Kjotsupa is a clear, hearty lamb soup simmered with chunks of free-range Icelandic lamb, root vegetables, onion and herbs. It is the warming backbone of the winter table and a budget meal year-round.
Lamb soup is as old as Icelandic settlement, a one-pot meal built on the country's one abundant meat. Free-range sheep graze wild herbs through the summer, which carries into the flavour of the autumn lamb. The soup uses cheaper cuts on the bone, stretched with potato, carrot, swede and rutabaga, and was a way to feed a household through the long dark. Cafe Loki opposite Hallgrimskirkja serves it with rye bread, keeping the communal, generous spirit of the dish alive.
2 editor picks for Kjotsupa (Icelandic lamb soup) in Reykjavik, ranked by editorial score. All Reykjavik signature dishes · Kjotsupa (Icelandic lamb soup) across every city.
Cafe Loki ★ 4.2
101 · Lokastigur 28, 101 Reykjavik
Cafe Loki faces Hallgrimskirkja from Lokastigur, a Reykjavik cafe built on traditional Icelandic plates of dark rye bread, mashed fish and rye ice cream.
Kaffivagninn ★ 4.2
101-grandi · Grandagardur 10, 101 Reykjavik
Kaffivagninn on Grandagardur has fed harbour workers since 1935, billed as Iceland's oldest restaurant, where the catch of the day is the meal in Reykjavik.