A couple of weeks ago, after DILL and ÓX, I headed out of Reykjavík to Moss at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon.
The setting is ridiculous. The restaurant sits high above the resort, looking straight across the black lava fields, and visually it’s hard to think of many dining rooms that feel more Icelandic.
Unfortunately, for me, the restaurant itself was a bit of an also-ran compared with the others I visited.
Moss is led by Icelandic chef Aggi Sverrisson, who previously ran the Michelin-starred Texture in London. And perhaps that explains why the word “texture” seemed to make an appearance at least twice during the introduction to almost every dish. After a while I started waiting for it.
The food was beautifully plated — precise, polished and technically accomplished — but I found it all a little safe. It felt very much like a luxury hotel restaurant: nothing particularly wrong with it, but very little that surprised or excited me either.
Service was perfectly pleasant but similarly polished to the point of feeling slightly robotic. Everything happened when it should, everything was explained, but there wasn’t much warmth or personality behind it.
Maybe Moss suffered from where it landed in my Iceland trip. Coming straight after DILL and ÓX, both of which had far more personality and a much stronger sense of identity, it had a hell of a job following them.
There’s no denying the beauty of the place, though. Moss sits inside one of the most extraordinary landscapes in Iceland, and the plates certainly looked the part. I just wanted the cooking to have a little more edge, individuality and excitement.
Very pretty. Very precise. Very “texture”.
Just not particularly memorable.
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Michelin - ⭐️
Best Chef Awards -
OAD - 518 (2025)
W50B -
La Liste -
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#Moss #BlueLagoon #Iceland #FineDining #MichelinStar Less