs and espresso. Kaffismidja Islands on Grandagarður is a close competitor with consistently good reviews. Both suit a mid-morning break during city exploration.
For a coffee with atmosphere, Cafe Babalu near Hallgrimskirkja is small, creative, and reliably good.
Practical Notes for Eating in Reykjavik
Restaurants in Reykjavik follow predictable hours. Lunch runs from about 12:00 to 14:00. Dinner service starts around 18:00, and kitchens close by 21:00 to 22:00. Arriving without a reservation after 19:00 at popular restaurants in summer is a reliable way to spend an hour waiting or settling for a second choice.
Iceland is cashless. Cards are accepted at every restaurant, cafe, and food stall without exception.
Tipping is not expected. Service charges are included in prices, and Icelandic restaurant culture does not have a tipping norm in the way that North American dining does. You can tip if you want to, but it is not part of the social contract.
