Café Loki

Cafe Loki is one of the most popular restaurants in Reykjavik, known for their traditional Icelandic food. Many customers will come here specifically for the sample of fermented shark, which we could smell while sitting feet away. However, four of us came here just for dessert and luckily we were able to snag a table outside with a perfect view of the Hallgrímskirkja. * ICELANDIC PANCAKES w/ CREAM & JAM: This pancake was very thin like a crepe with a generous piping of whipped cream and swirls of rhubarb jam inside. The cream wasn’t too sweet, but had a natural rich milky flavor that paired delightfully with the slightly tart jam. * RYE BREAD ICE CREAM: The serving of ice cream was smaller than expected and served in a little dish. Since it contained so much rye bread crumble, the ice cream had more of a grainy consistency rather than being creamy… almost like a frozen ice cream cake. However, I enjoyed every bite as it had a caramel-ish flavor without being overly sweet. Others in my group ordered the SKYR CAKE which tasted similar to a cheesecake, and the CHOCOLATE CAKE. If you’re visiting the Hallgrímskirkja, you can’t miss Cafe Loki which is the bright yellow building right across the street. It’s definitely well worth stopping in for some Icelandic delicacies!

Flew into Iceland and this was the first place we tried. I had the cod plate which came its salad and potatoes. It was absolutely delicious and satisfied any hunger I had. The potatoes were seasoned perfectly and the cod was the most tender fish I’ve had. Parking can be quite hard. We found a good spot a block away and walked over. This place is right beside the cathedral so it’s usually busy. We walked in and were seated right away though. The prices shocked us coming from the states but it’s Iceland. Expect everything to be a minimum of $35 USD here!

Thank you for letting us very late on Sunday evening and served us food even the kitchen was about to close. All of the food was amazing, staff was super friendly, talked us through all the menu. For me Staff always define the venue, all the dishes we try was delicious plus the views outside, perfect combination. Highly recommend!

Lamb meat soup was ok, nothing special, lots of boiled potatoes and carrots inside, fillers. Lamb shank was a winner. Rye bread was the best I’ve ever eaten. Dining room smells like fish but the food tastes great.

A nice restaurant for Icelandic food! But it is expensive (expected for restaurants in Iceland). Great location, friendly and english accommodating staffs, nice view of the Hallgrímskirkja. Decent amount of seating. I had the Loki platter (around 5k ISK) which gives you a n array of classic Icelandic dishes including the shark/hákarl (which I only received 2 small cubes of), Icelandic flatbread with a cut of meat, two rúgbrauð (one with mash fish and potatoes, the other with salmon), and several pieces of harðfiskur (dried cod) with butter. All of which I liked.

We had the priest coffee which was strong! I personally have never tried Brennivín and kind of regretted it since it was early in the day. We also tried the lamb soup and the Viking platter! The lamb soup was hearty and homemade vibes. The Viking platter honestly tastes just like it looks! Nothing amazing, just dried fish, rye bread, and the well-known fermented shark. The ammonia really hits you hard and an added double whammy with the Brennivín shot. Probably wouldn’t recommend this if you have stomach sensitivities! Haha, but a good experience nonetheless. My absolute favorite was the rye bread ice cream! I would totally recommend. I think hands-down best thing I tasted in Iceland.

Great food. We say upstairs (reccomended) for the view of the church and cool mural with loki history. Great food and dessert and wonderful service. I had lamb and cod and carrots cake was just divine. Great traditional food in great location. Truly a unique little spot worth the price will go again

For context, we only ordered the fermented shark and rye bread ice cream. The fermented shark is actually quite good! You have to chew it for a bit and there’s an ammonia flavor at the end, but it is actually a quite mild flavor. The rye bread ice cream is very tasty. There’s a lot of rye bread mixed in (maybe 1:1 ice cream to bread ratio lol). There’s a caramel sauce over whipped cream on top. All in all, a tasty snack! Note that the portions are small!! There’s just four tiny pieces of shark (IMO that’s enough for 4 people!) and the ice cream is one small scoops worth. Total for the two was just under 3000 ISK.