Súpubarinn serves soups and vegetarian food in the Reykjavík Art Museum, facing an incredible view over the harbour towards Mt. Esja. The menu consists of a set list of soups and a weekly selection, with vegetarian dishes for each day. They also serve coffee and cake in the afternoon.
The friendly women of “Soup bar” served me Tex Mex soup (890 ISK) and half a grilled sandwich with mozzarella, tomato and mango chutney (500 ISK, together with soup, both for 1.290 ISK). My friend went for the same deal but chose the soup of the day, with lentils and tomato and a sandwich with asparagus, pineapple, red pepper and chilli sauce.
My Tex Mex looked pretty, sporting a pile of fresh vegetables on top. It tasted of chilli and all things healthy. I got tortilla chips too. My friend’s lentil soup was hearty and creamy, but not overtly so.
The 1-year-old Águst enjoyed his beautiful apple salad decorated with pecan nuts (usually served with the portion of the day, 1.290 ISK) almost as much as he enjoyed running around the spacious aisles throwing Duplos on the floor and seeing Érro’s colourful paintings, of which “Odelscape” (1982) from the series “Around the world” was especially to his liking.
The sandwiches, made from home baked bread (yeast free), looked tasty and were just that. A good sandwich is hard to find in Reykjavík, a promised land of subs served with French fries and filled with ingredients that come in handy for a hangover but will blow a hole in your arteries on a normal weekday. The offerings from Súpubarinn are a positive improvement on that standard: “This is what I would get at home in most places,” said my homesick Swedish lunch date.
Whilst I am not sure that Súpubarinn’s ‘workplace-canteen meets chain eatery from the mall’ branding suits the most prestigious modern space in town, Súpubarinn does contribute to the greater good, raising the standard of the lunch offering in the town centre by serving nice, healthy food for a fair price.

Where: Súpubarinn, Hafnarhúsið, the Reykjavik Art Museum. Tryggvagata 17. Opening hours Mon-Sun 10-17, Thu 10-22. Tel. 590 1208. www.supubarinn.is.

What we think: Good lunch in a grand setting. Stars: 3/5