The building on Austurstræti 16 has been an apothecary since 1772 - one of the oldest continuously commercial buildings in Reykjavík. The pharmacy operated until 1999. The current restaurant-and-bar moved in around 2014, kept the original wooden fittings, the original mortar-and-pestle display, and a number of the smaller details (the prescription drawers behind the bar, the painted-tile floor). The bar's identity is built deliberately on the pharmacy frame. The right way to read the menu is as a doctor's prescription, taken seriously.
Apótek runs a serious kitchen alongside the bar - the lunch menu, in particular, is one of the better-value formal meals in central Reykjavík. The bar itself is best for a 7-9pm visit before dinner or a later 10pm-midnight visit on the way home from somewhere else. Closed Sundays for bar service.
