The most famous reindeer soup in Reykjavik
Svarta kaffið is run by the Miljevic family and all of the couple's daughters, Eva, Dubravka and Tinna, have worked there at some point, and sometimes all of them at the same time. Iceland Monitor/ Ófeigur Lýðsson
The tiny Svarta kaffi café on Laugavegur in central Reykjavik is famous for its soup, usually served inside a loaf of bread. Their reindeer Christmas soup is so popular that people queue for hours for a taste.
Svarta kaffi is a family run restaurant owned by Stanko and Laufey Miljevic. The reindeer soup was considered unusual many years ago when they first got the idea. "But times have changed and now it's an unmissable part of Christmas for many people," explains their daughter Tinna. This is the eleventh year that the soup is on offer.
"The magical thing about the soup is that there is no recipe, actually that's the case for all of our soups. Just a bit of good sense in good minds, with the main ingredients being wild herbs and a lot of passion."
It's not clear yet when the soup will arrive. "That depends on when the reindeer meat arrives. here's a secret, when we put the Christmas lights in the windows that means that the meat is here. And once it's here the soup is available on weekends to begin with, and around the 20th we serve it on a daily basis."
Find Svarta kaffið on Laugavegur 54a. No reservations.
The famous reindeer soup, served in a freshly baked loaf of bread. Iceland Monitor/ Ófeigur Lýðsson
