Otto Matur & Drykkur: Höfn's Gastronomic Destination Born From a Couple's Love for Icelandic Cuisine

Posted by Rowena Dumlao Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 10/06/2022

Otto Matur & Drykkur: Höfn's Gastronomic Destination Born From a Couple's Love for Icelandic Cuisine

Born from a couple's unwavering passion for cuisine and culture, Chef Andrés Bragason and wife Auður Mikaelsdóttir have made Otto Matur & Drykkur Restaurant one of Iceland's top gastronomic destinations. In spite of its 450-kilometer distance from Reykjavik, Iceland's capital, it is fast becoming one of the country's referral point for Icelandic and Nordic seafood flavors, refreshed by the creativity of the chef.

Photo from Otto Matur & Drykkur Facebook page

Otto Matur & Drykkur Restaurant is housed in an old residential building dating back to 1897 which was built by merchant Otto Tulinius, thus its name. It's located in Höfn, a small fishing village in the southeast coast of the country on the outskirts of Vatnajökull National Park. The small town with a population of just over two thousand has embraced it as a place to get good local food but also its popularity among tourists has grown tenfold. Guests arrive continuously, most especially during the tourist season and since they don't accept reservations and is open only for dinner, waiting for a table is to be expected. The service provided by Auður and the rest of the dining staff is swift, efficient and convivial but without giving the impression of a rushed dinner.

The atmosphere is decidedly homey, decorated in Scandinavian style of light wooden floorboards and walls, colorful artworks decorating the walls, and wooden tables dimly light with candles. The ambience exudes coziness, from a family's hospitality to their guests. In fact, the top floor of the building houses their apartment, the middle floor is the kitchen and dining room while the basement is the experimental area for their concept store.

One of Otto's strong points, which they had actually been doing at the initial phase of the restaurant, is the production of their daily sourdough bread in the stone oven and cinnamon rolls. Everything in the restaurant is prepared from scratch and done by hand, using quality ingredients including freshly-caught seafood. The dishes have the delectable Icelandic flavors that bring locals and tourists alike in the intimate dining room of the restaurant.

The menu has a few entries for the starters (€18 to €21), main courses of seafood and meat (€35 to €42) and desserts (€12 to €14). Höfn is the lobster capital of Iceland and Otto has a delectable recipe of Lobster Soup with Cream and Cognac that should start the dinner well.