The best restaurants in Finsbury Park

Tollington’s has taken what was once a Finsbury Park fish and chip shop and still looks exactly like a Finsbury Park fish and chip shop, with its tiled floors, old school pine counters, and original sign intact. Which actually makes it feel more like a backstreet San Sebastian pintxos bar than any fancy refit ever could. There are tables in the back room, but the party is in the perching room-only front bar, where wrinkly Canary Islands-style spuds sit in the glass units that used to be home to battered sausages, and the fridges are stacked with bottles of effervescent txakoli wine, a kind of extremely drinkable Basque lady petrol. The menu is nothing but small plates, and there are plenty to pick from, with a 25-strong line-up of dishes from chips bravas, to pickled anchovies, devilled crab croquetas and a smoked eel omelette.

A local institution, Baban’s specialises in naan breads at knockdown prices – although the results are more like flatbreads than the puffed-up tandoori versions you find in every curry house. That’s it, apart from a few variations on the theme when it comes to different flavours such as cheese, sesame, za’atar, garlic, falafel and, very occasionally, a twist on Turkish lahmacun with minced lamb and diced peppers.

Before it's kitchen glow-up, The Plimsoll was an Irish pub called The Auld Triangle. In 2021, the chefs known as Four Legs took over and turned one half of the pub in a buzzing gastropub for an exceedingly cool crowd. The menu is a mix of snacks, small plates and bigger plates, including their legendary burger, which comes on like a supercharged Big Mac: no lettuce, no bullshit, just a juicy patty. The rest is just as tasty, with well-executed and creative dishes that don’t always take themselves too seriously – shout out to the chipolatas and dijonnaise. 

You can’t book, it’s always rammed, you have to pay in cash and you’re virtually in your neighbour’s lap. But this hybrid Korean/Japanese stalwart next to Finsbury Park station is always worth the effort for its food range and quality. Despite a huge menu that makes dining here lots of fun  – as you try to figure out what everyone else is having, from sushi, sashimi, tempura and donburi to bibimbap, stewpots and deopbab – dishes are always dependable, and often brilliant.

Dilara is one of just a handful of Uyghur spots in London, an ethnically Turkish group, predominantly Muslim, in Xinjiang in China. Many people have only heard of Uyghurs because of their ongoing persecution by the Chinese government and their food is a blend of northern Chinese dishes like noodles and dumplings and meaty skewers and kebabs. Head past the takeaway counter to find a lively, brightly lit restaurant, with tables pushed close together, huge sharing plates of food and families and groups all tucking in. The meat, of course, is truly where it’s at. Lamb skewers, chicken and beef are cooked on a tiny charcoal grill, which fills Dilara with tantalising aromas. The tugure dumplings, soft pockets of lamb and onions, were rich and fragrant. A must-visit if you're in north London. 

First thing’s first: it’s not really a canteen. It’s a small room, with tiles, near Finsbury Park. There’s also no one called Frank here. It’s the name of the owner’s son. That’s where the misdirection ends, though. Frank’s Canteen wears its sauce-laden heart on its sleeve. What you see is what you get, and that’s a friendly space with a bubbly atmosphere and lots of sharing plates. Come for the ever-shifting menu and - crucially - the big, bolshy flavours crammed clown car-like into every morsel. 

Small plates abound at Finny P's bougiest spot. Choosing from charcuterie and an appealing range of small plates, you'll get the likes of creamy celeriac-and-apple remoulade with candied walnuts, smoky tenderstem broccoli with almonds and paprika and salsa verde accompanying a mackerel fillet. The wine here is, naturally, great. 

Palmyra’s is one of the best neighbourhood Syrian and Lebanese restaurants in the city. The menu offers something for everyone and at a reasonable price, with most mezze around £7, and main courses around £13-15. Must-orders are the excellent makdous, lightly-pickled baby aubergines stuffed with walnut and garlic; the profoundly pomegranate-y chicken livers; and fantastic shawarma, with the chicken spiced with turmeric, ginger and cumin, and the lamb with cinnamon alongside cumin. You can order a plate of both with equally good vermicelli rice, and dill pickles which boast a hint of sweetness.

Tenmaru in Finsbury Park has an informal, izakaya-style feel to it, but the menu features unusual and surprising dishes including lemon ramen, basil ramen and a tori paitan (ramen with a creamy chicken base).  A large selection of appetisers like yamitsuki cabbage (cabbage salad), and cheese mochi potato means it suits herbivores and carnivores alike and the lemon ramen truly is one of London’s most unique and unusual takes on the dish.

The original Hackney branch of Yard Sale opened in 2014, and the modern-but-not-poncy toppings, gluten-free options, keenly priced booze and handsome branding then made their way to this second branch in Finsbury Park. The cute little shop has a lively diner feel. Despite a bias towards quick take-out and delivery orders, staff are attentive enough to make your eat-in experience more ‘restaurant’ than ‘takeaway-with-tables’. Piping hot sourdough pizzas are brought over on wooden boards with accompanying cutters.

Ok, ok, this isn't quite Finsbury Park proper, but it would be a shame to not flag this extremely popular neighbourhood bakery and cafe. A little sister to The Dusty Knuckle's original Dalston branch, this Green Lanes version is only a short stroll from the back end of Finsbury Park itself and it's worth the walk to dive head-first into their epic sarnies. There are pizza nights too and you'll never regret grabbing a potato sourdough loaf to take back home.

A charming deli, coffee shop and restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and light dinner. Almost everything on the menu is available to take away – there are sharing plates such as charcuterie or cheese, bowls of olives or toasted corn, or more involved dishes such as lentils, pomegranate, beetroot and goat’s cheese, or courgette with fresh peas and crisp bread. And everything we tried was brilliant. The recommended Portuguese vinho verde was a perfect summer evening tipple, though the Kernel beers also tempted.  

No north London neighbourhood is complete without a terrific Turkish restaurant. Finsbury Park's is Yildiz, a chargrilled champion where chicken wings, lamb chops, and all manner of handmade kebabs feed big crowds (especially when Arsenal are playing at home).