• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Grái Kötturinn (Map; 551 1544; Hverfisgata 16a) This tiny six-table cafe looks like a cross between an eccentric bookshop and a lopsided art gallery – quite charming! Opening hours are odd, but it serves breakfast from 7am weekdays and 8am weekends – toast, bagels, American pancakes, or bacon and eggs served on thick, buttery slabs of freshly baked bread.

Café Haiti (Map; 551 8484; Tryggvagata 16; 8.30am-6pm Mon-Thu, 8.30am-7.30pm Fri, 10am-6pm Sat) If you’re a coffee fan, this tiny cafe near the harbour is the place for you. Owner Elda buys her beans from her home country of Haiti, and roasts and grinds them on-site, producing what regulars swear are the best cups of coffee in the country.

Café Loki (Map; 466 2828; Lokastígur 28; snacks Ikr350-880, Icelandic platters Ikr1490; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, noon-6pm Sun) Ignore the garish signage slapped across the exterior of this cafe located close to Hallgrímskirkja, and you’ll discover it has a tasteful interior. Café Loki serves up very traditional dishes, from light snacks such as eggs and herring on homemade rye bread to Icelandic platters of sheep’s-head jelly and sharkmeat. The food is popular with curious tourists, and with the locals, too.

Quick Eats

Icelanders are utterly addicted to hot dogs, and they swear the best are those from Bæjarins Beztu (Map; Tryggvagata; 10am-1am Sun-Thu, 11am-4am Fri & Sat), a van situated near the harbour that’s patronised by Bill Clinton! Use the vital sentence Eina með öllu (‘One with everything’) to get one with mustard, tomato sauce (ketchup), rémoulade and crunchy onions.

Late-opening snack bars and kiosks include Hlölla Bátar (Map; Ingólfstorg; 11am-2am Sun-Thu, 10am-7am Fri & Sat) and Emmessís & Pylsar (Map; Ingólfstorg), selling ice cream and hot dogs (Ikr330 to Ikr790); and Nonnabiti (Map; 551 2312; Hafnarstræti 9; snacks Ikr450-900; to 2am).

Reykjavík residents are devoted to the pizzeria Eldsmiðjan (Map; 562 3838; www.eldsmidjan.is; Bragagata 38a; 10in pizzas Ikr900-1500; 11am-11pm), tucked away on a quiet residential street. Its fiercely busy takeaway serves the best pizzas in the city, baked in a brick oven fired by Icelandic birch – or you can sit down to devour.

Several canteens around town serve cheap, filling traditional grub.

Fljótt og Gott (Map; 552 1288; Vatnsmýrarvegur 10; mains Ikr1300-2000; 7am-9pm) Inside the BSÍ bus terminal, this cafeteria serves burgers, sandwiches and ‘food like Mum makes it’: big roast dinners and Icelandic delicacies such as svið (singed sheep’s head), plokkfiskur (creamy haddock and potato mash) and salt cod.

Múlakaffi (Map; 533 7737; www.mulakaffi.is; Hallarmúli; canteen meals Ikr1300-2700; 7.30am-8pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-2pm Sat, 11am-8pm Sun) Shining-white walls and brand-new tables can’t disguise Múlakaffi’s old-fashioned soul. Hearty local meals such as meatballs, salt cod, roast pork and rye bread are dished up from the hotplate.

Self-Catering

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is pricey in bars and restaurants. The only shops licensed to sell alcohol are the government-owned liquor stores Vín Búð, of which there are 13 branches across the Reykjavík area. The most central branch is on Austurstræti (Map; 562 6511; Austurstræti 10a), with another on the way towards Laugardalur at Borgartún (Map; 561 8001; Borgartún 26). There are also branches in Kringlan (Map; 568 9060) and Smáralind ( 544 2112) shopping centres. All are open 11am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday, and 11am to 7pm Friday.

BAKERIES

Iceland has fantastic bakeries with good coffee, sandwiches, soup and drool-inducing cakes, and many have tables for eating them.

Kornið Hrísateigur (Map; 568 0110; Hrísateigur 47; 7am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-4pm Sat, 8.30am-4pm Sun) Handy for the City Hostel and campsite; Lækjargata (Map; 552 1808; Lækjargata 4; 7am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat & Sun) Central bakery.

Bakarí Sandholt (Map; 551 3524; www.sandholt.is; Laugavegur 36; 7.30am-6.15pm Mon-Fri, 7.30am-5.30pm Sat, 8.30am-5pm Sun) An old favourite