Words by

Hannah Jane Cohen

Photo by

Art Bicnick

While we’re all about the seven course tasting menu at Dill, sometimes you just want to stuff carbohydrates in your mouth till you pass out. Enter comfort food, something that everyone loves, even if they pretend all they eat is kale and sunshine. So appease your hangover, get over your ex, and ruin your diet at these Reykjavík comfort food classics.

Prikið
Bankastræti 12
Prikið serves up a whammy in the category of simple, warm, and calorically questionable foods. Sit down and pick between the red and blue pill, or rather, brunch or a burger. If pancakes get you all giggly, Prikið has all the breakfast hall of famers. Pancakes, sausage, eggs, you name it. That said, the French Connection is a true gem. It’s bacon, ham, cheese, pancakes and syrup in-between two slices of french toast. Yes, that’s a real meal. For lunch—the Snoop Dogg is a true crowd pleaser, as it’s basically a combination of everything good: pepper cheese, bacon, bernaise and sweet potato fries. They also have milkshakes. Lord, help us.

Icelandic Street Food
Laekjargata 8
For soup to really fit the bill of comfort food, it has to be substantial—not any of that dinky ginger asparagus nonsense. Reykjavík’s newest low-key dive, Icelandic Street Food, offers three dishes: lamb soup, shellfish soup, and a stew called fisherman’s favourite. All three can be ordered in bread bowls and have the perfect protein to broth ratio for them to be not only fulfilling, but toasty and relaxing. They also have free desserts and coffee to munch on after (or before) your meal. Directly next to the restaurant is local hot-spot Secret Cellar, which allows you to BYOS (bring your own soup), so you can enjoy some comedy while you slurp. There are also free refills. We repeat: FREE REFILLS!

Veganæs
Tryggvagata 22
The recently opened Veganæs—in the Gaukurinn music venue—bills itself as a vegan comfort food restaurant. While that’s true, a more accurate description would be that it’s a comfort food restaurant that just happens to be vegan. The vegan fish dish—called fish-ish—tastes just like properly fantastic fish, and throw it on a burger and you’ve got the epitome of what a messy, yummy, finger-licking fish burger should be. The Burnt sandwich—basically a jalapeno grilled ‘cheese’—will give you probably the most squirm-worthy cheesegasm ever. Make sure to grab a booth. You’ll need time to digest in your post-eating glow.

Eldsmiðjan
Laugavegur 81 & Bragagata 28
You can’t talk about comfort food without mentioning the king of the genre—the bold, the beautiful… the pizza. While Reykjavík has a tonne of options, from the gourmet pies of Flatey, to good ole’ Dominos delivery, Eldsmiðjan is a good downtown go-to for a simple hearty pizza. Their basic cheese pies are juicy and filling, but throw some pepperoni on there and you’ve got an afternoon worthy of your future heart-attack. While they’ve got a casual, cosy ambiance in their dining rooms, if you prefer to gorge yourself while watching ‘Sex In The City,’ the Laugavegur branch has a separate entrance for take-away orders.

Ramen Momo
Tryggvagata 16
This charming hole-in-the-wall Tibetan and Japanese fusion spot is the best place to warm your soul with carbohydrates in the form of long strings—everybody say (r)Amen! The restaurant’s portions are hearty, with more noodles than you can munch on and delicious poached eggs and seaweed to match. It’s the perfect mix of a culinary experience and a comfortable, substantial meal. It’s also the best choice of comfort food for those people who hate cheese, or as we call them, Satanists.