Reykjavík: 7-Course Teppanyaki Tasting Menu with Fire Show

Fire is the headline here. At Flame Restaurant and Bar, a chef cooks a seven-course meal on a hot iron grill while turning dinner into a compact stage show, complete with open flames, spinning utensils, and stories about the ingredients. You get Icelandic lamb, langoustine, salmon, beef, and blueberry skyr in one sitting.

I like the way this meal connects local Icelandic produce with Japanese teppanyaki technique. I also like the welcome sake cocktail and the chance to watch the main courses being cooked inches from your table. The possible drawback is simple: at $120 per person, this is a special-occasion dinner, not a cheap way to eat in Reykjavík. The northern lights stop is only a possibility, too, since the lights cannot be guaranteed.

Key points to know before booking

• Seven courses in 1.5 hours: This is a compact tasting menu, not a long evening meal.
• Chef Wilson leads the show: His fire work, utensil spinning, and friendly style received especially strong praise.
• Icelandic ingredients take center stage: Expect langoustine, free-range lamb, Arctic char, salmon, beef, vegetables, rice, and skyr.
• Flame is the only teppanyaki restaurant in Iceland: That gives the meal a novelty factor beyond the food itself.
• Central Reykjavík setting: The restaurant is about 200 meters from Höfði House and close to the sea.
• Northern lights are not part of the guarantee: You may try the nearby lighthouse after dinner, but the sky decides.

A fiery welcome at Flame Restaurant and Bar

You check in at Flame Restaurant and Bar in a modern glass building in central Reykjavík. The location is handy for an evening out, with Höfði House roughly 200 meters away and Fosshotel Reykjavík nearby. You are also not far from the ocean, which matters if you want to take a short walk after dinner.

The meal begins with a welcome sake cocktail, or a similar drink if that option is not available. This gives the evening a clear starting point instead of dropping you straight into the first course. The drink is part of the booking, while additional drinks are not listed as included.

The restaurant’s setting and format make this feel different from a standard Icelandic dinner. You are not simply served a sequence of plates from the kitchen. The cooking happens in front of you, and the chef is part cook, part host, and part performer.

That format works best if you enjoy some energy with your meal. If you prefer a quiet restaurant where conversation carries the evening, the fire show and activity around the grill may feel like a distraction.

Course one: beef carpaccio sets a lighter tone

The sample menu begins with Icelandic beef carpaccio. This is a sensible opening course because it is lighter than the grilled dishes that follow and gives you a first taste of the local ingredient focus.

The carpaccio also signals that this is not a basic steakhouse meal with a few decorative tricks. The menu moves between raw, fried, grilled, and sauced preparations. You get variety before the large pieces of meat and seafood arrive.

Exact garnishes and portion sizes can vary, since the restaurant presents the menu as a sample. Still, the beef carpaccio is part of the stated seven-course lineup, so you can expect the meal to begin with a refined starter rather than bread or a heavy appetizer.

Course two: tempura langoustine with lava sauce

Next comes tempura Icelandic langoustine, served with homemade lava sauce. Icelandic langoustine is one of the country’s best-known seafood products, and this course gives it a crisp, theatrical treatment.

The tempura adds crunch, while the sauce brings the volcanic theme into the meal. The name lava sauce fits Reykjavík well, given Iceland’s connection to volcanoes and geothermal heat, but the more important point is balance. A fried shellfish course needs enough freshness and acidity to avoid feeling heavy.

This is one of the courses that gives you a taste of Iceland without requiring a separate seafood excursion. You can try a prized local ingredient while watching the chef work at close range.

Rice, vegetables, and the rhythm of the grill

Premium Japanese rice and mixed fresh vegetables appear as supporting courses. They may not have the drama of a flame burst, but they are important to the meal because they give the richer meat and seafood courses somewhere to go.

Teppanyaki cooking is built around timing. The chef has to manage the hot plate, sauces, vegetables, rice, and proteins while keeping the performance moving. Watching that process helps you understand why the meal is more than a series of dishes brought from a hidden kitchen.

The 1.5-hour schedule is fairly brisk for seven courses. I would expect a steady pace, with food and performance sharing the same space. If you want to linger over every plate, order several extra drinks, or turn dinner into a three-hour event, this may feel rushed. If you have only one evening in central Reykjavík, the shorter format is useful.

Course three: Arctic char with teriyaki sauce

The menu includes Icelandic Arctic char with teriyaki sauce. Arctic char is well suited to this style of cooking: it is a local fish with a delicate texture and enough flavor to work with a sweet and savory sauce.

This course helps prevent the meal from becoming too meat-heavy. You have already had beef and langoustine, and the char brings another Icelandic ingredient to the table without repeating the same preparation.

The stated menu also refers to salmon among the fresh Icelandic ingredients, so the exact fish presentation may depend on the evening’s menu. You should see the meal as a guided tasting of Icelandic ingredients through teppanyaki methods, rather than a fixed restaurant menu with every detail guaranteed in identical form.

Course four: free-range Icelandic lamb

Icelandic lamb is the main event for many diners. The sample menu lists free-range Icelandic lamb with pepper sauce, grilled on the teppanyaki table.

This is where the cooking show becomes most useful. You can watch the chef handle the meat directly in front of you, rather than receiving it after all the interesting work is finished. The open flame, utensil spinning, and quick movements add entertainment, but they also show the skill needed to cook a protein properly on a hot surface.

The pepper sauce gives the lamb a familiar, savory finish. That may appeal to you if you want to try a local meat without an overly experimental presentation. I would expect this course to be filling, especially when combined with rice, vegetables, and the earlier dishes.

Several particularly enthusiastic accounts praised the food as both generous and satisfying. One described leaving very full, which is useful context at a tasting menu: seven courses does not necessarily mean seven tiny bites.

The fire show: fun, close, and part of the value

The chef performs a volcanic flame show while preparing the meal. Expect open flame, utensil skills, and food cooked directly in front of you. The exact tricks can vary with the chef and the evening, but the performance is a central part of the experience.

Chef Wilson received especially warm praise for being entertaining, friendly, and personal. One evening included a visit from sous chef Kai, who spoke with diners and discussed the food. You cannot assume that both chefs will spend the same amount of time at your table every night, but the restaurant clearly treats conversation and showmanship as part of the service.

This is not a formal cooking class. You are watching a professional prepare the courses rather than learning to reproduce them yourself. That makes it easy to enjoy, even if you know little about Japanese cooking.

The fire is also the main reason to choose this dinner over a conventional Icelandic restaurant. If you only want the best possible version of each ingredient, another restaurant format may suit you better. If you want dinner to be an event, the chef’s performance adds real value.

Dessert: blueberry skyr brings the meal back to Iceland

The final course is traditional blueberry skyr yogurt. Skyr is one of Iceland’s most recognizable foods, and the blueberry pairing gives dessert a local finish without making the meal even heavier.

After lamb, rice, vegetables, fish, beef, and langoustine, a cool dairy-based dessert makes sense. It is a clean ending to a rich meal and keeps the focus on Icelandic ingredients.

This course also gives the menu a useful national thread. The techniques are Japanese-inspired, but the ingredients repeatedly point back to Iceland: lamb, seafood, berries, and skyr.

Is $120 a fair price?

At $120 per person, the cost is high for dinner in absolute terms. You are paying for a seven-course menu, a welcome sake cocktail or similar drink, a central location, and a live cooking performance.

The value depends on what you want from the evening. If you compare this only with the price of a regular meal, it will look expensive. If you compare it with a tasting menu plus a show, the price becomes easier to understand. You get several premium ingredients, including langoustine and lamb, without arranging separate food stops.

I would book it for a birthday, a final night in Reykjavík, or an evening when you want the meal itself to be an attraction. I would skip it if your priority is a low-cost local dinner or if you dislike fixed menus.

The welcome cocktail helps, but it does not turn the booking into an all-inclusive night. Transportation is not included, and any extra drinks or costs outside the seven courses are separate.

A practical central Reykjavík dinner

The restaurant is in central Reykjavík, so you arrange your own way there. No transportation is included. That is less of a problem here than it would be for a remote excursion, since the setting is near hotels and city sights.

The experience lasts about 1.5 hours. Check the available starting times when booking, since the exact schedule can change. I would avoid placing another tightly timed activity immediately afterward. The meal is designed to move through multiple courses and a live show, and you will want a little breathing room.

The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. English is used for the activity and instruction, so communication should be straightforward for English-speaking diners.

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and the reserve-now, pay-later option lets you hold a place without paying at once. Those terms are useful if your Iceland plans depend on weather, road conditions, or changing northern lights forecasts.

Adding a lighthouse walk and a northern lights chance

The restaurant is near the ocean, and a nearby lighthouse offers a possible northern lights viewing spot in winter. This is a pleasant add-on because it gives you a reason to step outside after dinner and see another part of the area.

Do not book the meal as a northern lights tour. The lights are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed. Cloud cover, darkness, solar activity, and timing all matter, and a clear view is never promised.

The best way to think about this is as a bonus. You receive the dinner and show regardless of the sky. If the conditions look promising, you can try the lighthouse afterward. If the aurora does not appear, the evening still has a complete main event.

Who will enjoy this meal most?

I would recommend it to you if you want:

• A memorable dinner rather than a basic restaurant stop
• A first taste of Icelandic lamb, seafood, and skyr
• A meal with an entertaining chef and visible cooking
• A central Reykjavík activity that fits into a 1.5-hour window
• A special evening for a couple, family, or small celebration
• Something unusual, since Flame is described as Iceland’s only teppanyaki restaurant

Families and mixed-age groups may like the fire tricks and quick action, though the supplied information does not specify age rules. Food-focused visitors will appreciate the range of ingredients, while people less interested in tasting menus can still enjoy the performance.

I would be more cautious if you have strict dietary needs. The menu includes beef, langoustine, fish, lamb, dairy, rice, vegetables, and several sauces, but no special dietary arrangements are stated. Contact the restaurant before booking if you need substitutions or allergy advice.

Should you book Flame’s teppanyaki dinner?

Book it if you want Icelandic ingredients served with a Japanese cooking style and a live fire show. The strongest reasons are the close-up cooking, the generous seven-course format, and the friendly presentation associated with chef Wilson. The menu gives you a broad sampling of Icelandic food in one evening.

Skip it if you are trying to keep dinner costs low, want a quiet meal, or are booking mainly for the northern lights. The aurora is only a possible extra, and $120 is a serious price for a 1.5-hour meal.

For the right occasion, I think the combination works. You get dinner, entertainment, and a taste of several local ingredients without leaving Reykjavík. Just treat the lighthouse and northern lights as optional luck, not part of the promise.

FAQ

Where does the teppanyaki experience take place?

You check in with staff at Flame Restaurant and Bar in Reykjavík’s Capital Region. The restaurant is in a modern glass building area in central Reykjavík, about 200 meters from Höfði House and near Fosshotel Reykjavík.

How long does the experience last?

The experience lasts approximately 1.5 hours. Starting times depend on availability, so check the schedule when you book.

What is included in the price?

The booking includes the seven-course tasting menu and a welcome sake cocktail or similar drink.

Is transportation included?

No. You must arrange your own transportation to and from Flame Restaurant and Bar.

What food is served?

The sample menu includes Icelandic beef carpaccio, tempura Icelandic langoustine with homemade lava sauce, premium Japanese rice, mixed fresh vegetables, Icelandic Arctic char with teriyaki sauce, free-range Icelandic lamb with pepper sauce, and blueberry skyr yogurt.

Is the fire show guaranteed?

The experience includes a teppanyaki fire show while the chef prepares the meal. The exact tricks and presentation can vary, but open-flame cooking is a central part of the activity.

Can I see the northern lights afterward?

You may have a chance to see the northern lights at a nearby lighthouse by the sea in winter. The northern lights are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed.

Is the restaurant wheelchair accessible?

Yes. The activity is listed as wheelchair accessible, and English is the activity language.

Can I cancel the booking?

Yes. You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. A reserve-now, pay-later option is also available.