r e y k j a v i c r e s t a u r a n t
g u i d ec r o w d e d w o r l d
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The last time I went to Iceland, my diet consisted of nothing more exciting than hot dogs and hamburgers and the mysteriously named drekka samloka ("dragon sandwich"), which I enjoyed at my buddy's corner store in the heart of the capital. That was cool, because I knew I wasn't in Reykjavik for the food -- I was there for the kick ass music and the Midnight Sun! The first time I went to Iceland, I couldn't afford to eat anything at all! That said, if you have the money, there are some gourmet options in the country -- mostly in Reykjavik, but also in other towns and villages. This website is basically the attempt to catalogue all of these aforestated Icelandic dining options. If you are living in Iceland, or planning to visit for a holiday, it is interesting to take part in all the seasonal festivities which happen here. For example, there is Thorri, a Viking festival held on the Friday in the 13th week of the year. Each February Perlan (one of Reykjavik's most important sites) hosts a Thorri Day of its own for 200 guests. An hour's walk about Öskjuhlíð is followed by servings of hot cocoa and rum, after which a banquet is held with traditional food as it was prepared a thousand years ago. Thorlaksmessa, held two days before Christmas in honor of Iceland's native saint, is another festival you could experience if you were so inclined.
 Aðal Braut: Víkurbraut 31 | 240 Grindavík | Sími: 426 7222 | Web: adalbrautin-e.ecweb.is/fyrirtaekid/. If you travel around Iceland, sooner or later you will find yourself dining at a gasoline station such as this one, which might be the only place serving hot food for miles and miles around. It is pretty much the classic Icelandic gas station, serving classic Icelandic road food: think hot dogs, sandwiches which fall apart in your hands, fries and little tubs of ketchup and mustard. Featuring a grill, ice (this being Iceland after all), candy and Cola... what more could you want if you were in Keflavik? This is Iceland food at its most basic and while it might be junk and bad for you, it tastes so good and fills you up!
 American Style: Skipholt 70 | 101 Reykjavík | Sími: 568 6838 | Web: www.americanstyle.is. This comes from the traveller's Bible for visitors to Iceland, Grapevine Magazine: "The world's richest country is imitated and emulated a lot. At American Style, it's burgers that face the test. With diner-style seating and huge black and white prints of rock stars new and old, the place feels like it could be in Wichita or Wyoming (or out of the Travolta dance scene from Pulp Fiction -- eds note.) But are American Style's burgers bigger and better than their counterparts in the US of A? My companion on this visit hailed from the nation in question, so I was in good company to assess the authenticity of this establishment. When we showed up, American Style was packed with diners devouring their hamburgers in traditional Icelandic style -- with a knife and fork (at least they don't eat spaghetti with chopsticks, as they do in Japan -- eds note again.) You place your order at a till, and the food is brought to your table a few minutes later. Not quite full-service, but at ISK 895 for a cheeseburger combo, I'm not complaining. The menu has an assortment of burgers (beef and chicken), a children's menu, and a couple of salad options. Why someone would go to a hamburger restaurant and order the latter is, however, beyond me (but yet witness the McDonald's salad revolution.) Icelandic frankness is also apparent on the menu: the larger hamburger combo is billed as the "heavy special," something that would have been euphemistically re-phrased in the States (the same way French Fries were retermed Freedom Fries after the Iraqi invason.) The hamburger itself was pretty good, although it was a small patty and the bun wasn't very toasted. My chicken burger was also satisfying, but suffered from the same under-toasted ailment as the burger. The French fries, clearly an integral component of the experience, were good grubbin' fries, with lots of crispy bits. American style with an Icelandic accent is probably a more appropriate way of describing the food overall."
Brasserie Askur: Sudurlandsbraut 4 | 108 Reykjavik | Simi: 5339710. Ah, the wonders of modern communication technologies... I am sitting on a train in metropolitan Tokyo, looking at a website about the Reykjavik restaurant scene on my keitai cellphone. Well actually, I exaggerate a little -- I am really at home and I don't have the Internet connected at the moment, but as my friend Ken Anazawa demonstrated to me today, I am able to access the Internet on my phone, and the definition is pretty good too. If I wanted to, I could study up on the best Reykjavik restaurants if I was on the train, or clogged in traffic, or taking a breather between calls at work, high in concrete canyons of Shinjuku. This particular website I am reading at the moment, has gushing reviews of the Brasserie Askur, a groundbreaking institution in the Icelandic capital (extraordinarily groundbreaking, if its many claims are to be believed!) So gushing is the praise in fact, that the site must be the restaurant's official homepage, nobody else could be that unbiased. It says: "Grill-Inn Askur, which opened for business on September 2 1996, was one of the first restaurants in Iceland to serve American style hamburgers. Askur's objective has always been to use the very best ingredients, and it is the first restaurant in Europe to list the fat content of its meat. It has also launched other innovations, such as an open kitchen where customers can watch meals being cooked. Askur was the first Icelandic BBQ restaurant, serving chicken, roast lamb from the grill, lamb cutlets, roast beef, its famous cocktail sauce, and fresh salads... "A brasserie is in the middle range, somewhat higher up the scale than a bistro, but still a step down from an exclusive restaurant. (Eds. note: Translation: don't worry how you are dressed if you dine at Askur's, the casual look is fine here.) ... In France, brasseries were and still are the meeting place of artists, who often paid for their meals by painting or decorating the premises..." The homepage goes on to mention the roast buffet on Sunday, which could be the closest many tourists could hope to come, to experiencing a real homestyle Icelandic pigout. Amidst their many firsts, the management at Askur claim to have been the first restaurant in Iceland to reduce wine prices, in order to encourage more guzzling with gustation. "Our house wine, for example, is always a specially selected quality vintage costing only ISK 1790 a bottle. "
Brautarstöðin Grill: Ármúla 42 | 108 Reykjavík | Sími: 588 3090 | Email: pjakkus@simnet.is. Brautarstöðin is a combination of a fast food restaurant, ice cream shop and the typical Icelandic ,,sjoppa" (candy store). The fast food is fast and rather good and the price is also rather good. The atmosphere is brilliant, lots of magasines and newspapers, plastic bugs on the walls, nice pictures of trains everywhere (Brautarstöðin means in english; The Train Station), and usually there is a movie, TV show or more..
Eld smidjan: Bragagata 38a, 011-354/562-3838. This review is from Budget Travel Online: "An almost life-size James Dean stares at a haunting blonde painted by former punk princess Ellｴy. On the floor above, a painting by Harpa shows death having a drink with friends. But there's more to Eld Smidjan than decor. It has the best pizzas, with toppings from fish to snails. Can't decide? Leave it to the chef, who'll usually whip up something involving cream cheese. From $9 for a 10-inch margherita pizza.
Grillhúsið: Tryggvagata 20 | 101 Reykjavík | Sími: 5623456 | Web: www.grillhusid.is. This place in the heart of town goes by the motto of "gott steikhús". Items on the menu include nachos chips (545Kr) and hickory smoked chicken wings in a blue cheese sauce (835Kr) for starters, burritos stuffed with creole chicken weighing in 1255Kr, plenty of classic Icelandic style samloka sandwiches (but unfortunately there is not a single Dragon Samloka to be seen!), and hamburgers hamburgers hamburgers! (oh my God! the Blue Moon Bogari with blue cheese and guacamole sounds particularly divine, and it costs 1135Kr.) There are also great steaks and fish dishes. As one Icelandic writer commented on his/her blogspot: "Í gær fór ég á "Grillhúsið tryggvagötu" a.k.a. "Grillhús Guðmundar" og þar var verið að bjóða upp á físk í tómadbasilsósu mér finnst þetta verða svo krúttilegt orð þegar þetta er skrifað svona að ég gæti farið að gráta. Tómadur. Tómadanir í sósuni. Madurinn er til! Matur er manns gaman."
Pitan: Skipholti 50c | 101 Reykjavík | Sími: 5629090 | Web: www.pitan.is. This is a Middle Eastern themed restaurant and takeout joint which also features some of those great Icelandic staples: namely hamburgers, steaks and fishes (and hefty side orders of fries.) A holiday in Iceland can give anyone an overdose of fat and calories... if you want to avoid that, then avoid Pitan at any cost. If you are cool with great slabs of meat and melting cheese and crispy fried potato, then Pitan is the place for you! As in many other Icelandic restaurants, hamburgers are presented by weight. Weighing up on the Pitan menu include the Hamborgari Mexicana (Mexican Burger), boasting 94 or 140 grams of nautabuff, hamborgarabrauð, iceberg (that's a lettuce), nachos and salsasósa (good old salsa sauce.) That little beauty will cost you 550Kr or 575Kr, depending on the grammage. There are also steaks and fish dishes. Nonetheless, pita bread concoctions are the speciality here, and this Middle Eastern favorite gets a bit of an Icelandic touch (for example, Icelandic lamb features prominently.) There are also kebabs.
++Asian Restaurants++++Bistros++ ++Brasseries++++'Burgers++++Cafes++++Hot Dogs++++Hotel Restaurants++++Gourmet Restaurants++++Icelandic Home Cooking++++Italian Restaurants++ 
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