Iceland: Where to eat in Reykjavik

Our trip to Reykjavik was full of delicious meals. This is usually the hope wherever we are, at home or away, but on holiday we want to leave a restaurant with happy tummies - this was especially the case in Reykjavik, a city everyone warned us was super expensive when it came to eating out.

To be honest, I found the price of food in line with London pricing, albeit alcohol is more expensive. You can still get a glass of wine or prosecco for around £10 in most places, though for beer-drinkers it tends to be around this sort of a price for a pint which is more painful. We lucked out on our first night in the city though, which happened to be a Sunday, when we ate at BURRO Tapas + Steaks.

     

Sunday night just so happened to be "Latin special" night, which meant we enjoyed four delicious courses and a Corona for about £26 each - definitely a lot cheaper than we had been expecting when it came to eating out in Reykjavik! Courses two and three, pictured above, were especially yummy. I was a big fan of the liquorice glaze on the beef fillet, and the mix of flavours that came together in that pork belly taco were delicious. I'd definitely eat there again if I returned to Reykjavik.

Another delicious dinner was eaten at Matarkjallarinn (main course pictured at the top of this post from their surf and turf set menu), which wasn't as much of a bargain as BURRO was, but it was still very yummy. I can't decide between these two restaurants which my favourite was, but the portions were certainly heftier at Matarkjallarinn. The starter of pan-fried scallops and cauliflower had beautiful flavours, whilst the surf and turf main had beautifully cooked meat (steak, pork *and* lamb), as well as juicy langoustines. I was stuffed before the "chocolate lion bar" dessert (above) came out!

Soup was on the cards for lunch, and we had two lunches in the city during our city break. The first at Icelandic Street Food (above), where we enjoyed a traditional lamb soup served up in a breadbowl - absolutely amazing! I found it super filling, but you can get free refills if you're still feeling peckish. The other excellent soup lunch we enjoyed was at Saegreifinn (also known as Sea Baron, food pictured below). These guys are renowned for their lobster soup and fish skewers. Lurking at the bottom of those oversized teacups were delicious chunks of lobster, and the cod skewer we shared was meaty and deliciously flavoured.

     

The only meal I wouldn't rave about was our dinner at Matur og drykkur, which I thought would have been the highlight of the Reykjavik restaurants we visited as it has a Bib Gourmand award in the Michelin guide. There was nothing wrong with the food - we ordered a la carte and had three perfectly nice courses each - but I expected more than just "nice enough food" from a Bib Gourmand restaurant, especially as this was the most expensive meal we had in Reykjavik. I really couldn't recommend it.

Finally, if you're after an awesome burger, you need to eat at Le Kock - it's located where we stayed, the fabulous Exeter Hotel by Keahotels. Our hotel was also home to the bakery DEIG where we ordered delicious buffins, salted caramel doughnuts and thick rich hot chocolate to enjoy upstairs in our room after busy days sightseeing. The colourful Braud & co (pictured above) was another stop-off for a sweet treat - cinnamon buns and liquorice buns FTW - but DEIG, I feel, took the bakery crown. I miss their chocolate buffins! If you're in Reykjavik, definitely factor in some sweet treats. You need them in the cold!

Do you have any restaurant recommendations in Reykjavik? x