London Primrose Hill Restaurant Guide

This artfully down-to-earth, all-day (and most evenings) café, run by Primrose Hill locals actor Sam Frears and writer Andrew O’Hagan, is “the best place to start the day”, with “delightful staff delivering decent coffee and lovely food”. The fortnightly supper club provides “simple but tasty food” and the opportunity to “meet unknown neighbours in a friendly environment”. Artists are invited to display their work on the walls; broadcaster and writer Andrew Marr exhibited a selection of his abstract drawings.

Just by the Regent’s Canal, Michael Nadra’s high-quality French restaurant serves some of the “best food in the area” at the top of Regent’s Park. On sunny days, it particularly benefits from its cute courtyard (regarding the interior, some diners feel it’s “a shame that the odd layout can detract from its other qualities”). It used to have an (older) Chiswick sibling, but this has now closed: seemingly a victim of the pandemic.

This classy north London institution in the heart of pretty Primrose Hill “never disappoints and is really good value” under renowned chef-patron Bryn Williams, who has been in charge for the last 15 of its 45 years, and whose family farm in Wales supplies the kitchen (including with “excellent, tender beef”). It’s the venue of choice for locals with something to celebrate – while many from further afield just “love Sunday lunch at Odette’s, sitting outside on a sunny day”.

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.

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”.

“Been going for 30+ years and still love it” – this “shamelessly old-school Greek” is a longstanding north London destination, and fans say it’s “such a nice change from the ubiquitous, pretentious, small-plates places” in serving “traditional taverna fayre that’s perfectly decent, if not exciting”. What people really go a bundle on though, is its “lovely family-friendly atmosphere”, as fostered by “very approachable staff who have been there forever” (but who “can be slow at busy times”).

“A favourite brunch venue” – this “lovely casual local café/restaurant” in Primrose Hill “offers all-day dining with plenty of choice from an eclectic menu”. Top Tip – “winter lunch in one of their outdoor heated ‘castaway shacks’”.

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.

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”.

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).

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.

“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.

The “most charming front of house”, led by “delightful owner Guiseppe” adds brio to this “passionate and cute little local”, which occupies a quiet corner of Primrose Hill. “Good wines… it’s also a wine shop” add to the gastronomic appeal of its “authentic” Sardinian/Sicilian gastronomia.

Investment a few years ago turbo-charged this ‘100% plant-based’ chain, whose stalwart original Soho branch (est 1988) suddenly spawned a handful of “airy” and “jolly” (somewhat “crammed”) modern spin-offs across town. To this number, a new, two-floor Covent Garden branch opened its doors in February 2022 with 120 covers. The expansion has gone well and its “earnest” and “flavourful” cooking is not just favoured by veggies: “I was taken not entirely voluntarily as a dedicated meat-eater but have changed my tune after dining here!”

2022 Review: This imposing Regency tavern where Camden Town meets Regent’s Park is part of Gordon Ramsay’s portfolio, and impresses some visitors with its cooking. Too many, though, reckon it makes a “poor choice” for a meal, and sleb-chef ownership may be its only real attraction.

“Doing what they do very well” – “top burgers” are presented with a veneer of Parisian sophistication at this seven-strong chain, popular not just for their value but their “lovely” styling too.

2019 Review: “Creative and intelligent” cooking wins nothing but high praise for this contemporary update of the traditional curry house, in Camden Town. It has a sister venue, Salaam Namaste, in Bloomsbury.

“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”.