London HIghgate Restaurant Guide

This old Highgate pub with a big outside terrace makes a “good local” with “hearty gastropub fare”, although its 2022 acquisition by the Metropolitan Pub Company may not have contributed to the atmosphere.

“In an area where there’s lots of options for dining out, it’s not easy to get a reservation – that says it all” about this well-known Highgate gastropub – which serves “good seafood in addition to the usual pub favourites” and benefits from “an owner (Heath Ball) who knows his wine, with an excellent selection from his native NZ”. It’s also “rather grand” and “old established” – there’s been a pub on the site for 500 years – and there are two gardens for eating al fresco.

“You go for the food not the location” to this family-run Indian café, rated by locals as one of the best options for a curry in the purlieus of East Finchley.

“A perfect rabbit stew” was one of the options given the thumbs up this year at this black-and-white gabled, 1930s pub in central Highgate, where many of the dishes have a Spanish spin. Notable features include a large garden area and even its own theatre upstairs.