Kex Hostel is one of my favorite places in Reykjavik for dining or going to concerts. It has all the charm of an abandoned biscuit factory (which it is, Kex is an Icelandic word for biscuit) while it also has the charm of a typical hipster Berlineske hostel.
It doesn´t have the neon signs or luxury that a hotel would have, it´s actually kind of hidden in between the Museum of Modern Art and Domino´s at Skúlagata. You can enter from there or at the back via the porch, called the Kexport, they sometimes host concerts there as well.
Their website refers to them as a social hostel in downtown Reykjavik, that pretty much sums it up. The interior is very rugged but still very comfortable looking, the staff are always so nice and everyone is really chilled out. They have a lounge where you can sit and have a read, sittings by the window that oversees the ocean and the tables there are actually old sewing machines. Then they have the Gym and Tonic which is set up as an old school gym room, as you would imagine from a sixties movie, that room is mostly used for private parties and events.
Every Tuesday Kex hostel´s event department, called Kexland, hosts free jazz concerts. Usually you can find me sitting at the bar nibbling on a bar snack throwing back a special brew and enjoying a cool experience, taking me away from the horrors of a regular Tuesday for about two hours.
Usually on Tuesdays you can visit the Kex barber and get a trendy haircut or a nice beard trim.
This all sounds very exciting doesn´t it? Well hold your horses, I haven´t even started on their menu yet. Oooh it is glorious, the simplicity is awesome, the actual Menu comes on a folded A4 paper that looks photocopied at someone´s office instead of produced at an ad-agency, but it probably is, I´m just that gullible.
My favorites from the menu is their pulled pork in crispy batter, Devil on a horseback (bacon wrapped dates) and their chips with the cumin mayo, followed by a nice IPA brew, oh sweet baby Jesus!
So, I encourage you to check out their schedule, go for a drink, concert or just for a tour of the building, it´s worth it.
What's up Reykjavik? 