Best Of Reykjavík 2018: Best Goddamn Restaurant

Mat Bar

Hverfisgata 26

An across the board favourite, Mat Bar is probably the only restaurant in town that takes its seasonal produce first approach to its menu seriously enough to churn out seven menus since opening. In a stylish dining room with an open kitchen, this devil-may-care attitude translates to unconventional yet delicious food, from Icelandic monkfish livers to grilled, stuffed squid, a stellar hand-stretched mozzarella with pickled tomatoes, rosemary-dusted lamb chops, and a smoothie-lookalike cocktail in the basil gobernador. If all that wasn’t enough, they raise the bar for vegetarian dishes too. One panellist summed it up as “a marriage of fire and flavour, plate after plate.”

Runner-Up:

Snaps

Þórsgata 1

Restaurants may come and go, but Snaps remains beloved by all. The house fries—a mound of perfectly fried spuds—are reason enough alone to make a trip to the cosy, plant-brightened bistro. Casual but chic, it’s somewhere to see and be seen. Did we mention they make a stellar crème brulée as well? A true keeper.

Runner-Up:

Hverfisgata 12

Hverfisgata 12

Despite murmurs about blips in quality at peak times, this cosy pizza joint remains a beloved downtown “happy place” for many. Their hearty pizzas are inventively-topped, their brunch menu has interesting options, the decadent sides are meals in themselves, and their cocktails hit the spot without fail.

Previous Winners

2017: Snaps / Matur og Drykkur

2014-6: Snaps