Food
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Hornið
Hornið, which literally means ‘the corner’, is an old haunt of the Grapevine staff. Our offices used to be located directly above them, but it wasn’t just the convenience that attracted us to the place. Hornið has been operated by the same…
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Argentína steakhouse
Steakhouses generally aren’t considered exclusive or fancy, but Argentína isn’t afraid to buck that trend. When it first opened in 1989, the restaurant immediately earned a reputation as an institution of fine dining, one that it has maintained to this day. Granted,…
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Rossopomodoro
Rossopomodoro is a chain restaurant with a difference. There may be more than one of them around the world, actually most are in Italy itself, but the cuisine on offer is of a notably higher class than one generally expects from a…
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Horrible Writing, Good Read, Great Eats
There is a lot to laugh at in Delicious Iceland. Start with the dedication by former President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, who apparently believes second grade English is official soundin’: “I have always been fascinated by the multiple food traditions in the different countries…
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Tveir Fiskar
The Grapevine’s food critic was recently challenged, by a clown no less, to find dolphin on the menu of an Icelandic restaurant. His reasoning was that while the locals are nonchalant about eating whale, they might think twice about scarfing down the…
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Sushi Smiðjan
The town of Reykjavík has been waiting for this for years, so there has been a certain amount of giddiness sweeping over reviewers having found a sushi shop where rolls and sashimi are, believe it or not, affordable. How affordable? A modest…
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Café Ópera
When reviewing a restaurant for the first time it’s hard to know what to expect. In the case of Café Ópera, which has been a fixture of the downtown dining circuit for years, it felt odd to have never ventured inside before.…
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Café Róma
If ever there was a place designed for taking a lunchbreak, it’s Café Róma. Located at the top of Laugarvegur, this bakery-cum-cafe seems eerily sleepy and well stocked in the mornings. The first time I was there at noon I realized why…
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Café Oliver
Café Oliver is an establishment that is perhaps best known for its place in the Icelandic nightlife. At night time it’s brimming with drunk, muscular young men with bleached hair – and the women who love them. It leads a double life,…
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Ítalía
It’s a bit odd to write a restaurant review about a place you have been frequenting for over a decade, so this isn’t going to be a walk through an evening of exploring a strange menu and assessing the decor. No, we…
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Apótek
Located on the corner of Austurstræti and Pósthússtræti, Apótek restaurant draws its name from a pharmacy that previously occupied the ground level of the building for over 70 years. The restaurant’s interior blends a modern and minimalistic look with the older, more…
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Café Paris
The ideally located Café París has been one of the most consistently packed cafés/bistros in Reykjavík in recent years. On sunny days especially, and that term is extremely flexible here as I’m sure most visitors have noticed, the place is almost always…
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Sjávarkjallarinn
Sjávarkjallarinn roughly translates to “the sea cellar”, but don’t let the name fool you – this isn’t a hangout for drunken sailors but surely one of the finest seafood restaurants in Reykjavík. Their two celebrated chefs have each won the ‘Icelandic Chef…
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Hótel holt
Ah, Hótel Holt. A fancy hotel with an even fancier restaurant and home to what must be the fanciest art gallery this side of Fancyland. This reviewer has fond childhood memories of running up his grandparents’ credit card bills by ordering cheese…
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Shalimar
Shalimar is a restaurant that several members of the Grapevine staff like to frequent, and its friendly service and authentic South Asian cuisine once earned it our Bezt í Heimi award (you can still see the article posted in their window). Not…
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Lækjarbrekka
Situated in one of the older buildings in downtown Reykjavík (built in 1834), Lækjarbrekka has been a celebrated institution of fine dining since the location was extensively renovated in the early eighties. On an interesting historical side note, the house was originally…
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TapasBarinn
Tapas, the Spanish delicacy which most people associate with the Mediterranean, seems to be catching on in the decidedly more frigid climate of Iceland. Several wine bars and coffee houses have begun offering limited tapas menus, but the varied nature of the…
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Galbí
When you arrive at the otherwise fine Korean steakhouse called Galbí, the décor and atmosphere seems somehow less exotic than you expected, which is to say the décor isn’t great. In any case, once you have been seated and have picked out…
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Austur-Indía Félagið
One of the problems you run into when trying to write a restaurant review is the fact that the best places can often leave you with very little to say that doesn’t sound like some kind of advertisement. Such is the case…
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Kaffi Brennslan
Kaffi Brennslan has been around for a while, and despite changing owners it has maintained a healthy reputation for consistently good food. Apart from being a restaurant, it’s also a great coffee shop and a pretty good bar. This means that if…
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Hereford Steikhús
Is it the ribs or the place? For whatever reason, Hereford Steikhús, despite the décor and the most competent staff in Reykjavík, including the single best bartender in town, is not the kind of place you go to impress anyone. Honestly, before…
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The Homey Restaurant on the Pond
When you go out to experience fine dining at the steeper end of the price scale, you often find that while the atmosphere may be stylish and the food glorious there is nothing particularly unique that seems to justify the price tag.…
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Grillið
Fine dining costs money. Typically, it costs a lot of money. Occasionally, though, you’ll find a place that’s not only worth dropping a sizeable portion of your salary for; they meet you halfway and don’t demand that much of you financially after…