Humarsupa is a rich, creamy soup built on Icelandic langoustine, the small sweet shellfish often called lobster locally. The shells are simmered for a deep stock before the tail meat is added.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Icelandic langoustine, humar, is prized for its sweetness, pulled from the cold waters off the south coast. The soup made its name at Saegreifinn, the harbour shack where a former fisherman started ladling it in 2003, and travellers now cross Reykjavik for a bowl. A good humarsupa simmers the shells for a tomato-tinged bisque, then finishes with cream and the reserved tails, served with bread to mop the bowl.
Common allergens: Crustaceans, Milk
Tip from the editors. Never boil the soup after adding the cream; if it bubbles hard the bisque splits into a thin liquid and a fat layer in under a minute.
Green fisherman's hut by the old harbour on Geirsgata since 1992, world-famous lobster soup plus grilled fish and lamb skewers; Sea Baron of Reykjavik.
Why locals love it: A green shack among the harbour sheds with barrels for seats, it looks like nothing, yet inside is the langoustine soup travellers cross the city to find.
Tip: Seating is communal on barrels and benches. The langoustine soup with bread is the only order you need.
Kopar sits over the water at the Old Harbour on Geirsgata, a Reykjavik seafood room that leans on local langoustine and cod with vegan plates too.
Signature: Langoustine, Cod
Order: The langoustine, or the signature cod with whatever is in season.
Tip: Ask for a window table over the harbour. Lunch is the cheaper way into the same kitchen.
Hofnin, The Harbour, fills a 1930s house on Geirsgata with family-run Icelandic seafood, a Reykjavik room for shellfish soup and plokkfiskur by the marina.
Signature: Shellfish soup, Plokkfiskur
Order: The shellfish soup, or plokkfiskur, the creamy Icelandic fish-and-potato stew.
Tip: Window tables look out on Mount Esja across the water. Popular, so book ahead in summer.
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