Friðheimar — Restaurant in undefined

Friðheimar is a unique greenhouse restaurant in Iceland, known for its immersive farm-to-table concept centred around tomatoes and basil.

The experience is undeniably special, offering a peek into Icelandic greenhouse farming, with tomatoes, basil, and even flowering plants grown in various sections around the dining area. That said, the restaurant’s popularity may now be overwhelming its charm.

Upon arrival, the main restaurant was packed – four busloads of tourists had just arrived, leading to long waits, a cramped dining area, and a palpable sense of chaos. It felt less like a serene greenhouse experience and more like a glasshouse canteen during peak hours.

We were redirected to the bistro, which turned out to be a blessing. The bistro had a much more relaxed and tranquil vibe. Set within a beautiful greenhouse space, it offered elegant interiors with grapevines climbing one side, books lining a quiet corner, and a private dining area that lent a touch of intimacy.

We were seated at Table 401, tucked towards the far end near the larger private dining area, with two other private spaces visible nearby.

Food: Fríðheimar Bread with a Twist Tomatoes, olive oil & basil – 1,900 ISK Sadly, this was underwhelming. The bread was overly thick and dry, with insufficient olive oil. The red tomatoes were average, but the yellow tomatoes stood out for their brightness and flavour. On the whole, it didn’t live up to the “famous” title.

Tomato Soup with Creamy Stracciatella Cheese and Basil Olive Oil This was the highlight of the meal. A delicious, well-balanced soup that was sweet and sour, with depth from the basil and the creaminess of stracciatella cheese. However, service was strained: we asked for butter multiple times and received it only after about 15 minutes and several reminders.

Burrata & Tomato Ravioli Ravioli filled with burrata, served with roasted tomato & stracciatella sauce, rosemary & thyme – 4,250 ISK This was a lovely dish, with a clean, natural flavour profile. The burrata filling was rich and creamy, and the herbs added a fresh dimension. A definite recommendation.

Service:By 12:20 PM, the restaurant was clearly overwhelmed – the arrival of a busload of tourists resulted in delays and staff struggling to keep up. Basics like salt and pepper were missing from the tables, and the general attentiveness suffered.

Friðheimar offers a truly unique farm-to-table greenhouse experience – but the sheer number of visitors now seems to be outpacing their ability to maintain quality service.

If you’re planning a visit, consider dining in the bistro for a quieter, more pleasant atmosphere. And don’t miss the tomato soup – it really is as good as...

When we first decided to come here, we were kind of joking. Who on earth would want an entire meal made of tomatoes? Tomato ice cream? Tomato cheesecake? Weird! As we looked into it further, we realized it was very highly rated, and there must be something about the place we just weren’t realizing yet.

When the day came for our reservation, we were greeted by all of the kindest people, seated at an adorable table, and our waiter gave us an entire history of the place.

I went for the bottomless tomato soup and bread and a Bloody Mary. My sister got the pasta. I’ll start with the negative first. Worst Bloody Mary of my life. Maybe it’s just because we do them so differently here in Wisconsin, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I wish that someone had told me that there was a Bloody Mary station over by the bar where you could add in your spices, as that probably would have helped tremendously, but no one told me.

The soup, however, was delicious, and each table has its own basil plant that you can pick from and add fresh basil to your soup. The real winner though…the bread. Oh wow, the bread!! More kinds of bread than I’ve ever seen in one place in my life…kinds I haven’t even heard of. They give you this cucumber salsa to put on the bread, which was incredible.

Finally, we had to try the tomato cheesecake. Also phenomenal, and it comes in a cute little flower pot. You also get to go up to the bar and help yourself to coffee with your dessert.

Then we sat at our table for ages. Everyone had stopped coming to our table and were ignoring us. Finally we had to ask someone how we pay for our meal, and that was when we learned that nobody brings a bill to your table in Iceland. We didn’t know. I wish someone would have explained this part too. We finally figured it out and then walked around the greenhouse enjoying the plants and the bees. A wonderful...

Ambience/experience: It’s pretty cool to eat inside a tomato greenhouse, order from a tomato centric menu, and clip fresh basil from the table to add your soup. You can pet/see the horses they have by the front of the greenhouse, and explore inside to see tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers and strawberries that they grow inside. The food itself does not add to the experience (although their bread was awesome) and the popularity of this place is mainly due to Instagram hype because of how pretty the seating areas are.

Reservations are recommended, although based on the crowds, you may be okay to get a table without a reservation. Last reservation of the day is 3:30 PM.

Service: service was polite but slow despite it not being crowded. We got more information about the greenhouse, restaurant and menu from the server who was attending to the table next to us, rather than our own server who was a person of few words.

Food: The highlight was the bread - they have two kinds of freshly baked bread with butter to go with the soup, and this was honestly some of the best bread I’ve ever eaten. The soup itself was definitely fresh and made from simple whole ingredients, however, it was a little too acidic and sharp to have a full bowl of it. The tomato pasta with pesto was OK, but nothing special. The seafood skewer was small but also just OK. Their tomato icecream was nice in concept but frozen solid, kind of like a kulfi rather than icecream.

Prices: For two soups, one pasta, one skewer and an ice-cream, it was almost $80. So this is not a cheap place. Whether the experience of dining here is worth the value will depend on your perspective. Personally, I would say that if this is not too far out of the way for you then it is worth a meal, but you may find the experience to be more impressive...