A guide to all the vegan eats in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Iceland.
Well, Reykjavik & Vík.
Searching for a vegan restaurant in Iceland? There are very few full vegan restaurants in Iceland, maybe only one; but most restaurants in Iceland offer a couple of vegetarian & vegan options on their menus, in and out of the main city.
Before you head out on your trip, you need to know that Iceland is very expensive (I can’t stress this enough). Most of your travel budget will go towards food; vegan or not, a plate will go for $15-$25. Actually, I was surprised to find out that vegan food in Iceland is less expensive than non-vegan food, especially when grocery shopping.
You’ll find that this guide does not include breakfast and/or cafés; given that Iceland is expensive, we opted for buying a couple of groceries and making breakfast at the airbnbs. Also, you’ll find in this guide that I’ve included Breweries. If you follow me on Instagram you know that there’s a special place in my heart for craft beer, and it seems like it’s Iceland’s untold specialty.
Here are the spots that I visited & what I ordered!
Full Vegan
Veganæs: This is probably the only fully vegan restaurant in Iceland, and it did not disappoint. I tried both, the Seitanic Steik and the Seitanic Burger, with fries & ordered vegan mozzarella sticks on the side. They literally had the best seitan I’ve tried.
Vegan-friendly
Kaffihús Vesturbæjar: This was the only place that I visited for breakfast purposes, also the first place I visited straight out of the flight. Ordered the hummus toast made with their freshly baked sourdough bread, a side of berries & avocado.
Friðheimar: When I heard that there was a tomato greenhouse that doubled as a restaurant, I knew I had to see it for myself. Every single dish that they served had tomato as the main ingredient. Even their beers were made from tomatoes! I had the best tomato soup I’ve had in my life, which was served with vegan-friendly bread and topped with cucumber salad & freshly cut basil. Fun fact: this place served as an inspiration for one of last’s week’s recipes.
Pylsa Hlemmur Square: This place is located right on the main Reykjavik bus stop. They had a couple of vegan options, but I knew that I couldn’t leave Iceland without trying a vegan sausage/hotdog, so that’s exactly what I ordered.
Pho Vietnamese Restaurant: I’ve never had vegan-friendly fried rice in a restaurant before, and this one came with it came with pan-fried tofu & soy strips!!! I spent New Years in Reykjavik, after midnight, returning to the airbnb, I walked past this restaurant which had fireworks coming out from the front. It was hard to not notice the “we have vegan food” sign, and I was surprised because while researching vegan-friendly restaurants in Iceland, Pho Vietnamese Restaurant never popped up. I’m glad I ran into it.
Fjörukráin-Viking Village: One of the most unusual places I’ve ever visited, a viking restaurant located in a viking village, just outside of Reykjavik. I was super surprised to find out that they had a vegan “burger”, and even more surprised to see that the place was so authentic to traditional viking food, that the “burger” that I ordered came out deconstructed lol. So I got to try a vegan viking burger yay!
Breweries & Bars
Pablo Discobar: This place doubles as both, a restaurant (Burro) on the first two floors and a bar (Pablo Discobar) on the third one. Their menu had some vegan options, yet I only visited the bar which had amazing cocktails.
Bryggjan Brugghús: The BEST vegan meal that I had in Iceland was here! Even though Bryggjan Brugghús is not vegan, they have the most impressive vegan dish that I’ve tried while eating out of my house: Mushroom risotto with giant portobello mushrooms & veggie stuffed croquettes, topped with walnuts & grapes. They also had vegan burgers, appetizers, desserts, and amazing brewed on-site beer.
Smidjan Brugghús: A brewery right in the center of Vík; this is where I had the BEST beers! They have an ample menu including an amazing vegan burger topped with avocado, vegan garlic aioli & ONION RINGS. The burger there reminded me a lot of the burger that I had in Amsterdam at the Vegan Junk Food Bar. Make sure to get a flight of beers with your order and try their seasonal beers.
Ölverk Brugghus: A micro-brewery, located right in between Reykjavik & Vík solely dedicated to beers and pizza. They had two different vegan pizzas, pesto and a Mexican one. I went for the Mexican style pizza which had: vegan cheese, vegan ground beef, peppers, nachos, pickled red onion, vegan sour cream, and cilantro. Easily, one of my favorite vegan pizzas that I’ve tried. They also brew beer there and the one that I liked the most was the seasonal Christmas beer.
Micro Bar: A microbrewery bar for beer nerds, which supports small brewers from all over Iceland.
Bastards Brew & Bar: This is where we closed off our New Year’s celebrations! A fantastic place to enjoy Icelandic craft beer and classy cocktails, filled with cool art everywhere, and amazing music playing in the background.
Snacks
Geysir: Located on the Golden Circle, this place is a visitor center, a gift shop and a restaurant all in one. They offer a couple of vegan options like pizza, sandwiches & soups. We didn’t actually eat there, we just stopped there to shield ourselves from the heavy rain.
Reykjavik Chips: A place dedicated to the best food in the world- potato fries! They also have a couple of vegan-friendly dipping sauces to choose from.
Svartafjaran: Located right in Reynisfjara, the Black Sand Beach. They had a couple of vegan options, I opted for their vegan onion rings and turnip soup.
Valdís: A cute ice cream shop located in the heart of Reykjavik. They had two vegan options when I visited: cherry, and the one that I ordered, coffee.
The Laundromat Café: This might sound a bit unusual, but this place is just like the name implies, a laundromat and a café. Even though I didn’t actually eat anything here, I just went there to do laundry (and had some beers while waiting), they did have a couple of vegan options.
Not vegan, but were able to accommodate
Reykjavik Fish: The only thing that I could order off their menu was roasted potatoes, which were the bomb! Ordered two sides of these potatoes, and made it a full meal.
Strondin Bistro and Bar: Located in Vík, this restaurant only had one veggie option- a vegetable pasta- they were able to make it vegan by removing the parmesan cheese.
Grocery shopping & Gas Stations
With the expense of eating out, it made a lot of sense to go grocery shopping and cook at the airbnbs. Having groceries at hand will also end up being lifesaving during days that the weather gets really harsh; we spent an entire day indoors because it was so windy that the door could barely open. Just make sure you pick lodging that has kitchens with basic cooking necessities. When it comes to grocery shopping, the most vegan-friendly were Bonus & Kronin (they can also be found all throughout the island); both carried an ample selection of fresh produce, vegan meat substitutes, vegan cheeses, snacks & desserts.
For the most part of the trip, we used a rented car which meant visiting a couple of gas stations. The ones we visited had a variety of vegan snack foods, sandwiches, and wraps, which can help hold you over during road trips.
Well, that’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and that it serves you well when planning your trip to Iceland. For more vegan-friendly restaurants across Iceland, use the apps Vegan Ísland & Happy Cow.
Also, here are some of my non-food related photos 🙂
