Iceland Restaurant Tips by marielexoteria Top 5 Page for this destination

Café Paris: where the minute steak took an hour

I read the reviews of Café Paris on this site and on other communities and was actually looking forward to have a good time there too, only to find out that I apparently was asking for too much. To begin with, we took an empty table behind a table where 2-3 girls were ordering their food. The waitress saw us and gave us 2 of their menus for us to read and order (we had previously read the menu outside so we knew what we wanted). She didn't take our orders but we thought that somebody else would, since there were several waiters and waitresses and the place wasn't completely full. We see that people come and go and nobody came to take our order even after we waved and tried to get their attention...which we did after 15 minutes.

We ordered their spaghetti bolognese and the minute steak with 2 sodas. As we waited, more people were coming in or leaving and they'd all get a quicker service. I see that 20 minutes have passed and we haven't even got our sodas. After half an hour the waiter came and said that he forgot the order but that it's coming up. 15 minutes later our sodas and cutlery came in. We were about to leave when the food came in...an hour after we ordered, and Mr. Sweden didn't get any French fries with his as it was supposed to be according to the menu. By that time I was pretty upset, basically lost my appetite and the disappointment was visible on my face. We ate as quickly as possible but still looking like civilized people, paid the bill and left.

All in all, the pasta was excellent and Mr. Sweden loved his steak and I'll give them credit for that, but the service we got (or didn't get) was the deal breaker for us.

Address: Austurstraeti 14

Comparison: less expensive than average

Rating: 1

Theme: Eclectic/International

Website: http://www.cafeparis.is

Lunch stop by Krýsuvik church: what a great pit stop!

I don't know if it's allowed to do so, but after we visited Krýsuvik church we decided to stay a little longer and have our lunch in front of it. The sky was blue with some white clouds, sun was shining, it wasn't too warm or too cold, there was an occasional gently breeze and virtually no one in sight. On top of that we had a great view!

What we ate inside our car (because there aren't any picnic tables) was 2 sandwiches, orange juice, and skyr that we bought on a 10-11 supermarket the day before. For us, it was a very nice moment in a very nice day - even if 2 bumblebees were trying to get some food out of us hehe.

If you do something like that, please clean up after yourself!

Address: Krýsuvik church (see my tip about it)

Directions: Route 42 between Hafnarfjördur and Grindavik.

Rating: 5

Theme: Other

Skrudur bistro: it's where we had our breakfast buffet

My review of Skrudur is based only on the buffet breakfast, but they also serve lunch and dinner.

The restaurant has a modern ambience with helpful staff. The buffet was very tasty and with a lot of things to choose from:

- several kinds of cereal and müsli
- several kinds of bread, including one that you make toast with
- several kinds of yogurt and skyr
- scrambled and boiled eggs
- bacon and mini sausages
- pickled herring, with and without onions
- salami, ham, cheese
- coffee, tea, milk and 2 kinds of fruit juice
- veggies

and they also had an egg section where you could have an omelet or a fried egg prepared to your taste. We came to eat at different times between their breakfast serving (between 4:30 and 10am) and we always found plenty of food.

If the breakfast isn't included in the hotel rate, then it costs 1800 ISK to eat there (as of May 2008). Lunch and dinner menus available on the site below.

Address: Radisson SAS Saga hotel

Comparison: less expensive than average

Rating: 4

Theme: Eclectic/International

Website: http://skrudur.is/Skrudur/Umskrud/

Prikid: good food with a diner feeling

Prikid (pronounced Prikith) was the first place we went to eat at. They are located in one of the oldest coffeehouses in Reykjavik and serve light meals, hamburgers, sandwiches, and soups among others.

The building has 2 floors. The ground floor gives the feeling of stepping in a US Diner (I've never stepped into one so my comparison is based on what I've seen from movies, sorry if it's inaccurate) with old B&W photos, the seats by the window, the retro bar and even the music. The second floor has a more modern decoration as far as I could see.

The restaurant caters locals and tourists. Their menus are written in Icelandic and English and the staff speaks good English (with a cute, little Brittish accent I might add ;)). Observe that the menu at the restaurant has more dishes than the one on their website.

Favorite Dish: We went to eat here twice and I had (1) their Italian burger and (2) a daily special composed of a ham and cheese sandwich with fries and a small drink, and Mr. Sweden ordered the Tex Mex burger twice because they were out of pizzas. My daily special cost 1000 ISK, for prices see the link below.

Address: Bankstraeti 12

Comparison: less expensive than average

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: Diner

Website: http://prikid.is/

Red Chili: Good Mexican with big portions!

Whenever we visit a city, Mr. Sweden and I look for a place where to have meat. Red Chili was our choice in Iceland based on the online menu and their prices...and little did we know that while the restaurant isn't cheap, you do get your money's worth! They have big portions of well cooked and seasoned food!!!

Now, aside from the food, they have a Latin/Mexican theme at the restaurant. There are old photos (those I remember are B&W but they might have color ones too) and memorabilia hanging on the walls. Latin American music is played at the right volume for talking or listening while having a beer or eating. I would definitely recommend this place to a friend and go back myself if I visit Reykjavik again.

Favorite Dish: Mr. Sweden had the pepper steak and he says that it was perfectly prepared to his taste: medium rare. He absolutely loved it. I ordered the BBQ ribs but my portion was so big, I couldn't finish it hehe.

Address: Pósthússtraeti 13

Comparison: less expensive than average

Rating: 4

Theme: Mexican