Vogafjós Farm Resort

What makes it special

The restaurant is built into the barn, and a big glass window separates the tables from the cowshed. From a window table you can watch the herd feed, and at milking time you can watch the cows being milked. The other tables look out over Lake Mývatn instead.

The cows are Icelandic cattle, a breed the Norse settlers brought to the island more than 1,000 years ago. This is a mixed farm, with 16 milking cows beside a flock of sheep and young cattle, run by the same family for about 130 years.

Most of what you eat comes from the farm itself: its own beef and lamb, cheeses made from the herd's milk, smoked arctic char and homemade cakes. The rest comes from other farms nearby. Geysir bread, a dark rye baked in hot springs close by, is served with the meal and also broken into a sweet, creamy dessert.

For the most direct taste of the place, ask for a glass of the milk, fresh and still warm from the cows.

Visiting

From breakfast to dinner, Vogafjós Restaurant serves one long day of meals, and walk-ins are welcome at any time it is open. Ask for a table by the cowshed window as you come in. The same building holds the reception for the guesthouse rooms across the road.

Breakfast is a buffet that non-guests can join too, and it starts earlier in summer than in winter. Lunch runs from noon, and the dinner menu takes over in the late afternoon.

After the meal, ask the staff whether you can step into the barn to see the cows up close.

Tips

If you order one dish, make it the Vogafjós Special, a plate of the farm's own produce. Ask about the homemade angelica schnapps too. Vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free dishes are on the menu, and the waiter needs to hear about any allergy.

Come for breakfast in summer and you eat while the morning milking is under way. Lunch here also fits neatly after the Hverfjall crater walk and the lava fields, a few minutes' drive away.