Places to Eat in Iceland
I was able to sample a wide range of foods during my four day trip to Iceland. But before I went, I made sure to ask friends on Instagram what places to eat in Iceland they would recommend! I received a lot of suggestions and they were mostly all winners.
Disclaimer: Comments from other Instagram users may be edited for clarity or brevity. Last updated February 18, 2020.
Where We Ate
You may have read in my blog post here, about how much we spent on places to eat in Iceland. Trying to stick to some what of a budget we didn’t eat out as much on this vacation as we normally would. But here are the places we did try!
Suður-Vík
Big props to my Instagram friend, Allison, for recommending my second favorite restaurant for the trip (Ben’s first). On some of my older posts, I would rate restaurants with cowboy hat wearing emojis. This place would definitely earn a 5 out of 5 cowboy hat emoji!
It’s so weird to order (really anything!) in a foreign currency, without having the aid of a conversion right there with you. We ordered two personal size pizzas and spent a whopping US$46.45! I’d still recommend it though.
As you can see from the above picture, and as mentioned in previous posts, I have a hard time remember to take a picture before I dive into my food. I ordered their Icelandic cheese pizza (#5 on their pizza menu) and have never had these varieties on a pizza and while it did taste…interesting…I would definitely order it again! Here are the cheeses they topped it with: camembert, pepper cheese, blue cheese and cream cheese.
Hopefully Suður-Vík will have reopened by the time you are reading this, they were closed January 2020 for renovations and maintenance!
Friðheimar
Stop what you’re doing and put this place on your list right now! This place was off the emoji scale. If you drive the Golden Circle, you cannot miss Friðheimar!
I had actually saw Iz Harris and her husband eating at this place in one of her YouTube videos, but they didn’t say where/what it was! So I went on the hunt and quickly found it!
Here’s a little tip: When you think you should turn at the gas station, don’t. Keep going just a little bit. Our GPS lead us to the back of the greenhouse and I had so much unnecessary stress. Looking for more tips before visiting Friðheimar? Be sure and checkout my Instagram post about it. Just click the picture below!
As mentioned in my Iceland budget post, we spent $52.73 at Friðheimar. I went for the unlimited tomato soup and Ben got the raviolis. I also had a side of chicken, which I wouldn’t recommend doing. It’s a tiny amount for not a tiny price. But with the multiple bowls of soup and the unlimited bread (!!) we left full and happy! Did I mention they had fresh herbs on the table for you, as well as toppings for your soup and spreads for your bread?
Old Iceland
After having Old Iceland suggested to me from Jasmine (someone I’ve met in real life!) I went to check out their website. The tiny plates didn’t turn me off, they were so delicate and had me feeling vicariously fancy! We decided to try them out as our fancy dinner date night option. Our experience wasn’t super awesome, so I’m not sure I would recommend it. My food was great, but the price and service had us feeling less great about this experience.
Brauð & Co.
If you’ve been wondering what the building at the top of this post is, it’s Brauð & Co.! This insta-famous bakery was the most colorful building we saw in Iceland! Their famous cinnamon rolls are topped with powder sugar and really good in real life. I was so happy this place wasn’t a flop after waiting in line. A warm cinnamon roll and hot coffee was perfect for our chilly afternoon in Reykjavík!
Here’s a little tip: If you’re wanting to take a photo in front of the colorful building, make sure you visit the Frakkastígur location.
Reykjavik Street Dog
Last, and maybe least in my book, the Icelandic hot dog. Please take my opinions on this hot dog and the establishment that is Reykjavik Street Dog with a grain of salt. I avoid eating hot dogs and try to not eat them more than once or twice a year. The hot dog I had at Street Dog was my only hot dog of 2019. I’m a meat eater, but that meat ain’t for me.
Your classic Icelandic hot dog comes with: ketchup and crispy onions on bottom; remoulade and sweet brown mustard on top. Raw onions are also usually included, but I asked them to keep those off. It wasn’t bad, Ben finished it. If you read this post when it was originally published, you may have seen a different photo of the Icelandic hot dog. I managed to find a picture I had taken of mine on the walk back to the car!
Instagram Suggestions for Places to Eat in Iceland
Lunch + Dinner
Allison from @allisonwonderblog (above) visited Iceland in September 2018, so she still had a fresh, mind-full of suggestions! Here’s what she had to say for a lunch or dinner spot:
In Reykjavík go to Icelandic Street Food, even if the line is long! It’s affordable, authentic, and free refills!
On top of those things, she also added they hand out free fudge and cookies. What? I should have ran there right at the sound of that! Google shows they have two locations and their bread bowls look like the bread bowls of my dreams.
There aren’t many options in Vík, so when Allison recommended Suður-Vík, I didn’t look any further and saved myself time and continue planning other areas of our trip. Here’s what she had to say about it:
It’s the cutest restaurant and in a house I think. It has delicious and fresh fish!
Allison had also suggested a place already on my list, Friðheimar! She tried a few more things than we did, here’s what she suggests for your visit:
Friðheimar is just as cool as it looks and everything is good including tomato ice cream and tomato beer!! Email for reservations just to be sure, they were very busy.
If you’re planning a trip to the Blue Lagoon you may be interested in trying the restaurant on site, but if you’re looking for a bit of a more laid back option, Allison has another rec:
After Blue Lagoon, there’s a small, cute soup and sandwich restaurant 10 minutes away called Cafe Bryggjan. It’s very basic, but has delicious lobster bisque, and unlimited bread. It was perfect for us after!
Last but not least, Jasmine from @jasminealley recommended another restaurant that made it on our list:
You’ve got to visit Old Iceland in Reykjavik! Best salmon appetizer!!
Coffee, Breakfast + Brunch
Some might argue that breakfast (or brunch) is the most important meal of the day, but it’s also the easiest for me to skip! And that means, I don’t have any suggestions for it, but thankfully, my Instagram friends came through. Here’s Allison’s suggestions for a cup of coffee (or tea!):
If you go to the Perlan Museum (worth it in my opinion) be sure to go to the top floor to have a cup [of coffee] or tea in the awesome glass dome!
I wished we had more time for visiting museums in Iceland, there were so many cool and interesting ones, but I had every daylight hour we had scheduled for the outdoors (or in the car). Here’s her suggestion for brunch:
The Coocoo’s Nest! Yummy brunch, but hard to spot the sign. You should get there right before it opens if you want a table.
If you’re wanting another tried and true place for coffee or breakfast, Megg from @meggos.rancheros has a favorite to share:
One of my faves in Reykavik was Cafe Babalú! Good for coffee and breakfast and they have a fun Star Wars themed restroom!
Hi friends! This is one post of my blog series for Iceland! Be sure to checkout the blogs I have posted for this unforgettable trip here. Let me (and other readers!) know in the comments below if you have any recommendations for places to eat in Iceland!
whereivebeentravel
I can’t wait to visit Iceland, but the high cost of things like food has kept me from booking a trip. Thanks for letting me know that eating there is doable! Love the suggestions!
Jac | Texan Travels
The prices weren’t as bad as what I kept hearing they would be. We did bring some food which helped with our costs by not eating out every meal. If you didn’t see it, check out my budget post for this trip. I detail all the food costs: https://jacquelynmatthews.com/europe/iceland/iceland-budget-for-four-days/
By Land and Sea
I have always been curious about the food options in Iceland. Thanks for sharing this post with tons of great recommendations that are worth checking out!
Jac | Texan Travels
You’re welcome! Let me know if you check any of them out!
Reina
Looks like there’s quite a variety of food options in Iceland! I’m with you on the hot dogs, every once in a while I get a craving for one but not very often. The one in the pic looked pretty tasty!
Jac | Texan Travels
It was good for a couple of bites, but then I was over it haha but that’s how I am with all hot dogs!
Erica
Great post! I too ate at Sudor Vik in Iceland and was blow away by how expensive it was. Delicious, but it is certainly hard to get used to how expensive food in Iceland is! Old Iceland looks absolutely incredible, and I’m putting it on my list of places to eat next time I’m in Iceland.
Jac | Texan Travels
Just a heads up for Old Iceland, it was more expensive than Suður-Vík! If you’re interested, you can check out how much we spent on food here.
Michelle
Wow! This looks like a fabulous trip. I would love to visit Iceland and get into the Blue Lagoon after sinking my teeth into one of those delicious looking cinnamon rolls!
Jac | Texan Travels
It was delicious! And I definitely recommend the Blue Lagoon! I know reviews/opinions on it can be greatly varied, but we had a great time relaxing there.
shilohinthecity
The food looks great but I think those prices would make me cry! But that blend of cheeses on the pizza has me really intrigued.
Jac | Texan Travels
Hey, who can say no to a new pizza? Also, I now those prices are up there, but we spent less than $40 per person per day on food, so I think we did good!