London Finsbury Park Restaurant Guide

2018 Review: You can select from 150 wines by the bottle to drink-in or take-away at this new indie wine store and tasting rooms. Limited feedback to-date say it’s “a great addition to the area and presumably will find a larger audience once the developments at nearby Finsbury Park station have been completed”. The “the simple nibbly platters” very much play second fiddle however.

2021 Review: From its Finsbury Park base (next to the Park Theatre), this “cheerful” group of “good neighbourhood pasta-stops” subsequently expanded to Ealing and then onto Wembley branch (there’s also an outlet in Westfield Stratford); all deliver “well-cooked”, affordable pasta.

This “friendly” Finsbury Park local is “just what a neighbourhood Italian should be” – “an (occasionally) opera-singing waiter delivers a menu that’s limited but all good, with vegetarian options”, and there’s “a pleasant outside terrace”. Strong points noted in its Neapolitan-based repertoire include home-made pasta, and also branzino (European bass).

2021 Review: “Brill sushi and mouth-numbingly spicy Korean hotpots” draw a bustling crowd of overseas students to this “unprepossessing” operation near Finsbury Park tube – once “the best-kept secret in town”. But word has spread about the “sensational Korean and Japanese food for £10-£20 a head” – “authentic and in huge portions”. Cash only and no booking.

2018 Review: “Authentic tasting pho” wins limited but positive feedback for these modern Vietnamese noodle cafés, in Dalston and Finsbury Park.

“Yummy, doughy crusts” and “unusual but great topping combinations” have built a growing following for this “too cool for school” east London pizza multiple, founded in 2016 in Clapton. It now has eight outlets following a fast roll-out south of the river, with openings in East Dulwich, Balham and most recently Crystal Palace. Most of them are “small, busy crowded”… for good reason.

This “great local restaurant” has been a Finsbury Park fixture for nearly 25 years, serving a full range of “cheap and cheerful” Italian fare as well as pizza. A significant following from North London’s Italian community is a testament to its authenticity – and, naturally, it is bambino-friendly.

In September 2020, the Jolene (Primeur, Westerns Laundry) team opened a spin-off between Finsbury Park and Holloway: a sizeable eat-in café overlooking the street with floor-to-ceiling windows and serving pâtisserie, salads and a selection of pizza and pizza fritta (deep-fried calzone).

“Casual and inexpensive, but no compromise on the standards” – this Japanese noodle chain has become a firm favourite in London’s “competitive” ramen market, with 14 branches (and counting). “I can’t speak highly enough of the quality of ramen here, absolutely packed full of flavour and at a really good price.” The name is taken from the pork broth used, and the noodles are made daily in-house and cooked, it is said, for precisely 32 seconds.

Ever-changing and fantastic small plates served by an ambitious chef duo won praise for Jamie Allan and Ed McIlroy in their two years at The Compton Arms in Islington. With the aid of a Kickstarter campaign, they have converted a clapped-out old boozer (The Auld Triangle) in Finsbury Park to be this new forever home, set to open in Autumn 2021.