Restaurants

The favourite local for culture-conscious residents in Islington’s eastern fringes, the Northgate still has a comfy real-pub feel in its big bar and front terrace, blended with all the standard gastro features: plain floors and tables, bright lighting, sofas, pale colours. Beers follow a gastropub pattern too: ales like London Pride and Bombardier, Leffe and Czech lagers. Food is served in the bar, but the best place to eat is the more impressive, wood-lined dining room further back, beside the open-range kitchen. Blackboard menus offer a Mediterranean-leaning mix. Lamb kofte with mint yoghurt and pitta was excellent, with first-rate, flavour-rich meat; roast hake was nicely offset by chickpeas and unusually sweet chorizo. Some wrinkles could be ironed out – plump scallops wrapped in pancetta would have been better if the last bits of sand had been properly rinsed out of them; a steak, grilled beautifully red-rare as requested, sat on the range for a while before reaching our table – but they weren’t enough to sabotage a relaxing, enjoyable meal, helped along by a user-friendly wine list.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009