Íslenski Barinn - The Icelandic Bar — Restaurant in Reykjavik

Probably my favourite restaurant in Iceland but only 4 stars…

Came here twice during my stay in Iceland, mainly because they have a great selection on the menu and the menu selection is the only reason this place got 4 stars from me..

The food was so-so.. only getting 2 stars

I would expect the service to be better as this place given they have sooooo many waiter/waitress on staff.. Getting was and getting the bill.. basically getting their attention was frustrating!!!!! My waiter during the first visit had very narrow vision and he never came out table.. he would just stand by the bar and kitchen area and never look at us.. he went in and out of the kitchen 5 times and served 5 other tables and just never saw us.. the bar tender made eye contact with me with hand up TWICE and still didn’t send anyone over.. I finally flagged someone else waitress to be able to get the bill… pretty much every table around me saw that I was getting FRUSTRATED trying to flag down some service

The Reindeer burger was ok… I really couldn’t tell what kind of meat it was.. it could have been a beef burger and i wouldn’t have known.. the fries were really good, the bun was warm and toasted

The fermented shark tasted good.. very new experience for me.. I don’t regret ordering and trying it.. but not really my type of dish

The lamb soup was good, very hearty, had nice chunks of lamb, I did have lamb soup a few times at a few different places and I feel like this is truly Iceland’s authentic traditional dish that everyone can enjoy

The whale-meat, I had on a platter.. tasted kinda like prosciutto if that makes any sense what-so-ever

The puffin… was a miss for me.. it comes on a tortilla and lots of sauce.. you really can’t taste the puffin meat what-so-ever… I did try eating the puffin meat alone and it kinda tasted like chicken liver which is very distinctive

The sheep-head was cool to order, unfortunately, they served it cold.. well half warm, half cold… they messed up the re-heating part… once lamb meat is cooled down.. it just doesn’t taste the same anymore… the sheep tongue was very tasty.. the sheep head skin was tender and fatty… but cold fatty meat usually doesn’t taste good

The lamb dog was a joke.. I keep having expectations of very delicious hot dogs in Iceland, but I get fooled every time.. it’s not a lamb hot dog.. this place serves a lamb pulled sandwich in a hot dog bun.. and the hot dog bun was not toasted and the pulled lamb meat was not warmed up properly and served below room temperature and there was hardly any lamb in...

We kept seeing this place pop up as a recommendation on travel blogs and other listicles, so naturally we went out of our way to go here. We should have realized it would be a total tourist trap.

First of all, the place is tiny, which doesn’t suit its popularity at all. The limited seating means that there will almost always be a wait for a table. This helps to create a hectic atmosphere that seems to be pushing the staff to their limits, as they all seemed very stressed. There was a group of ten Italians in front of us who were incredibly rude and pushy about getting a table to seat all of them, and it looked like the hostess was about to have a meltdown.

We finally got a table after about half an hour. It was next to the window so we got to watch the people waiting outside scowl at us for the entirety of our meal. We got the whale starter, the lamb shank, the reindeer burger, and a couple of beers. All of the food and drink came out very quickly, in less than 5 minutes. We were grateful for the quick service but the food probably wasn’t freshly made, especially since everything was lukewarm instead of hot. The whale starter was interesting. The lamb shank was tough and pretty flavorless. The reindeer burger wasn’t made of 100% reindeer since it tasted like a normal beef burger. The beers were good. Prices were ok.

In summary, the food is passable (except for the reindeer burger, don’t get that), but expect to have to wait for a table. There are other places in the city where you can get similar food without the hectic tourist...

We went here as a part of our Reykjavik Food Walking Tour, and we were told it's supposed to have a Grandma's home vibe, which is totally does. We had Traditional Icelandic Meat Soup (Kjötsúpa) which has Lamb Meat, Rutabaga, Carrots, Potatoes, Salt and Pepper. It was good, but lamb isn't necessarily for me - it's kinda more gamey than I personally like, but for a lot of our peers, they enjoyed it. We also had the infamous Hákarl (Fermented Shark) with a shot of "Black Death" or Brennivin. It isn't something normally that Icelandic locals love according to our guide, but it is a taste of their historical eats so they keep it and share it on the menu, especially for tourists. I will say...the recommendation is to chew at least 3-5 times and then take the shot of Brennivin. Warning...the taste of Hákarl lingers and please don't smell it before you eat it. It will deter you because it absolutely smells like cat pee, but you do this for the experience. We also had Einstök White Ale, which is from a local bar that has the Viking mural on the side of it. We heard an American came to Iceland to brew beer with the pure glacier water and this is why we had it - it tastes a bit hoppy, but I think you will enjoy it. We also had a snack of dried fish jerky, which reminded me of the dried squid I used to snack on as a kid, and we got some delicious bread and butter with our soup. The people were super friendly and warm, and the food is good. Definitely...