Gallery Restaurant, Viðeyjarstofa

Café - Restaurant in Viðey House

When we were on the island of Viðey, this island off the coast of Reykjavík, in June, before the return trip we also briefly went to the café-restaurant there, in Skúli Magnússon's old house.

Skúli Magnússon (1711 - 1794) was the Icelandic bailiff ("Skúli fógeti") and played a key role in Reykjavík's rise to the status of city and capital of Iceland, which is why he is often referred to as the "Father of Reykjavík". A manor house was built for him on Viðey between 1752 and 1755, the first stone house in Iceland, the so-called "Viðeyjarstofa" - basically the "parlor of the island of Viðey".

After a glorious beginning, the house later became quite run down. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the city of Reykjavík, the Icelandic state donated the building to the city. It has been extensively renovated and restored.

Today Skúli Magnússon's old house is used as a restaurant. On the upper floor there is a large room with up to 130 seats where events, meetings or celebrations take place all year round.

The opening times of the restaurant depend on the ferry timetable. In summer it is usually open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. - the first ferry leaves for Viðey at 10:15 a.m. and the last ferry back leaves at 6:30 p.m.

The menu is displayed on the ferry and hanging on the front door so that you can see it straight away when the doors are open and get an overview.

You enter the house through the front door and then stand in the entrance hall in the stairwell, looking down the hallway to the counter.

You order and pay at the counter, and the food and drinks are then brought to your table.

The house has a very quiet, captivatingly simple atmosphere.

We were there in the early afternoon, it was busy, but it definitely wasn't full.

We ordered at the counter and then found a seat with a view.

The two of us had a piece of apple pie with nuts, caramel sauce and whipped cream for 950 ISK (around €6.70 - as of July 2019) and a hot waffle with rhubarb jam and whipped cream for 1,200 ISK (around €8.50). In addition, as is often the case in Icelandic restaurants, we were brought a large bottle of water to the table free of charge.

The waffle was delicious, even if the rhubarb jam reminded me a bit of plum jam, but when rhubarb is cooked for a long time at low heat, there is a certain similarity. And the warm apple pie with the caramel sauce was really very good!

The map is clear, but good:

To drink there are soft drinks or juice for 450 ISK (approx. €3.20), a bottle of beer for 1,110 ISK (approx. €7.80) or red or white wine (1,500 ISK / €10.60 for a glass, 4,900 ISK / €34.70 for a bottle). There are also various hot drinks, hot chocolate, children's cocoa, coffee, tea, espresso, Irish coffee... priced between 490 ISK and 1,800 ISK (around €3.50 to €12.75).

Warm food is also offered, from baked Camembert to meat and vegetable soup, sandwiches and fries with sauce. On average, a warm meal costs around 1,900 ISK, or just under €13.50.

However, I didn't try the warm food and didn't see it from other guests, so I can't comment on that. In any case, our waffle was good and I even thought the apple cake was very good - just right for us after our long walk across the island!

[Translated from here.]