London Chalk Farm Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Just a few years after leaving London (and his two Pâtisserie des Rêves stores) behind, Philippe Conticini is back, with this huge new Camden Market patisserie, traditionally tiled and where much of the seating is outside on a large sunny days terrace. (There’s also a smaller, less characterful outlet now nearby (since November 2020) in Buck Street Market).

2023 Review: Cleverly converted from Victorian Grade II listed former stables into a faux-rustic gastroboozer, this Camden Town yearling has “a lovely atmosphere, looking out into buzzy Camden Market”, and serves a “high-quality” menu of British comfort-food classics which are “a cut above your usual pub fare”. There’s also a hidden courtyard with a fire pit, and a good selection of locally brewed beers.

“In beautiful Primrose Hill”, just by the Regent’s Canal, this quirkily situated ‘Restaurant, Martini Bar & Garden’ showcases Michael Nadra’s “really lovely” modern European food, and attracts very consistent praise from fans across north London. (His original W4 venue shut down a couple of years ago).

This “vibrant and busy” hangout in Primrose Hill is “obviously very popular with locals”, plying them with “huge salads offset with brownies and ice cream”, along with decent coffee and cocktails. In particular, it’s a big local favourite for a “released breakfast… if you can get a table”.

2023 Review: “Delicious” plant-based versions of classic American comfort food – from burgers, seitan hot dogs and pastrami to milk-free shakes – cut the mustard at this pair of ‘dirty vegan diners’ in Camden Market and Islington. The Islington branch has a vegan butcher next door, touted as the world’s first, with a concession in Selfridges.

2021 Review: This “excellent local” bistro in Primrose Hill – “there should be one on every high street” – has a “good buzz” and does “a nice line in deconstructed versions of French classics”. The original La Petite Ferme near Exmouth Market is a “lovely little” venue “offering brilliant value”.

2021 Review: Now fully vegan, this 1968-vintage Primrose Hill outfit can claim to be Europe’s oldest veggie restaurant, and is still co-owned by musician Roger Swallow of the Albion Band, long-time resident in LA. The food has had its ups and downs over the decades and is nowadays mostly (if not uniformly) rated “enjoyable and tasty”, even by reporters “neither vegetarian nor vegan”. It closed for major refurbishments in summer 2019.

“This upmarket local café” with artistic leanings in Primrose Hill has a “great vibe, relaxed-yet-warm service and consistently good food”. Founded by actor Sam Frears and novelist Andrew O’Hagan, who live nearby, it has an artist-in-residence programme and hosts readings, live music and community supper clubs.

“Still going strong” after 45 years, this big, “family-friendly, community-spirited” taverna on Primrose Hill boasts a “reliable Greek-Cypriot menu that suits all tastes”. “Visit for the ambience rather than the food and you won’t be disappointed” – it’s the sort of place where “many of the waiters have served for decades; and once-young guests can often be seen tucking in with now grown-up children as well as grandchildren in tow”.

2021 Review: “Neapolitan influences are evident in the choice of ingredients, and the wood-burning oven makes for good, chewy, charred crusts, unlike most high-street pizzas” – so say fans of this global chain, whose HQ is indeed in Naples. Not everyone is impressed, though, and ratings are dragged down by those who feel it’s merely an “everyday” choice: “OK for a bog-standard group, but not great”.

2023 Review: This “friendly and cosy” independent Italian with a “good garden space” has established a comfortable niche for itself in Primrose Hill over the past dozen years. It’s run by Patrick Oberto and his partner Diana Rinaldo, who took over the site in 2011.

“They succeed in making vegan food interesting!” at this successful chain, founded in Soho in 1988 and which is no longer merely veggie but since 2021 fully plant-based. “While packed and buzzy in set-up, it’s nevertheless a good destination for a healthy stopover” according to the many who commented on it in this year’s annual diners’ poll: “as a meat-eater, I was taken under sufferance but impressed!”. In May 2024, they added a new branch near Victoria coach station.

2023 Review: You can “travel back in time” at this trio of deliberately retro chippies, with their “Formica tables and period posters creating a great atmosphere” – “the fish ’n’ chips are excellent, too”. Founder Pat ‘Pops’ Newland, an East Ender who started working at the age 11, was still a hands-on owner in his 80s when he died in April 2022.

This Kentish Town fixture from Calabrian-born, Moroccan-heritage chef Mustapha Mouflih has achieved cult status over the past decade for its “mostly great” Italian cooking served in modest premises at very good prices – the bills held in check by “brilliant BYOB for corkage”. Ratings have dropped this year, though, with several reporters “disappointed after reading good reviews”.

“Owner/front-of-house Giuseppe is Sicilian, chef Antonio is Sardinian, and the cuisine is a mix of the two” at this cute Primrose Hill corner-site, praised for its “fabulous cooking and charming service”. An impressive wine list explores biodynamic bottles from the two islands.

Burgers served à la française in a brioche bun still win a good level of support for this 20-year-old fast-food group. Having shrunk to just two branches – Balham and the Camden flagship, the latter said to be a favourite of Amy Winehouse back in the day – they are now part of Jamie Barber’s Hush Mayfair operation, with former branches in Kingston, Holborn and Chelsea upgraded into brasseries.

2022 Review: Tom Kerridge’s involvement (in partnership with Mark Emms) made it 100% likely this summer 2021 opening, on the top of Buck Street Market, would attract attention. It’s ‘bad’ in that many dishes (e.g. beef brisket ‘taternator’) are not vegan! – anything with red packaging is for meat- eaters (leaf-eaters, green of course). In an early August 2021 review, Kate Samuelson of The Week was upbeat, branding it “a mightly alternative” to KFC and McDs. Then again, she also noted that: “our meal, which included three portions of food, two milkshakes and two beers, came to about £50” – so you’d kind of hope for a pretty major step up…

2022 Review: “It’s amazing how much fun you can have dining in a shipping container!!” – Irish chef Adrian Martin’s July 2020 newcomer may be thus housed in Camden Town’s new eco market on Buck Street, but – with its incongruously posh decor and £65 eight-course menu (£110 if you go for the wine matching) – it’s certainly not in the grungy, street food category (even if you do have to go outside to the loos in the market). As the name hints, the focus is on seasonality and foraged food, but early press reviews – while not writing the enterprise off – have given it a slightly bumpy ride. Some of our early reporters are much more upbeat, though, hailing “inspirational and outstanding cuisine” that its most ardent supporters would put “in the same class as Aulis and Story”.

The latest venture from a pair of ex-Palomar chefs, in Camden Market’s expansion into North Yard, marries North American diner food with Middle Eastern flair and flavours. Shiri Kraus and Amir Batito already run the Black Cow steakhouse nearby and the result here is an interesting twist on a seemingly familiar (fairly meaty) formula. It opened in late April 2023, too late to generate feedback in our annual diners’ poll.

“Real quality pizza, good portion sizes and reasonable prices” have driven the rapid growth of this Chelsea-based group, launched five years ago by Carmelo Meli and Emanuele Tagliarini. A couple of reports also give a shout out to the “short but reasonably priced wine list”.