Buckhurst Hill, International Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Open in November 2021 (first announced in 2019) – this latest branch of the excellent Elephant & Castle-based Italian food operation comes complete with a sustainable timber frame and rooftop urban farm. A transformation of Redbridge Town Hall car park, it’s a collaboration with the local council and the Mayor of London as part of Ilford’s new cultural quarter.

“Simple surroundings belie the quality of the food” at former Pidgin head chef Adolfo (‘Fofo’) De Cecco’s modest Dalston heavyweight, whose “excellent-value tasting menu”, “friendly, attentive staff, amazing and surprising wines, and astounding value for money make for a perfect experience”, at least for those preferring substance to style. “Your chef serves you from an open kitchen”, introducing each dish in the absence of a printed menu.

“It’s so cute!” – this hipster hotspot in Newington Green still carries the ‘Barnes Motors’ signage of its origins as a 1940s car showroom, with a large glass frontage (which opens in summer). It’s “a wonderful place to while away a sunny afternoon, and very pretty for a candlelit evening too”. Choose from the blackboard menu of numerous, well-realised small plates, plus wines, beers and other tipples.

“A nice lunchtime respite from shopping in Marylebone High Street” – this characterful café attached to a specialist cheese shop (and its siblings in Bloomsbury and Highbury) “showcases the best of the cheeses they stock” – “there are a few non-cheese dishes, but with cheeses this good, stick to what they do best”. Top Menu Tips – “go for the raclette or the fondue savoyarde”.

2023 Review: With an all-day menu that bounces happily from the Caribbean and Mexico to the Isle of Man and Thailand, Juliette Banner has provided up-beat service in Crouch End for more than 30 years. “A Banners breakfast is the perfect cure for a hangover” – and you can also earn one with the “great cocktails”. The “authentic American-style burgers” must have attracted Bob Dylan, the bard of Americana, whose 1993 visit is commemorated with a plaque – you can even book the table he sat at!

This “romantic” neighbourhood venue on the northern edge of Islington, from brothers Martin & Christoph Lange, has for 10 years treated locals to a “nice variety of modern European food” – and “at this price level is a good all-rounder”. Open for dinner seven days a week and for lunch from Friday to Sunday, it offers a fixed-price menu with plenty of choices at all sittings (except Friday and Saturday night) – keeping a lid on the expense.

2022 Review: Charlie Mellor’s (ex-Brawn and Elliot’s) cute Hackney wine bar and merchant provides a high- quality fixed-price modern European menu, accompanied by artisan wines from small producers. There’s also ‘The Cave’, for evening DJ sets, behind the off licence.

2022 Review: It’s a bit less nook-like than it looks, if you head to the larger basement of this summer 2020 Highbury newcomer: a deli by day and neighbourhood café in the evenings. With a vague connection to Linden Stores (RIP), which it replaced in 2020, there’s a Turkish twist to the contemporary European small dishes and sharing plates. Limited early feedback, but very positive all-round.

2022 Review: A ‘botanical, waterside Garden of Eden’ – according to the Canary Wharf PR team – this foliage-filled street food market (with siblings including Pergola Padington, The Prince Earl’s Court and Lost in Brixton) opened on the Crossrail Place roof garden in May 2021 (on a site that was formerly E14’s Giant Robot). A roster of street-food stars inhabit a space that’s a little slicker than its siblings, but there’s also an in-house food offering and three bars.

Grade II listed pub in posh Highgate (whose former patrons include Dickens). Run by Young’s, the gastropub fare is solidly rated, but the chief highpoints include its attractively updated period charms, big outside terrace and cosy dining conservatory with large skylight.

“An oasis in North London” for 25 years – Austrian-born Julius Oberegger’s “excellent local restaurant” in Whetstone is “the closest to fine dining without going to the West End” – with a “well prepared and imaginative menu” that skips round the world from fresh Jersey rock oysters and English rack of lamb to chicken Milanese, wok-fried noodles, and chilli and soy-glazed tofu.

“Still a great pub to have as a local” – Giles Coren’s favourite gastropub and one of our annual diners’ poll’s highest rated in north London is well-placed for a stroll on Hampstead Heath and thronged at the weekend. It is also the “kind of gastropub where you can still just have a drink”. Its ratings staged something of a comeback this year: “the cooking remains good”: in particular “dinner is stunning and good value”. (If you’re an out-of-towner, consider staying in one of their seven guest rooms).

How many hours have been convivially lost in this wine bar extraordinaire behind Tower Hill station, which has barely changed in the almost 40 years that it has operated in its current guise – and possibly since the Victorian era? It consists of “two adjoining cellars: one is a wine shop (with a “marvellous selection”) where you pick a wine to be decanted and served – for only £12 corkage over the take-away price – in the adjoining cellar, which has a small number of seats and tables. Platters of charcuterie and cheese (and also a vegan board) are assembled to order and served to the table”. “The quality of the food is high and prices restrained” – and if you don’t feel like a whole bottle, a good selection is available by the glass.

2022 Review: In March 2020, the team behind Flat Iron Yard in Borough opened a new (if old-school in its theming) street-food hall, bar and live music venue. Stallholders include familiar faces (Breddos Tacos, Temple of Seitan and Duck Truck) and some new ones including New York’s respected Sushi On Jones and Pomelo from the Lupins team.

“A buzzy, fashionable Italian that’s thoroughly enjoyable for a casual but high-quality meal” – this smart, all-day bar/brasserie behind the RA in the heart of Mayfair is fast approaching its half-century, and remains a favourite for a loyal clientele of glam local professionals for less formal business occasions; post-work meet-ups; or a “refined brunch”. The sceptical view of it is that it’s “all good, but very pricey for simple food”. Part of the Soho House group for the past 20 years, it now has branches at the Ned in the City, in Shoreditch, and in international cities from West Hollywood to Mumbai.

“The South African wine selection can’t be beaten” at these steak-and-wine-bar fixtures on the edge of the City (Faringdon and London Bridge) – each with a wine cave and ‘walk-in cheese room’ showcasing British artisan cheeses. They pull in a crowd – “we could hardly hear each other!” – but also attract the odd complaint of “average food at huge prices (£100 per head was way over the top for a very dull meal)”.

“The South African wine selection can’t be beaten” at these steak-and-wine-bar fixtures on the edge of the City (Faringdon and London Bridge) – each with a wine cave and ‘walk-in cheese room’ showcasing British artisan cheeses. They pull in a crowd – “we could hardly hear each other!” – but also attract the odd complaint of “average food at huge prices (£100 per head was way over the top for a very dull meal)”.

“Thank you for everything. Especially the cheese sablés”, say fans of the old regime at this local venue: long one of the few highpoints near Surrey Quays station. Since Valentine’s Day 2025, though, it’s been a case of all change, with the old management leaving and the arrival of the ‘Sammy’s Bistro’ team. On the menu: a few classics such as Boeuf Bourguignon and a few handmade pasta dishes and wood-fired pizzas. Reports please!