Island life: two floors of fun ©Oliver Knight
1. Gracelands
With its designated toy corner, nutritious kiddie menu and community feel, Gracelands could quite easily alienate the childless newcomer but its relaxed vibe ensures that it doesn’t.
118 College Rd, NW10 (020 8964 9161/www.gracelandscafe.com).
2. The Island
It may be located on a nondescript residential road in Kensal Rise, but The Island is buzzing with locals on a midweek night. A huge bamboo-screened terrace runs around the sandy-coloured exterior; the ground floor and basement are now a bar (also serving food), while the first floor is a light, bright dining room with colonial-style dark wooden furniture.
123 College Rd, NW10 (020 8960 0693/www.islandpubco.com).
![]() |
3. Kensal Green Cemetery
The oldest English cemetery still in use, this has 72 acres of chapels, mausoleums and worn headstones – there’s even a catacomb.
(www.kensalgreen.co.uk).
4. Paradise By Way of Kensal Green
A gastro with the air of a country manor gone to seed.
19 Kilburn Lane, NW10 (020 8969 0098).
5. William IV
The anonymous 1930s exterior belies the great tapas inside this pub popular with music biz types.
786 Harrow Rd, NW10 (020 8969 5944).
Feature continues