London Angel Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: ‘Gluten free but you wouldn’t know it!’ is the motto at this modern bistro “very handy for the Sadlers Wells theatre”: “a charming and slightly eclectic restaurant with enthusiastic staff” and “a varied menu to suit all tastes”. “My gluten-free friend was delighted to find he could eat anything on the menu, and happily tucked into pie and mash, saying that you wouldn’t know it was gluten-free (a point echoed by the non-gluten-free among us)”.

“Fresh, innovative sushi and sashimi” share billing with “fantastic wagyu beef cooked on stones”, according to fans of this “buzzy dining room”, which has moved from Islington to Fitzrovia in a reshuffle of ex-Zuma chef Padam Raj Rai’s restaurant portfolio. Even supporters feel “the voucher system – and the upsell when using the vouchers – can be annoying” though, while critics reckon “the food doesn’t live up to the hype, hence the constant discounted offers”.

“Proper Kyushu-style ramen with a thick, silky broth” is the secret behind this small London noodle chain from former pro cyclist Kazuhiro Kanada. “Especially great on a typical cold, rainy London day”, it’s “a go-to for a quick, cheap and (relatively) healthy supper in town” (“I’ve stopped for ramen at all the main chains and a few indies, and for my money this is the very best bowl at a great price”). The sixth branch opened in summer 2024 at Westfield Shepherd’s Bush.

“What is better than an amazing breakfast?…” and you are certainly spoilt for choice all day long at this greasy-spoon-esque chain, which is celebrating its 20th year in 2024 with the addition of a St Pancras branch to its empire of 16 caffs (11 of them in the capital) and 3 pubs.

In a “brilliant setting” among the antique shops of Camden Passage, this “reliable, high-class stalwart has been going for over 50 years, and is never disappointing”. “The food is unoriginal but good quality and excellently prepared, while the staff are unfailingly efficient and welcoming”. There’s a “super bar, and garden dining is especially lovely come summer-time”. You wouldn’t head here for a rave, though – having recruited an army of regulars over so many years, it’s perhaps inevitable that “the restaurant vibe is large tables of posh pensioners having a jolly time”.

This “very Austrian” café-restaurant in Islington’s atmospheric Camden Passage is “a bit different from the usual” for London, with a menu of “schnitzel, noodles, Tyrolean breakfast, daily soups and various sausages” – plus of course “great coffee and exceptional cakes”. It’s “not a place for dieters... but the layered torte is worth the calories!”.

“Cajun and Creole dishes served pub-style” – including “delicious jambalaya” – share top billing with live jazz at this “really unusual and lively spot” – a colourfully converted tavern across the road from the Regent’s Canal in Islington, where restaurateur Jacob Kenedy (of Bocca di Lupo) channels his Louisiana roots.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

Since the early 1990s, this tiny, two-floor canteen on Islington Green has been a popular local pitstop. Don’t expect anything foodie, but for a flavourful refuel at a good price, its small selection of simple curries is just the job.

“I used to be a regular, now I’m so sad”. The June 2023 reformatting of this “very handsome-looking” Wolseley Group outpost on Islington Green (which had closed in 2019 and then reopened in 2020 after failing to sell the site) is not going well. It’s a large site, evoking a fin-de-siecle Parisian haunt with a “newish design that’s pleasant enough” and a fairly traditional, French brasserie-style menu. For too many, though, “since reopening after a further refresh results are dire”. One reporter neatly summarises the mood: “This is written with huge sadness, as it was my favourite place for nearly any occasion in the Corbin & King days. Now it feels like a Café Rouge, with a cynical and over-priced menu and average service (I really feel for the staff, a lot of whom were there in the good old days). What a waste, and what a loss for Upper Street: it was such a godsend to have a grown-up restaurant in the area when it first opened, and then reopened”.

We’re “very lucky to have it as our local”, say regulars at this Islington gastropub with the unusual facility of an in-house butchery to ensure high-quality meat. “I’ve been dozens of times, and never had a bum meal”.

2022 Review: “The atmosphere is downbeat but the food is addictive” at this Chinese canteen near Angel, which serves “tasty, spicy food with lots and lots of pepper”. “Try and avoid the more conventional Chinese restaurant dishes for an authentic regional treat.”

It’s “all about the wine, as you might expect” at James Dawson’s “relaxed” wine-bar group, whose branches boast a “splendid list” of “high-quality and well-sourced” bottles. The food is very much “second fiddle”, though “unobjectionable”, while the most interesting venue is the original one, off Fleet Street, “hidden in the vaults of St Bride’s Church”. Top Tip – “go on a Monday night for wine at shop rather than restaurant prices”.

This “well-established and reliable French bistro” with a “faux-rural dining room” in Islington is “good value, friendly and welcoming”, while the “simple and traditional cooking packs plenty of flavour in quite generous servings”. Top Tip – “go for the set lunch” (three courses for under £20).

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

2023 Review: This “very authentic Italian local” has been filling happy bellies in Exmouth Market for more than 20 years, with Neapolitan pizzas, pastas and other dishes – “nothing too refined, but plenty of choice and not expensive”. The only complaint: “some options are just too big and hearty”.

This “buzzy and enjoyable location” for “very well-executed Mediterranean small dishes” is the more casual offspring of Sam & Sam Clark’s Moro next door in Exmouth Market – and now has its own spin-off in Hackney Road. The original Spanish/Moorish fusion has taken on additional influences from further afield, including Crete and the Middle East. Top Menu Tip – “good cheese fritters with Cretan honey and Cretan sausage and yoghurt with first rate flatbread”.

“They succeed in making vegan food interesting!” at this successful chain, founded in Soho in 1988 and which is no longer merely veggie but since 2021 fully plant-based. “While packed and buzzy in set-up, it’s nevertheless a good destination for a healthy stopover” according to the many who commented on it in this year’s annual diners’ poll: “as a meat-eater, I was taken under sufferance but impressed!”. In May 2024, they added a new branch near Victoria coach station.

“Still great even after all these years” and “still an absolute favourite” – Sam & Sam Clark’s inspired stalwart helped put Exmouth Market on London’s foodie map when it opened in 1997, with its “super-flavoursome” Spanish/North African food from an “ever-changing menu”, all “washed down with wonderful wines” (predominantly Spanish, and also from Portugal and Lebanon) and fine selection of sherries. Fans say there’s “a lovely buzz” too, but the room can be horribly “noisy”… “is it getting worse?”

2021 Review: “Our local – we’re so lucky!” Near the foodie mecca of Exmouth Market, this “busy” Clerkenwell corner-boozer receives a consistent thumbs-up in reports: “the standard of the food is high”.