Forrettabarinn Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Reykjavik

Great find. Completely by random. I wanted to find a not very touristy place in the city. Staff was very friendly and helpful with questions. They are also very responsive to questions on social media. Restaurant is small and was packed. But not too loud. We didn’t have to scream at each other during dinner. We were able to mix a la carte ordering and set menu ordering which was nice but they were not able to time the serving of the dishes so that people who didn’t get the menu weren’t sitting around watching us eat. Small problem but not impossible to tackle. I’ve seen it done in many other restaurants. But this is also why most restaurants ask that everyone at table either does set menu or a la carte and not both both. I tried the Seahorse set menu because I was intrigued by the dish with horse. The starter langoustine soup was amazing. And quite filling. The second was an Arctic char and scallop dish also quite good. The sauce stood out as stellar. The horse was superbe. The waiter said ‘you will love this’ when they served it to me. It tasted like an excellent skirt steak cooked to perfection. Horse is lean meat and I think it’s prob easy to over do it. Not this case. Accompanying sides with onions and potatoes were very very good. The dessert was a dark chocolate cake which was quite rich and enjoyed by others at my table since I was quite full from the 3 dishes in my set menu. Another one in my party ordered the crème brûlée which was excellent! We also tried the smoked duck, the beef carpaccio and herb crusted lamb. All great but I have to say the dishes in the seahorse menu were the best. At 70$ total the menu pricing here is almost a steal in Iceland. Portions sizes are very generous. In my opinion the portions could be reduced a little. However I didn’t feel overstuffed. Just pretty full. We had the house wine with our meal. I’ve noticed, house wine in Iceland is actually quite a good quality bottle. The one we had here was a Pinot noir from Chile. Yum. Not what I expect when I ask for the house wine when I dine in NYC. Regarding the horse dish: After seeing so many Icelandic horses around the country I wanted to try a dish with it because I thought they must be for food! The waiter explained to me that the horses are not bred for food. That they are used for food when they are past their prime. Which made me feel not so bad about eating meat of a beautiful animal. But that’s just in my head because I eat all other types of meat. Horse is just not a norm for me. In general Iceland appears to treat their animals well and don’t have the factory farms set up producing their meat so one can eat with a better conscious than...

We were 6 dining & having drinks and we all agreed that the food wasn’t up to par unfortunately. Had great expectations since the reviews were so good.

Firstly the langoustine soup was alright in taste but the langoustine itself was not cleaned properly and filled our mouths with grit/sand. Not pleasant.

The saltfish and prawn cocktail was probably the nicest tasting dish I tasted. Freshness was there.

The carpaccio came out as a nice dish but felt that the pesto overpowered the dish. Never seen pesto in carpaccio before.

Quesadillas actually tasted good. Very basic quesadillas.

The lemon sole was an alright dish but lacked seasoning, could have been a great dish with just a little more love.

Rib Eye seemed to be an appetizer in proportion but tasted fine. Felt it also lacked seasoning.

We had all been waiting for the date cake so we were all excited to get the last dish of the evening, which then was the most disappointment of the night. The cake tasted nothing like a date cake and even seemed to be burned since all of us could only taste that. The caramel sauce tasted odd as well, like it had lime juice or something acidic in it. The ice cream was icy and not creamy at all and didn’t taste of anything more than water.

The only positive I can say is that the service was good and the prices are relatively lower than in other restaurants in the area. Drinks...

Please if you can come here and have dinner one night. You will not be disappointed.

Came to Iceland with a group of friends. It was our last night and a birthday in the group. Decor is very chill, lots of records, books and a few anchors, we were right in front of the Harbour so it made sense. You were made to feel like you were goin to a friends dinner party in their house. Very relaxed.

Food was amazing, we choose from the set menus. If you did want to change something, ask them first because it's up to the head chef in the kitchen at the time.

I honestly enjoyed EVERYTHING I ate and drank here. I had the fly fish set menu and the Old Rose Daiquiri!

Set menu prices (without drinks) range from 5450-6950kr, so not bad especially if you are used to restaurants in London city.

Service is amazing, they don't hover over you to collect your plates etc. They wait until your finished and also ask before hand.

Cannot fault this place amazing staff and chef's. Will definitely come back when visiting...