An Icelandic cheesecake built on the country's tangy fresh-cheese skyr instead of cream cheese, set on a digestive-biscuit base and crowned with wild blueberry or crowberry compote.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Skyrterta emerged in Icelandic home baking in the mid-20th century as fridges arrived and households began folding skyr with whipped cream for a no-bake cheesecake. The wild blueberry crown comes from the late-summer aðalbláber and crowberries that locals still pick on highland walks. Sandholt and Mokka Kaffi serve the modern bakery version year-round.
Common allergens: Milk, Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. Frozen wild blueberries work better than fresh supermarket cultivated ones; the tart-and-musky flavour is what distinguishes skyrterta from a generic cheesecake.
Sandholt on Laugavegur serves an all-day bakery brunch in Reykjavik, with shakshuka, sourdough toasts and savoury waffles by the pastry counter.
Order: The shakshuka, or sourdough toast piled with eggs and cheese.
Tip: The pastries come straight from the bakery in the same room. Arrive early at weekends to beat the queue.
Family-run Icelandic kitchen across from Hallgrimskirkja on Lokastigur serving meat soup, fermented shark and rye-bread ice cream from 8am to 10pm daily.
Why locals love it: Most visitors photograph Hallgrimskirkja and leave, missing the small cafe opposite that serves the city's most accessible traditional Icelandic plates.
Tip: The easiest place to try rye bread with mashed fish and rye-bread ice cream. Walk-in only.
Grai Kotturinn on Hverfisgata is the classic Reykjavik breakfast den, a tiny basement famous for the Truck, a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs.
Order: The Truck, a loaded plate of pancakes, bacon, eggs and potatoes.
Tip: Only a handful of tables, so a queue is likely. Mornings only, closing mid-afternoon.
Mokka Kaffi on Skolavordustigur has roasted its own beans since 1958, the first cafe in Reykjavik to serve espresso and still grinding its in-house roast.
Tip: The roasting is part of the heritage here, unchanged for decades. Come for the waffles, stay for the espresso.
Sources from: Brazil, Colombia
How they serve: Espresso, Whole bean retail
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