London Finsbury Park Restaurant Guide

“Simple but delicious Italian food” and a “pretty, light and airy interior” are key ingredients at this good neighbourhood trattoria in Finsbury Park. The formula is topped off by “friendly proprietress Paola” (and, on occasion a “genuine opera-singing waiter”) guaranteeing a “lively and fun atmosphere”. Top Menu Tip – “leave room for the perfectly sized Cafe Tufo coffee with mascarpone”.

“Such good pizza in very decent sizes for the price” earns this (south) east London chain some of the highest ratings for pizza in the capital and they’re “consistently quick” too. The latest addition to the group is a branch in Crofton Park.

This well-known Finsbury Park fixture celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and is well established as a hub for north London’s Italian community as well as locals drawn by its reliable “cheap and cheerful” Italian comfort food, led by pizza from the wood-fired stove. There’s a bar in case you have to wait for a table, and bambini are made to feel welcome.

From the same hipster-favourite stable as Primeur and Westerns Laundry, this eat-in artisan bakery between Finsbury Park and Holloway serves a small, simple menu from the blackboard as well as pâtisserie and brunchish fare from breakfast onwards. Feedback is relatively limited, but one Hornsey reporter feels it’s “worth crossing north London for”.

This “slurpy Japanese noodles” outfit has grown from a 2011 pop-up to a fledgling national chain (14 branches in London, plus Brighton and Brum). These days it “feels formulaic, but the ramen does the business – the tonkotsu (pork broth, from which the place gets its name) is satisfyingly porky and the chilli chicken has a spicy hum”. Critics are not so sure, pointing to “very disappointing noodles” and “drab stock”.

“Much better than the long-established, tired pizza chains!” – the Elliot brothers’ growing group is the most-mentioned of London’s more artisanal pizza multiples in our annual diners’ poll, inspiring joy with their “authentic Neapolitan preparation, with quality ingredients” and featuring “yummy crusts and interesting flavour combinations”. And you get “consistent quality irrespective of the branch visited” too, even if conditions can be “a little cramped and chaotic”.

“The Dexter burgers are a cult classic by now” (“well-seasoned, crisp and juicy, with meat overflowing from the bun”) and the “top choices of the young and trendy crowd” packed into Jamie Allan and Ed McIlroy’s (aka ‘Four Legs’) new “loud and down-to-earth spot in Finsbury Park”. But “don’t overlook the other outstandingly great value dishes on the menu which are just as delicious”, such as “a tasty cockle bouillabaisse or fresh lemon sole”. They haven’t wasted too much cash on their makeover of the knackered old boozer (fka ‘The Auld Triangle’) providing their new home – “a great spot for grabbing a pint”, but “it seems not to have been redecorated since your great grandad called in on the way to the pre-premiership Arsenal game”.