Islington, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

James Dawson’s half-dozen wine bars are “super venues to try interesting new wines in”, with “informative service” – “food is something of an after-thought, but pretty good for all that”, and comes into its own with a “fantastic Sunday roast menu: lamb and beef are high-quality and cooked perfectly”. Top Tip – “great deals on a Monday when most others are closed”.

“Yummy mummy hangouts” that have proliferated across the capital and its surrounding high streets over the past few years, with “relaxed and colourful décor” and “friendly waiting staff”. They are very accommodating to families, both “child-friendly” and “pooch central, with snacks and water” – although if you don’t bring your own, you might find there are “too many dogs”. The eastern Med-style cooking varies between “fresh and well prepared” at best to “adequate, sometimes slow” – while “bottomless Bloody Mary or Mimosa on a Sunday can be dangerous!”.

“An absolute top roast, and service just as it should be in a pub” inspire ongoing love for this Islington gastroboozer, especially for its “just spectacular” meat dishes, from carcases butchered on-site in their own butchery.

The Segal family’s smart institution, in antiquey Camden Passage, excels for the “wonderful ambience” and “professional, attentive (but not too attentive) service” that pleases its huge loyal crowd of regulars, many of them Islington residents (“I’ve been coming here since it opened over 50 years ago, and it’s still going strong”). “Good acoustics and well-spaced tables” are further attractions – “it’s a joy to be able to talk to fellow diners” – while the varied if relatively unadventurous food is “invariably decent, sometimes very good”. “The room is light with several large abstract paintings and a large conservatory”; and it’s a “particularly nice summer venue”, with a big secluded garden for al fresco meals.

“Always busy, always buzzing” – this very well-known Islington gastropub “manages to maintain its high standard friendliness” after 15 years under the direction of Nick Gibson – although even admirers say “the acoustics need sorting; if you’re sat anywhere near the bar it’s almost impossible to hear anything”. “The food is fine”, but has perhaps lost a bit of its edge (“…for example, we didn’t finish a bowl of decidedly average chips… unheard of in our family!)”; and service at peak times can become “distracted”.

2024 Review: Due to open in the second half of 2023 – this historic Islington pie ’n’ mash shop in Chapel Market closed in 2018 but has been rescued by Alex Pashby of street-food trader The Beefsteaks (‘An exclusive 18th Century London steak club reimagined as inclusive 21st Century street food’). At first it will operate as a low-intervention wine bar serving British small plates – as it takes off, the hope is for the food offering to expand.

The new long-term chef residency at this culinarily renowned Highbury gastropub is from a duo, Jay Claus and Syrus Pickhaver, promising long-forgotten British dishes using whole-beast butchery and sustainable Cornish fish. It has yet to inspire any interest in our annual diners’ poll, though (nor for that matter, amongst any newspaper reviewers) – reports please!