The Compass Pub, Islington

Despite the good number of tasty gastropubs in Islington, it’s still nice when a new one opens in the ‘hood. The Compass has been open about three months, and for a place that doesn’t want to be known as a gastropub (they insist they’re a pub that happens to serve food – whaaat?), the place [...]

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Why Angel Islington is the Best for Food Shopping

Some of you know that I live in Islington, near Angel. There are many reasons I love my ‘hood, but with the opening of the new Waitrose at Angel station last Thursday, I thought I’d take the opportunity to explain why Angel is a dream for grocery shopping.
I mean, Waitrose is nice to have [...]

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The Regent’s potato pizza, Islington

Since the Regent opened a year ago, I’ve been a fan. During the day, it’s a bright, airy place to park yourself with a paper or laptop, and at night, it’s a warm, friendly place to have a drink and eat good pizza.
As we all do with neighborhood places, I have my habits (ruts?) [...]

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First Impressions: Vigata Ristorante, Islington

Except for when I schlep down to Olivo and its sibling Oliveto in Belgravia, I’ve been disappointed when I eat at Italian restaurants in London. Compared to New York, London doesn’t have a huge number of Italian restos, so when I want to go Italian, I feel like I have few choices between a [...]

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Marquess Tavern, Canonbury

With so many good gastropubs in the neighborhood, Jon and I don’t visit some as often as we’d like. The Marquess Tavern, for example, is no more than a 15-minute walk from our flat, but because it’s on the “other side” of Upper Street – the Canonbury side – we make it there only once [...]

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The Regent Pub: Pizza!

On the corner of Liverpool Road and Richmond Avenue, businesses have come and gone. In the past 12 months, the space has changed from forgettable pub to art gallery and now back to pub, the Regent.
Jon and I have been eyeing the latest renovations for weeks, especially after we saw a wood-burning oven installed. Where [...]

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Paul A. Young Chocolates in Islington

Somehow I managed to live in Islington for several months before I realized that hidden away just off of busy, somewhat chain-fied Upper Street is Camden Passage, a series of pretty, pedestrianized walkways lined with small (read: non-chain), charming shops.

Paul A. Young Fine Chocolates is one of these shops.
London being a great world city, there’s [...]

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Burritos in Islington: Mucho Mas

Last night, Jon and I were on our way to grab some Turkish food on Upper Street, the main street in our neighborhood. Just the usual weeknight laziness about cooking.
We stopped dead in our tracks when we spotted Mucho Mas. A burrito/taco joint. In our ‘hood. Holy cow.
It seems at least [...]

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Thai-An Grocery in Islington

I was beginning to worry that my blog was moving away from all things food and travel and towards sports, what with Ascot and Wimbledon and then the part of my weekend spent watching the Tour de France time trials in Hyde Park.
Oh, and did I mention that Tom outdid himself by getting his hands [...]

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The Albion Gastropub, Islington

Just a few weeks ago, in early April, the Albion gastropub reopened after an extensive renovation. The Daily Candy, whose restaurant alerts I normally ignore, associated chef Richard Turner’s creds with Tapas Brindisa, a restaurant I like very much. Throw in the Albion’s location around the corner from my flat (journey time door-to-door: 5 minutes’ [...]

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Draper’s Arms, Islington

It’s been a pretty uneventful week, which is why my posts have focused on neighborhood restaurants.Today was notable only for the high winds blowing in London. My coworkers (and later on, Jon and my friend Jane) were reciting to me the mounting death toll “because of the wind,” and both Jon and Jane had their [...]

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Le Sacre Coeur Bistro, Islington

On Friday night, Jon and I browsed one of our favorite cookbooks, Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, for inspiration. We love the prose, explanations, and recipes, but what really sucks us in and gets the tummy rumbling are the gorgeous photos of bistro food.
Not feeling up to cooking a Thomas Keller meal that night (but which we [...]

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Out and About – Isarn, Aubaine, Keston Lodge

This past weekend, I met a few of Cathy and Bobby’s banker-couple friends for brunch on Saturday. We went to a very attractive and fun French-y place called Aubaine on Brompton Road. I see its appeal, but the food was pricey for what it was, though not bad. I guess you’re paying mostly for the [...]

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Morgan M. Restaurant

Morgan M restaurant (489 Liverpool Road, N7 8NS 020 7609 3560) is a place we’ve run by for months, and we figured it was date night, so why not try the local fancy place? We’re glad we did.
I loved that the chef visited every table and chatted with customers. It’s that kind [...]

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