Restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland

Matur og Drykkur

Name: Matur og Drykkur
Address: Grandagarður 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland, Reykjavík, IS
Telephone: +354 571 8877
Price range: €€€€

655Pearl Points

Old recipes, real technique, book it.

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Matur og Drykkur, Restaurant in Reykjavík

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About Matur og Drykkur

Matur og Drykkur is the most focused traditional Icelandic restaurant at the €€€€ tier in Reykjavík, with consecutive Michelin Plates and La Liste recognition. Book it as an evening-only dinner (Wed–Sun) if you want cooking grounded in Icelandic culinary history rather than New Nordic creativity. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, making it one of the more accessible options at this level.

The Verdict

If you are returning to Reykjavík and have already done the New Nordic circuit, Matur og Drykkur is the restaurant you should book next. It is one of the most focused expressions of traditional Icelandic cooking in the capital, earning consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025), La Liste recognition at 77.5 points in 2025, and a Google rating of 4.5 across 733 reviews. At €€€€ pricing, it competes directly with DILL and ÓX, but it occupies a genuinely different position: where those restaurants interpret Nordic tradition through a creative or avant-garde lens, Matur og Drykkur treats old Icelandic recipes as the destination, not the starting point.

Portrait

The address on Grandagarður puts Matur og Drykkur in the Old Harbour district, a part of Reykjavík that has shifted from a working fishing port into one of the city's more consistent dining and cultural areas. The harbour setting is not incidental. Chef Gísli Matthías Auðunsson has built a kitchen around ingredients and preparations that are historically rooted in Icelandic fishing and agricultural life: cured fish, lamb, skyr, fermented and dried proteins that most foreign visitors have encountered only as curiosities. Here, they are treated as serious cooking material.

The atmosphere at Matur og Drykkur runs warm and relatively low-key for a restaurant at this price point. The room does not chase the stark, design-forward minimalism that defines some of the city's other €€€€ venues. Energy is conversational in the earlier part of the evening; the space fills steadily toward 8 PM on weekend nights. If you are visiting for a long, unhurried dinner with room to talk, arriving at opening time on a Thursday or Friday gives you the room at its most relaxed. By Saturday evening it is noticeably busier and louder, which changes the character of the experience more than the food changes.

This is an evening-only restaurant. Hours run Wednesday through Sunday, 6–11 PM, with Monday and Tuesday closed. There is no lunch service, which means the Lunch vs Dinner question answers itself by format: if you are planning a daytime meal in the harbour area, Matur og Drykkur is not an option. For a mid-day harbour meal at a lower price point, 3 Frakkar operates on a different schedule and at a lower price tier, and is worth considering as a daytime complement to an evening here.

Given the dinner-only format, the value question comes down entirely to the evening experience. At €€€€ pricing, you are paying for a focused, research-backed take on Icelandic culinary history rather than technical pyrotechnics or tableside theatre. Diners who have been once tend to note that the cooking rewards attention: the dishes are not always immediately dramatic, but the logic behind the flavour combinations becomes clearer as the meal progresses. If you are returning after a first visit, the suggestion is to let the kitchen lead rather than looking for familiar safe options — the more traditional preparations are where Matur og Drykkur separates itself from Reykjavík's other restaurants at this tier.

For broader context on the Reykjavík dining scene, the full Reykjavík restaurants guide covers the current options across price tiers. If you are spending multiple days in the city, the Reykjavík hotels guide and bars guide are useful for planning the rest of your trip. For those extending beyond the capital, Moss in Grindavík is a comparable-tier destination worth adding to the itinerary.

Compared to global fine-dining benchmarks, Matur og Drykkur sits in the territory of restaurants like Lazy Bear in San Francisco or Emeril's in New Orleans in the sense that they are strongly place-specific and make the most sense eaten in the city where they exist. Unlike Le Bernardin in New York City or Alain Ducasse at Louis XV in Monte Carlo, the draw here is not classical technique or formal luxury; it is specificity of place and ingredient. That is worth understanding before you book.

Ratings at a Glance

Michelin Plate: 2024, 2025
La Liste: 77.5 pts (2025), 76 pts (2026)
Opinionated About Dining: Leading Restaurants in Europe #442 (2025); Casual in Europe #384 (2024)
Google: 4.5 / 5 (733 reviews)

Booking & Practical Details

Reservations: Booking difficulty is rated Easy — you do not need to plan weeks in advance for most dates, though weekend evenings in peak tourist season (June–August) will fill faster than mid-week slots. Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 6–11 PM; closed Monday and Tuesday. Address: Grandagarður 2, 101 Reykjavík. Budget: €€€€ , expect pricing in line with Reykjavík's other top-tier dinner venues. Dress: No dress code is listed; smart casual is appropriate for the price point. Groups: No seat count is listed in available data; contact the restaurant directly for larger group bookings. Dietary needs: Not specified in available data , flag requirements at the time of booking.

How It Compares

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Matur og Drykkur handle dietary restrictions?

check the venue's official channels before booking to flag any dietary needs. The kitchen works with traditional Icelandic ingredients, which means a heavy focus on fish, lamb, and dairy — not naturally accommodating for vegans or those with multiple restrictions. If your party has serious dietary constraints, confirm in advance rather than assuming flexibility at €€€€ price point.

Is Matur og Drykkur good for a special occasion?

Yes, provided the occasion suits a serious, ingredient-focused dinner rather than a high-energy celebration. The Old Harbour location on Grandagarður adds context, and the La Liste ranking and back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition give it the credentials to justify a celebratory booking. For groups wanting more spectacle or a livelier room, ÓX may be a closer fit.

How far ahead should I book Matur og Drykkur?

Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so you generally do not need weeks of lead time for midweek tables. That said, weekend evenings in summer peak season — when Reykjavík fills with tourists — tighten up. A week's notice on a Friday or Saturday is sensible; for specific dates in July or August, book two weeks out to be safe. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday.

Is the tasting menu worth it at Matur og Drykkur?

At €€€€ pricing, it earns its place if you want a structured, research-backed take on old Icelandic recipes rather than the New Nordic minimalism that dominates Reykjavík's upper tier. The Opinionated About Dining ranking among Europe's top casual restaurants signals it delivers on quality without requiring the formality of a full fine-dining experience. If you want creative tasting-menu theatre, ÓX is the alternative to consider.

Can Matur og Drykkur accommodate groups?

Nothing in the venue record confirms private dining or dedicated group spaces, so check the venue's official channels for parties of six or more. Evening-only service (6–11 pm, Wednesday through Sunday) limits the scheduling options. For larger group dinners where flexibility is a priority, DILL or a more operationally scaled venue may be easier to coordinate.

What are alternatives to Matur og Drykkur in Reykjavík?

DILL is the go-to if you want New Nordic tasting menus with a higher Michelin profile. ÓX suits smaller groups who want an intimate, counter-format experience. 3 Frakkar is the pick for straightforward Icelandic classics at a lower price point. Brút covers the natural wine and small-plates angle, while OTO offers a more casual, modern approach to Icelandic seafood.

Is Matur og Drykkur worth the price?

At €€€€, it is worth it if traditional Icelandic cooking — historically documented recipes made with serious technique — is what you are after. La Liste ranked it 77.5pts in 2025 and 76pts in 2026, and it holds a Michelin Plate, confirming consistent quality. If you need stronger Michelin hardware to justify the spend, DILL is the higher-decorated alternative; if price is the concern, 3 Frakkar covers similar culinary territory for considerably less.

Location

Grandagarður 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland

Compare Matur og Drykkur

Award Winners Like Matur og Drykkur

Venue	Awards	Price
Matur og Drykkur		€€€€
DILL	Michelin 1 Star	€€€€
ÓX	Michelin 1 Star	€€€€
3 Frakkar
Brút		€€€€
OTO		€€€

Comparing your options in Reykjavík for this tier.

Also Consider

DILL, New Nordic, Creative, €€€€
ÓX, Nordic , Modern Cuisine, €€€€
3 Frakkar, Seafood, Seafood
Brút, Modern Cuisine, €€€€
OTO, Modern Cuisine, €€€

At the €€€€ tier in Reykjavík, you are choosing between four meaningfully different experiences. DILL is the most internationally recognised option and the right choice if you want New Nordic creative cooking with the strongest press profile. ÓX is the hardest to book and the most avant-garde of the group, suited to diners who prioritise format and experimentation. Matur og Drykkur sits apart from both: it is not trying to reinterpret Icelandic ingredients through a contemporary lens so much as it is making a case for taking the traditional preparations seriously on their own terms. If that distinction matters to you, it makes the decision easy.

Brút occupies a similar price tier with a modern cuisine approach that will appeal to diners who want something less historically rooted but still serious. For a step down in price without a step down in quality, OTO at €€€ is worth considering, particularly for diners who want modern cooking at a more manageable spend. 3 Frakkar is the practical answer for a seafood-focused lunch or a lower-budget dinner, it has operated in Reykjavík long enough to have a reliable track record and a price point that makes it easy to recommend without qualification.

The clearest decision framework: if this is your first serious dinner in Reykjavík, DILL is the safer landmark choice. If you have already done DILL or want something less trend-facing and more rooted in Icelandic food history, Matur og Drykkur is the better booking. Its Easy booking difficulty rating means you are not taking a risk on availability, which removes one of the main arguments against choosing it over the harder-to-access options at this tier.