The best restaurants in Camden

There’s no doubting the charms of this family-run, Greek-Cypriot restaurant. Its three-floor layout takes in a cosy ground floor that’s all floral-patterned booths and black and white photos of Cypriot village life. The first floor conjures up an authentic Mediterranean feel with its uneven whitewashed walls and tiled floors. Mini koubes (deep-fried wheat parcels stuffed with minced lamb) are crisp and aromatic, and spanakópitta, grilled fish skewers and lamb souvláki are also on the menu.

While this chic noodle house brands itself as ‘Hong Kong’ rice noodles, for those in the know, their bowls pay homage to the Southwestern Chinese region of Yunnan, where rice noodles are a ubiquitous local snack. You can choose your flavour of broth, main meat and a multitude of exciting toppings, ranging from lobster balls to fish tofu and dried beancurd roll, topped up with some iconic skewer classics for sides, such as savoury grilled chicken or cumin pork belly slices. 

A bricks-and-mortar spin-off from the legendary Cheese Truck, this handy Camden pitstop peddles its wares in a bar-like space. Oozing cheese sandwiches and messy riffs on raclette are the main contenders in the food stakes, but don’t miss desserts including the flavour-bomb blue-cheese sundae. It’s also worth booking in for Thursday evening’s wintertime fondue bonanzas.

Tucked away behind the legendary London venue that is KOKO, Cafe KOKO is a relative newbie to the area - pitching up in what used to the the Hope & Anchor pub. It's about as far away from an old man boozer now as possible, home instead to '90s RnB bottomless brunches and a short all-day Italian food offering, with lots of pizza – and, importantly, lots of spritzes. Every Friday night the menu steps up a gear with guest dishes from musicians and TikTok chefs; when we last looked there were hot honey pizzas from electro artist SG Lewis and surf and turf tacos from What Willy Cook.

A charming and homely little Greek taverna off Camden’s main drag, Andy’s is a local classic with more than 50 years of service under its belt. The menu offers a whistle-stop tour of the Aegean at wallet-friendly prices, with a whole heap of mezédes preceding meaty stalwarts, ranging from pork afelia and sheftalia to grills, kebabs and steaks. 

In Hawley Wharf's Camden Foodhall, you'll find 30 eateries, but our favourite is Three Uncles, where you'll get perfect roasted meat, Hong Kong-style. With classic options of char siu roast pork, pork belly and roast duck, Three Uncles also offers the chance to replace your rice with lo meen: stringy egg noodles.

Roger's Kitchen was named Best Restaurant at the first ever UK Caribbean Food Awards. The Camden Road restaurant is owned by Roger Shakes, who came to London in 1999 from Westmoreland, Jamaica. His restaurant serves traditional dishes such as curry goat and jerk chicken, as well as vegan curry, and ackee & avocado with spinach and plantain. Roger’s first restaurant job was washing plates, and he went on to be head chef at Camden’s now-closed but legendary Mango Room, which was frequented by everyone from Prince, to LL Cool J and Samuel L Jackson, before opening his own restaurant. 

The name means ‘purity’ and that’s what you get at this London outpost of the UK’s first vegan pizzeria. The setting is buzzy, modern and relaxed, while the terrific plant-based toppings involve everything from wood-smoked tofu and shaved seitan to rice-based mozzarella and beetroot carpaccio. You can also indulge in some good old-fashioned gluttony by ordering a wicked Oreo pizza for pud.

This family-run restaurant in Camden has a deeply cosy and comforting atmosphere and prides itself on offering good, home-cooked Japanese meals. The shoyu and miso ramens are delicious and incredibly reasonable, and they have a nice selection of nigiri and sashimi as well.

An authentic and friendly Portuguese joint where you'll score fresh seafood, bifana sandwiches, piri piri chicken and the house special of bacalhau com natas – cod cooked in creamy, saucy potatoes. For pudding, a pastel de nata is compulsory. 

Fast food, vegan-style. This fried chick'n restaurant offers burgers, wings and wraps, alongside sides of tots, fries and coleslaw in vaguely punk surroundings. If you’ve never tried seitan, it’s tougher than tofu, and chewier and less stringy than your average chicken wing – and of course bone-free. Since no sane person gets fried chicken for the high-quality meat anyway, the substitution is pretty irrelevant. What matters is the batter: it’s light, salty, peppery and moreish. You'll find the first ever branch in Hackney.

Up-market but welcoming food pub in the heart of Camden’s refurbished Stables Market. Swing by for Tomahawk Thursday, where you'll get juicy steak, and on Sundays for one heck of a decent roast.

King of the vegan kebab. For the signature kebab they marinade soya chunks in ‘secret spices’ to create succulent nuggets. You’ll find them in the headline act: a vegan doner packed in flatbread, with salad, soya yoghurt, tzatziki and houmous. It works because it’s not just the ‘meat’ that’s seen love and care: the salad is fresh and crunchy, the sauces are creamy and the made-in-house bread is great – thin and floury, a light way of housing a kebab’s heft.

Camden’s original ‘jerk pit and reggae bar’ has been peddling its totally tropical vibe since 1985 and continues to dish out big helpings of Jamaican soul food in the shape of jerk wings, curried goat, oxtail stew, fried plantain and the like. As for drinks, the rum cocktails didn’t float our boat, but there’s also Red Stripe on tap. Bright, cheery and great fun.