Grænn Kostur, or “The Green Choice,” is a small vegan/vegetarian restaurant in downtown Reykjavík. Seating around 30-40 people, Grænn Kostur is tucked away on Skólavörðustígur off Laugavegur.
Grænn Kostur has been serving healthy organic vegan and vegetarian food for ten years. Their current menu consists of veggie burgers, pizza, spinach pie, soups and various salads. Staying true to their philosophy of veganism and healthy eating, Grænn Kostur does not use dairy products, white flour, sugar, yeast or eggs in their dishes. However, tangy yogurt dip and goat cheese crumbs are offered for those not on a strict vegan diet.
The bright and airy restaurant was almost empty when my friend and I stopped by for a late lunch one Saturday afternoon. The attentive staff gave us servings of all of the day’s offerings. The day’s special, Indian casserole served with rice and salad, was a nice introduction to the food of Grænn Kostur. Still on the Indian theme, the flavourful Indian pie was made from rice and vegetables and was as much a hit with my carnivorous companion than with any vegetarian diner.
We were also offered Spinach pie and Spinach Lasagne. The Spinach pie was satisfactory but apparently the Spinach Lasagne needs no introduction. The understandably extremely popular dish is made with spelt lasagne sheets and delicious organic fresh spinach but at least on this occasion was served with a melon salad – not the most obvious combination.
We tried a vegetarian version of Tom Yum Thai soup made from chilli, garlic, vegetables and tofu. The spicy soup was cold before we got to it, but was delicious all the same. At 700 ISK the freshly made soup comes with bread and hummus. Again, while all three aspects of this dish – the soup, the bread and the hummus were delicious – I’m not too sure about combining them.
The vegetable burger topped with crunchy sunflowers, pepitas and sesame seeds accompanied by a salad of crisp lettuce and baby spinach leaves, peas, cucumber, onion, tomato, bell peppers and artichokes drizzled in yogurt sauce was the standout dish.
Grænn Kostur also serves a variety of cakes, including raw fruit and nut cake.
Averaging out at around 1000 ISK, whether you’re a vegetarian or not you’re bound to enjoy a light, healthy and inexpensive meal at Grænn Kostur.