Arriving in Reykjavik without a plan for where to eat can backfire quickly. Restaurants often keep shorter hours than expected, and it is not unusual to find doors closed just when hunger kicks in. A little preparation goes a long way.
The good news is that Reykjavik punches well above its weight for a capital city of around 130,000 people. There are Michelin-starred dining experiences, a genuinely excellent street food scene, some of the best bakeries you will find anywhere, and even a humble hot dog stand that has drawn crowds since 1937. The range is real.
Here is everything you need to know.
- Best splurge meal: DILL or OX (both Michelin-starred, both worth it)
- Best cheap eat: Bajarins Beztu Pylsur lamb hot dog
- Best bakery: Braud & Co or Sandholt
- Best for traditional Icelandic food: Messinn or Matur og Drykkur
- Best burger: Le Kock
- Best coffee: Reykjavik Roasters
- Must-try dishes: lamb, skyr, Plokkfiskur (fish and potato mash)
- Michelin restaurants in Reykjavik: 7 listed, 2 starred (DILL and OX)
- Currency: Icelandic króna (ISK, kr). £1 = roughly kr166 and $1 = roughly kr125, so budget accordingly.
What to Actually Eat in Reykjavik
Traditional Icelandic food leans heavily on what the land and sea provide. Lamb is everywhere and it’s excellent. Arctic char and cod show up on menus constantly, usually prepared simply and well. Plokkfiskur is the classic comfort dish: cod mashed with potato, onion, garlic, and celery, served family-style at places like Messinn. It sounds humble. It is humble. It’s also deeply satisfying after a cold day (and honestly, at 32°F with light snow in March, most days qualify as cold).
Skyr is the thick Icelandic dairy product you’ll see used as a sauce, a dessert base, and a standalone snack. Try it wherever it appears.
If you’re feeling adventurous, fermented shark is available at places like Islenski Barinn. It smells like ammonia and tastes like a dare. Respect to anyone who finishes it without pulling a face. I did not manage that. Plenty of people online will tell you it’s a tourist trap you should skip entirely, and honestly, they’re not wrong that it’s rough. But if you like trying weird local specialities when you travel, you’ll regret not giving it a go.
And then there’s the lamb hot dog. More on that below.
The Michelin Restaurants: Where to Go if You’re Splashing Out
Reykjavik has seven restaurants in the Michelin Guide, which is impressive for a city this size. Two hold stars.
DILL at Laugavegur 59 is Iceland’s most famous restaurant and the first in the country to earn a Michelin star, back in 2017. It was opened in 2009 by chef Gunnar Karl Gislason and focuses on Icelandic food culture with a strong emphasis on sustainability. Creative cuisine, four euro signs, and the kind of meal you remember for a while.
OX is something else entirely. It’s hidden behind a cocktail bar in speakeasy fashion, with one seating per night, three chefs, and a 20-dish menu built entirely around local Icelandic ingredients. It received its Michelin star in 2022. If you can get a reservation, do it before you book your flights. Not gonna lie, some people feel the price is brutal even by Reykjavik standards, but most who’ve been come away saying it was the best meal of their trip.
The other five Michelin-listed restaurants are:
| Restaurant | Cuisine | Price Level |
|---|---|---|
| Hosilo | Modern Cuisine | EEE |
| TIDES | Modern Cuisine | EEE |
| The Reykjavik EDITION OTO | Modern Cuisine | EEE |
| Sumac | Middle Eastern | EEE |
| Matur og Drykkur | Traditional Cuisine | EEEE |
For dietary requirements: across those seven, there are 7 vegetarian options, 3 vegan options, and 1 halal option.
Best Restaurants in Reykjavik for Every Budget
For Middle Eastern-Icelandic Fusion: Sumac
Sumac at Laugavegur 28 takes Lebanese and Moroccan flavour profiles and builds them around seasonal Icelandic produce. The open grill is the centrepiece of the room. Dishes include flatbread with za’atar, grilled shrimp skewer, beef short rib with hazelnut dukkah, fried halloumi, and roasted cauliflower with yoghurt sauce. The Sumac Cocktail (made with sumac berry) is worth ordering alongside. It’s a genuinely interesting restaurant, not a gimmick. If you love this kind of bold, spice-forward cooking, you’d also enjoy our picks for the best restaurants in Cusco, which have a similar knack for fusing local ingredients with international flavours.
For Traditional Icelandic: Messinn and Fjallkonan
Messinn at Laekjargata 6 does Icelandic home cooking served family-style in a hot skillet. The Plokkfiskur is the signature: cod mashed with potato, onion, garlic, and celery. Nostalgic, warming, and exactly what you want after a day outside.
Fjallkonan at Hafnarstraeti 101 is worth visiting for the stewed lamb shoulder flatbread alone. The meat is slow-cooked, rich, and fatty, served with carrot puree, pickled onions, and horseradish chimichurri. They also do an arctic char pancake and a decent happy hour menu. Turns out happy hour in Reykjavik is basically essential, because full-price drinks will absolutely wreck your budget.
For a Casual Dinner Out: ROK and Skal
ROK at Frakkastigur 26a blends modern Nordic cooking with Icelandic tradition in a contemporary space. It’s a shareable plates situation: arctic char tartare, Icelandic lamb skewers, wild mushroom risotto, and their own elevated take on Plokkfiskur.
Skal at Njalsgata 1 started life in a food hall and now has a permanent home with a tasting menu. It won a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2019 and offers modern Scandinavian comfort food, dishes like raw Icelandic scallops and salt-baked beets. Good value for what you get, which in Reykjavik is genuinely saying something.
For Something Different: KOL and Monkeys
KOL at Skolavordustigur 40 is described as a swanky date night option with Icelandic fusion cuisine pulling in influences from Thailand and India. Monkeys at Klapparstígur 28 follows Nikkei cooking, the Japanese-Peruvian fusion style. Both sit on the more adventurous end of the spectrum.
Fish Market at Adalstraeti 12 does seafood with Japanese influences. Tapas Barinn offers Icelandic tapas with Spanish influences and a tasting menu called ‘Journey into the Unknown’, which is exactly the kind of name that either excites or terrifies you depending on your personality.
For History: Kaffivagninn
Kaffivagninn is Iceland’s oldest restaurant, established in 1935 by Bjarni Kristjansson and sitting right by the harbour. It’s comfort food and Icelandic tradition in one place: fish and chips cooked in tempura batter with tartar sauce, a vegetarian Wellington, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re eating somewhere that actually means something. Which, for the record, you are.
The Hot Dog Situation (It’s Serious)
Two spots compete for Reykjavik’s best hot dog title and both are worth your time.
Bajarins Beztu Pylsur at Tryggvagata 1 has been serving lamb hot dogs since 1937. Toppings include crispy onions and remoulade. It’s a street stand, it costs almost nothing relative to everything else in town, and it’s genuinely one of the best things you’ll eat in Iceland. Don’t overthink it. The common advice online is to order “eina með öllu” (one with everything) and just trust the process.
Vikinga Pylsur at Frakkastigur 25 is the other option, known specifically for its pulled lamb dog. Also excellent.
Do yourself a favour and eat at least one of these on your first day. It sets the tone.
Le Kock: The Best Burger in Iceland
Le Kock at Tryggvagata 14 is owned by the same people behind Deig bakery next door, and it has built a serious reputation for its cheeseburger. The bun is made in-house, buttery, and finished with everything bagel seasoning. Inside: a medium-rare beef patty, cheddar, Kock sauce (chili mayo), pickles, red onion, and lettuce. Sides are roasted potatoes rather than fries. They also do a vegetarian option (the Alice in Wonderland burger with a shiitake mushroom patty) and a vegan burger that gets consistently good reviews. It’s elevated fast food done properly, and honestly one of the better burgers I’ve had in Europe. If you’re the type who hunts down the best burger in every city you visit (guilty), you might also appreciate our Budapest restaurant picks, which include some properly excellent burger spots too.
Food Halls Worth Knowing About
Hlemmur Matholl at Laugavegur 107 is the less-touristy of the two main food halls, with diverse cuisines, good seating, and a local crowd. It regularly gets recommended as the best place to eat on a budget without resorting to supermarket sandwiches, and honestly that tracks.
Posthus Food Hall at Posthusstraeti 5 is newer and has a wider range including Korean and Italian options.
Both are good for a quick lunch or when you can’t agree on a restaurant.
Bakeries and Coffee: The Morning Situation
Reykjavik takes its coffee seriously. Past-me showed up expecting filter coffee and got an education.
Reykjavik Roasters at Karastigur 1 roasts in-house and has a vintage interior that locals and tourists both gravitate toward. Their pour-overs are excellent, with Brazilian and light Ethiopian options among them.
Mokka Kaffi at Skolavordustigur 3A on the rainbow road does a dark Italian-style espresso roast in a cozy setting. One of the best espressos in the city.
For pastries, Braud & Co at Frakkastigur 16 near Hallgrimskirkja is known for its sourdough and pastries. Sandholt at Laugavegur 36 is a fourth-generation family bakery doing pastries, savory items, and a strong espresso. Both are worth the queue.
Deig Workshop is the place for donuts, reportedly the best in the Nordics, alongside bagels and other pastries.
Sweets and Chocolate
Valdis Ice Cream does an ever-changing menu of inventive flavours and is the go-to for locals. Gaeta Gelato (established 2020) makes Italian-style gelato with locally sourced ingredients and has multiple locations.
Omnom Chocolate at Holmaslod 4 in the Grandi Harbor area is Iceland’s only bean-to-bar chocolate producer, using single-origin cacao beans for small-batch bars in flavours like sea salted almonds and licorice raspberry. Their ice cream sundaes are built around those same bars with vanilla soft serve and toppings like caramel and candied nuts. Worth the detour.
Reykjavik Food: Quick Reference
- Oldest restaurant: Kaffivagninn (est. 1935), harbour location
- First Michelin star in Iceland: DILL, 2017
- Most theatrical dining experience: OX, speakeasy setup, one seating per night
- Best for vegetarians: Most restaurants have options; all 7 Michelin-listed restaurants include vegetarian dishes
- Best food halls: Hlemmur Matholl (local feel), Posthus Food Hall (more variety)
- Street food must-do: Bajarins Beztu Pylsur lamb hot dog, Tryggvagata 1
- Best burger: Le Kock, Tryggvagata 14
- Best chocolate: Omnom, Holmaslod 4
- Traditional dishes to try: Plokkfiskur, lamb, Arctic char, skyr
- Exchange rates: £1 = kr166, $1 = kr125 (as of March 2026)
Reykjavik is not a cheap city to eat in. Budget around kr3,000-5,000 per main course at a mid-range restaurant, and considerably more at the Michelin-starred spots. But the quality is there across almost every price point, which is more than you can say for a lot of European capitals twice its size. If you’ve eaten your way through our Lisbon restaurant guide, you’ll know that some of Europe’s smaller capitals quietly have some of the best food scenes on the continent. Reykjavik is firmly in that category.