Restaurants

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North
Kalendar
Even in winter, weekends see crowds of customers bagging the metal chairs under the heated awning outside this pleasant deli-café. Outgoing East European girls work steadily behind the glass counter in which various antipasto lines are displayed for well-heeled locals. As the blackboard specials menu proclaims, meats are supplied by nearby Elite Meats, then there’s quality chorizo from Brindisa, superbly robust breads from Flour Power City and Neal’s Yard’s artisan cheeses. The menu is Mediterranean-meets-gastropub, with decent burgers, pasta dishes and hearty sandwiches. A small range of juices and smoothies are blended to order. Finish with one of Konditor & Cook’s delectable cakes and a Monmouth coffee.
Kalendar, 15a Swains Lane, N6 6QX (020 8348 8300) Archway tube or C2, C11, 214 bus. Open Mon-Fri 8am-10pm; Sat-Sun 9am-10pm. Licensed. Average ££.
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Lavender Lady
Modern British cuisine
A haven of gentility on an unsalubrious stretch of high street, Lavender Lady is a modern British restaurant that has taken the name of a restaurant that used to operate on the small site more than 70 years ago. Owner Joan Ferguson hails from the Hebrides, which informs her sourcing of ingredients, such as black pudding and hot-smoked salmon from Uist. Wherever possible, organic ingredients are used, so it’s remarkable that a meal here – perhaps Glamorgan sausages with mash and crispy onions, followed by apple and lavender Cambridge burnt cream or sticky toffee pudding – can work out at less than £20 per head. Main courses start at £6.95. You can also drop by for breakfast and afternoon tea.
Lavender Lady, 644 High Rd, N12 0NL (020 8446 1713) Woodside Park tube. Open Tue-Sat 11.30am-9.30pm; Sun 11.30am-2.30pm. Licensed. Average £££.

Lighthouse
This the only Georgian fish restaurant in london we know of – the owners hail from the Black Sea – and certainly the place looks like the type you might find in an ageing holiday resort. But superb fresh seafood cooked simply and with care is highly welcome on this rundown strip just up from Archway Bridge. We’ve enjoyed excellent calamari, fish soup, and wild salmon steaks here. While much of the menu (whatever’s fresh at Billingsgate) gets a good grilling, you can also order proper British battered fish and chips. Service is kindly, if a little laidback.
Lighthouse, 179 Archway Rd, N6 5BN (020 8348 3121) Highgate tube. Open Mon-Fri 4pm-late; Sat, Sun 12noon-late. Licensed. Average £££.

Masa
NEW An Afghan restaurant that’s worth a trek to the end of the Bakerloo Line. Savour the meaty kebabs, central Asian dumplings and Indian-inspired curries in showy surroundings. The meals are simple, flavoursome and deliciously spiced. Main courses start at £4.50, and two people can have a two-course set meal for £19.50. There is a BYO policy too, making this an even cheaper night out.
Masa, 24-26 Headstone Drive, Harrow, Middx HA3 5QH (020 8861 6213) Harrow & Wealdstone tube/rail. Open daily12noon-11pm. Unlicensed. BYO. No corkage charge. Average ££.

Nauroz
NEW
Join the raucous crowds at this Pakistani restaurant for freshly-cooked and fiery curries priced £3-£9. We recommend soaking up the robustly spiced deigi gosht (lamb curry cooked on the bone) or the moong makhani (black urid and kidney bean dahl) with Nauroz’s enormous, crisp naan breads. The savvy owners founded (and subsequently sold) the still-brilliant Five Hot Chillies.
Nauroz, 219 Field End Rd, Eastcote, Middx HA5 1QZ (020 8868 0900) Eastcote tube. Open Tue-Sun 12noon-12midnight. Unlicensed. BYO. No corkage charge. Average ££.

Ram’s
Surat in south Gujarat is a famously food-obsessed city and its vegetable-laden Surti specialities are the base of the menu at this popular lilac-toned restaurant. From the long, mostly very authentic, list we’ve enjoyed scrumptious khandvi (steamed chickpea-flour spirals topped with mustard seeds and finely grated coconut) and ratalu (purple yam fritters flecked with cracked black pepper) alongside tasty own-made
pickles and chutneys. Shrikhand, the thick, mildly spiced concoction of drained yogurt, sugar, cardamom and saffron, is properly dense and rich, and an essential finale. Thalis cost £4.99 at lunch and £8.99 at dinner, while individual main courses are £3.50-£5.
Ram’s, 203 Kenton Rd, Harrow, Middx HA3 0HD (020 8907 2022) Kenton Rd tube. Open daily 12noon-3pm, 6pm-11pm. Licensed. Average ££.

S&M Café
Once the site of the legendary Alfredo’s caff (as featured in mods and rockers flick ‘Quadrophenia’), this venue is now a template for the S&M (Sausage and Mash) chain. Observe the authentic art deco frontage and the 1920s blue and chrome interior, admire the fact that it’s not been turned into another branch of Starbucks, then choose your preferred sausages and mash from a sizeable list. British bangers are the raison d’être, but there are vegetarian options too, such as spinach and cheddar or mushroom and tarragon sausages. Prices start at £5.95 for two sausages with mash and gravy. Other comforting dishes include Stilton Welsh rarebit, oxtail soup, steak, ale and horseradish pie and smoked haddock fishcakes, all under £8. There are branches on Brushfield Street and Portobello Road, with two more in the pipeline.
S&M Café, 4-6 Essex Rd, N1 8LN (020 7359 5361) Angel tube. Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-10.30pm; Sat-Sun 8.30am-10.30pm. Licensed. Average ££.

Zigni House
This bohemian Eritrean eatery with a cosy bar, a formal restaurant and a more casual family dining area is dimly lit and decked modishly with authentic artefacts. A selection of familiar pasta dishes (Italy was a colonial influence on Eritrea) will reassure anyone nervous of spicy African flavours, but the sizeable menu describes each dish in mouthwateringly approachable fashion. Start maybe with alicha anyne-ater fit-fit (peas slowly cooked in a mild curry sauce, and tossed with spongy injera flatbread), or a brown lentil salad flavoured with mustard, tomatoes, olive oil and d lemon. Among the 20 main courses are beef qulwa (fried in spiced butter with onion, rosemary and green chilli) and alicha derho (mild curried chicken casserole with boiled eggs), plus a couple of cod and several lamb dishes. Even the kifto special – an esteemed Eritrean take on beef tartare – is no more than £8.75. While à la carte is available, it’s worth opting for the set buffet at £12, which is a true feast.
Zigni House, 330 Essex Rd, N1 3PB (020 7226 7418) Angel tube, Highbury & Islington tube/rail or Essex Rd rail. Open daily 6pm-1.30am. Licensed. Average £.

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