Walk into Mokka Kaffi and you walk into 1958. Reykjavik's first espresso bar still has its original Italian Faema machine, its dark-wood booths, its tile floor, and (it sometimes seems) some of its original customers reading the paper in the window. The coffee is solid, not artisanal — that comes from Reykjavik Roasters around the corner — but the waffles with whipped cream and jam, served all day, are a Reykjavik institution.
The walls always show a rotating exhibition by a local artist; people who became famous later have shown here before they were known. A useful refuge from the Skólavörðustígur tourist traffic.