Old Iceland occupies a wood-trimmed dining room on Laugavegur, Reykjavík’s main shopping street, and has run as a family-owned kitchen since 2014. It draws travelers hunting Icelandic cooking that doesn’t cut corners on sourcing, pairing lamb and fish from domestic producers with a dining room built for long, unhurried meals.
The menu centers on Icelandic lamb and fresh seafood, with cod and traditional fish soup among the dishes diners return for. The kitchen works wild-grown Icelandic herbs into sauces and sides, giving familiar plates a distinct regional edge rather than a generic Nordic gloss. Tables sit close together under warm lighting, encouraging the kind of conversation-heavy, unrushed dinner service that regulars and reviewers consistently single out. Staff lean into explaining ingredients and preparation, which matters for visitors unfamiliar with Icelandic lamb’s grass-fed flavor or the region’s cold-water fish varieties. The result is a room that feels personal rather than engineered for tour groups, even given its central, high-traffic address.
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
Laugavegur 72 sits a short walk from Hallgrímskirkja and the main shopping strip, making it easy to fold into a day of sightseeing downtown. Evenings fill quickly during peak summer months, so booking ahead or arriving right at opening reduces wait times. Lamb and seafood specials move fastest, so ask staff about the day’s catch before settling on a main. With a 4.7–4.8 rating across thousands of reviews and a ranking among Reykjavík’s top restaurants, demand runs high year-round, not just in tourist season.
