Where to eat in Islington
23 places
Planning a whole day here? Read the Islington area guide.
Carmela's Pizzeria
££A softer, foldable New York slice on Upper Street, where the competition is mostly chains.
Farang
£££A north London room doing modern Thai with none of the timidity that usually comes with a neighbourhood address.
Hainan House
££Hainanese chicken rice cooked properly - poached chicken, rice cooked in the stock, three sauces - which almost nothing else in London attempts as its main event.
Half Cut Market
££Buy a bottle off the shelf and drink it there for a small corkage - the format that makes a serious list affordable.
Indian Veg
£An all-you-can-eat North Indian vegetarian buffet that has fed Islington on a shoestring for decades, in a room papered with hand-made posters about vegetarianism.
Jam Delish
££Plant-based Caribbean from siblings cooking their grandparents' recipes, and a 2025 award won against Caribbean kitchens generally rather than vegan ones.
Noci
££A short, frequently changing pasta menu drawn from across the Italian regions, at prices well below the central equivalents.
Ottolenghi
£££The window display of salads and cakes is the London original - communal tables behind it, and a deli counter that shaped how a generation of home cooks eat.
Pophams
£Pastries at the counter and a small kitchen behind it, so it works as breakfast and as lunch.
Rabieng Thai
££A long-standing Upper Street room near the Almeida, with generous portions and a BYOB policy that makes it cheaper again.
BYOB - worth knowing before you order drinks.
Santa Maria
££A small Ealing pizzeria that built its reputation on strict Neapolitan method before the current wave arrived.
Sunday
££A tiny Barnsbury room that built its name on brunch queues rather than dinner service.
No bookings at weekends. The queue is the experience and it starts early.
Tanakatsu
££A kitchen built around the cutlet - generous katsu sets near Angel station at prices that make it a regular rather than an occasion.
The Baring
££Seventeenth in the country in the 2026 Estrella Damm Top 50, and in The Infatuation's description more sit-down restaurant than pub you can drink in.
The Drapers Arms
££A Barnsbury pub carried by both the extended gastropub ranking and The Infatuation, and the easiest table in Islington on a Sunday.
The Golden Tooth
££A Newington Green pub kitchen that both Time Out and The Infatuation put on their roast lists.
The Tamil Crown
££The second pub from the Tamil Prince team, doing the same Tamil-kitchen-in-a-Victorian-boozer format that London does better than anywhere.
Sibling to The Tamil Prince, also in Islington - two separate pubs, not two names for one.
The Tamil Prince
££A Victorian pub with a Tamil kitchen behind it - the format London does better than anywhere.
Tofu Vegan
££Chinese cooking done entirely without meat, and the strongest name on every vegan list in London - three of the four independent guides we read put it top. Aubergine in garlic sauce and the mock-meat dishes are what the queues are for.
Books out well ahead on Upper Street; there are further sites including Spitalfields and Marylebone. Not a substitution menu - most dishes are traditionally vegetable-based Chinese cooking rather than meat imitations.
Trullo
£££Tim Siadatan (ex St John, Moro) cooking a frequently changing seasonal menu of hand-made pasta and charcoal-grilled meats.
Highbury trattoria, long regarded as one of London's best neighbourhood Italians.
Xi'an Impression
££A small room opposite the Emirates doing the chewy, chilli-oil-heavy cooking of Shaanxi - the liangpi cold noodles are the reason people cross London for it.
No bookings, and the room is tiny - go off-peak or expect to wait.
Zia Lucia
££Offers four different doughs including a 48-hour and a charcoal base, which makes it the most useful of the group for gluten-sensitive diners.
Zia Lucia
££Offers four different doughs including a 48-hour and a charcoal base, which makes it the most useful of the group for gluten-sensitive diners.