Latest reviews for Restaurants in Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom

Eatzone Noodle House - Authentic and cheap! by limbo_lover

limbo_lover — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:09:25 +0000

Review by limbo_lover

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7485 0152

Tags: good value, cheap eat, malaysian

Great food with a really authentic flavour, some of the best Malaysian food I have had in England. The menu is very reasonably priced and the service is good, either in the happily unpretentious cafe or with home delivery.Great food with a really authentic flavour, some of the best Malaysian food I have had in England. The menu is very reasonably priced and the service is good, either in the happily unpretentious cafe or with home delivery.

Monsoon - Super Tasty Dinner by raz_kidd

raz_kidd — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:01:13 +0000

Review by raz_kidd

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7284 0025

Website: http://www.monsoon.co.uk

Tags: indian, good value, cheap eat

I went here last night and it was fantastic. Great atmosphere - huge portions and very friendly staff. The drinks are pretty cheap too. The food tastes great and their Tandoori Chicken Tikka Massala is the best I have ever tried.

I will definately be going again!I went here last night and it was fantastic. Great atmosphere - huge portions and very friendly staff. The drinks are pretty cheap too. The food tastes great and their Tandoori Chicken Tikka Massala is the best I have ever tried.

I will definately be going again!

PizzaExpress - CHILLED OUT PIZZA EXPRESS by LOVEANDKATE

LOVEANDKATE — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:42:05 +0000

Review by LOVEANDKATE

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7267 0101

Website: http://www.pizzaexpress.co.uk

Tags: italian, good value, family & home feel

This is, the most chilled out and spacious Pizza express i've ever been to. Sometimes you just need a pizza express and they cook in 9 minutes so you're never waiting long.

I used a 2 4 1 vouvher here and had a very pleasant experience. However if you are looking for something more lively, unless you bring a group of 20 this place isnt gonna create an atmosphere on its own.

Great for families and those times when you just crave an american hot and some dough balls.

Its just another pizza express but happen to be rather peaceful and efficient!This is, the most chilled out and spacious Pizza express i've ever been to. Sometimes you just need a pizza express and they cook in 9 minutes so you're never waiting long.

I used a 2 4 1 vouvher here and had a very pleasant experience. However if you are looking for something more lively, unless you bring a group of 20 this place isnt gonna create an atmosphere on its own.

Great for families and those times when you just crave an american hot and some dough balls.

Its just another pizza express but happen to be rather peaceful and efficient!

The Spice - Fine by bobidiot

bobidiot — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:51:35 +0000

Review by bobidiot

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7482 2700

Tags: indian, takeaway, conservatory

This Indian restaurant has incredible food, although I would expect it to have such quality given itâ¬"s very very high prices. We went as a party of eight, and ended up having a bill of about three hundred pounds! Perhaps it was all the alcohol we bought with the meal?! Anyway, we were all blown away with our main courses, but on the down side, the desserts were a little disappointing. Still, perhaps we were paying for the staffâ¬"s very fancy uniforms? They were very smart indeed. A comfortable seven out of ten to this nice, but expensive curry house. It is guaranteed to empty your wallet!This Indian restaurant has incredible food, although I would expect it to have such quality given itâ¬"s very very high prices. We went as a party of eight, and ended up having a bill of about three hundred pounds! Perhaps it was all the alcohol we bought with the meal?! Anyway, we were all blown away with our main courses, but on the down side, the desserts were a little disappointing. Still, perhaps we were paying for the staffâ¬"s very fancy uniforms? They were very smart indeed. A comfortable seven out of ten to this nice, but expensive curry house. It is guaranteed to empty your wallet!

Spaghetti House - A Local Institution by chrisp

chrisp — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:02:57 +0000

Review by chrisp

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7485 7984

Tags: cosy, proper food, lively

A few weeks ago I issued a challenge to the good food-loving people of the internet to find me a decent, mid-range Italian restaurant. I was just looking for somewhere sensible between the exemplary ingredients and stratospheric pricing of the River CafÃ© and the high street dross of Bella Pasta - I needed convincing that Italian restaurants are occasionally worth bothering with in London. So off the back of one particular recommendation, I found myself travelling all the way up to Tufnell Park after work on Thursday to a little place called Spaghetti House. It's a bit of a local institution apparently; the chef, Enzo, has been here manning the stoves (and the phones when I called) for over 20 years and runs the place single-handedly - when he's ill or on holiday, it's closed. This is clearly not someone from the Gordon Ramsay school of restaurant management.

From the outside it looks like your average greasy spoon caff (out of interest, why are they called 'greasy spoon'? What on earth could you be eating with a spoon that was greasy? Suggestions please), inside the dÃ©cor struck that fine balance between 'homely' and 'bonkers'. The laminated menu was tempting in its simplicity, but the list of specials appeared to go on and on and was scrawled in chalk in every available gap of wall space. Assorted paraphernalia dangled from the ceiling, a sign by the door said 'welcome' in 20 world languages, and just the other side of a tiki-bar faÃ§ade there indeed was Enzo, working feverishly away amidst the noise and steam of the kitchen.

At such ludicrously low prices it would have been churlish of me not to try and sample as much as I could, so I ordered a starter and dessert, very unlike me. The home-made minestrone soup was hearty and huge, if a little bland, but who's complaining at Â£2 a pop. A friend pushed the boat out with a bruschetta at Â£3.50, which was much nicer, dressed with a lovely rich tomato salsa.

The roast duck main course was generous in flavour and portion, with a thick orangey sauce and nice fatty meat. It's not haute cuisine by any means, just boiled veg and roast potatoes with seared duck leg, but it was actually rather good, and not just because it cost Â£8. I did try a bit of my friend's broccoli pasta (Â£5) and yes, that was pretty good too. No better than you could make yourself, admittedly, but comforting and simple and - and this is worth repeating - Â£5 for a huge plate of food.

Ice cream also came in a gut-bursting portion size, as did a pleasant enough slab of cherry pie which could have done with a bit more warming through but, stuffed with gloopy fruit and sprinkled with sugar, didn't last long anyway.

So after moaning about the dearth of affordable decent Italian restaurants in London I appear to have found something of a rare commodity - a genuine restaurant bargain. To be fair, not every Londoner is likely to travel up to Tuffnel Park for a bruschetta but judging by the clientele on Thursday night, word probably doesn't need to travel much further than NW5 for every table to be taken. And on the subject of the clientele, I have never seen a more delightfully complete section of society in one restaurant - a table of septuagenarians, a young professional couple, cabbies, families, it felt almost contrived, like I was eating on the set of a soap opera.

I do have one complaint though. After the main courses were served, the waitress came over with a black pepper mill. Part of me wanted to wrestle it off her, but as I was enjoying the evening so much I waited patiently as she seasoned the plate in front of me. Unconventional and quirky in so many ways, I will allow Spaghetti House this one pretention. It doesn't seem to be doing it any harm.A few weeks ago I issued a challenge to the good food-loving people of the internet to find me a decent, mid-range Italian restaurant. I was just looking for somewhere sensible between the exemplary ingredients and stratospheric pricing of the River CafÃ© and the high street dross of Bella Pasta - I needed convincing that Italian restaurants are occasionally worth bothering with in London. So off the back of one particular recommendation, I found myself travelling all the way up to Tufnell Park after work on Thursday to a little place called Spaghetti House. It's a bit of a local institution apparently; the chef, Enzo, has been here manning the stoves (and the phones when I called) for over 20 years and runs the place single-handedly - when he's ill or on holiday, it's closed. This is clearly not someone from the Gordon Ramsay school of restaurant management.

From the outside it looks like your average greasy spoon caff (out of interest, why are they called 'greasy spoon'? What on earth could you be eating with a spoon that was greasy? Suggestions please), inside the dÃ©cor struck that fine balance between 'homely' and 'bonkers'. The laminated menu was tempting in its simplicity, but the list of specials appeared to go on and on and was scrawled in chalk in every available gap of wall space. Assorted paraphernalia dangled from the ceiling, a sign by the door said 'welcome' in 20 world languages, and just the other side of a tiki-bar faÃ§ade there indeed was Enzo, working feverishly away amidst the noise and steam of the kitchen.

At such ludicrously low prices it would have been churlish of me not to try and sample as much as I could, so I ordered a starter and dessert, very unlike me. The home-made minestrone soup was hearty and huge, if a little bland, but who's complaining at Â£2 a pop. A friend pushed the boat out with a bruschetta at Â£3.50, which was much nicer, dressed with a lovely rich tomato salsa.

The roast duck main course was generous in flavour and portion, with a thick orangey sauce and nice fatty meat. It's not haute cuisine by any means, just boiled veg and roast potatoes with seared duck leg, but it was actually rather good, and not just because it cost Â£8. I did try a bit of my friend's broccoli pasta (Â£5) and yes, that was pretty good too. No better than you could make yourself, admittedly, but comforting and simple and - and this is worth repeating - Â£5 for a huge plate of food.

Ice cream also came in a gut-bursting portion size, as did a pleasant enough slab of cherry pie which could have done with a bit more warming through but, stuffed with gloopy fruit and sprinkled with sugar, didn't last long anyway.

So after moaning about the dearth of affordable decent Italian restaurants in London I appear to have found something of a rare commodity - a genuine restaurant bargain. To be fair, not every Londoner is likely to travel up to Tuffnel Park for a bruschetta but judging by the clientele on Thursday night, word probably doesn't need to travel much further than NW5 for every table to be taken. And on the subject of the clientele, I have never seen a more delightfully complete section of society in one restaurant - a table of septuagenarians, a young professional couple, cabbies, families, it felt almost contrived, like I was eating on the set of a soap opera.

I do have one complaint though. After the main courses were served, the waitress came over with a black pepper mill. Part of me wanted to wrestle it off her, but as I was enjoying the evening so much I waited patiently as she seasoned the plate in front of me. Unconventional and quirky in so many ways, I will allow Spaghetti House this one pretention. It doesn't seem to be doing it any harm.

Pasta Habit - by sokratis

sokratis — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:00:12 +0000

Review by sokratis

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7267 9239

Tags: italian, vegetarian dishes

It used to be one of local takeaways when Indian or Chinese were just too exotic and we fancied some simple pasta or Italian food. Desceptively the owner is Greek, but don't let that put you off as they make all your typical Italian spaghettin (or other pasta dished) remarkably well. The portions are huge and you can trust the quality of the place as it's been there for years and is regularly busy with a bunch of locals. It used to be one of local takeaways when Indian or Chinese were just too exotic and we fancied some simple pasta or Italian food. Desceptively the owner is Greek, but don't let that put you off as they make all your typical Italian spaghettin (or other pasta dished) remarkably well. The portions are huge and you can trust the quality of the place as it's been there for years and is regularly busy with a bunch of locals.

Queen Of Sheba - Amazing Ethiopian Food by andymyers

andymyers — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:56:54 +0000

Review by andymyers

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7284 3947

Tags: good value, ethiopian, african & caribbean

My wife and I love this restaurant. I'd never had Ethiopian food until a few years ago, but since visiting Queen of Sheba I have been hooked. I can only vouch for the vegetarian dishes, but they are excellent. It is very reasonably priced too and the only reason I can't give this place 5 stars is because sometimes the service is a bit slow...that said, the staff are very friendly.My wife and I love this restaurant. I'd never had Ethiopian food until a few years ago, but since visiting Queen of Sheba I have been hooked. I can only vouch for the vegetarian dishes, but they are excellent. It is very reasonably priced too and the only reason I can't give this place 5 stars is because sometimes the service is a bit slow...that said, the staff are very friendly.

Chameli Indian Restaurant - My Valentines Dinner by Glen_Bailey

Glen_Bailey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:27:48 +0000

Review by Glen_Bailey

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7482 2833

Tags: indian, good value, vegetarian dishes

Itâ¬"s not often that you arrive at the restaurant you think youâ¬"re supposed to be at, only to have a small man run at you from out of the darkness asking â¬SDo you want to go in?â¬

Stingray Cafe - Good... but was better by ManKan

ManKan — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:50:29 +0000

Review by ManKan

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7482 4855

Tags: italian, takeaway, european

I realy like Stingray Cafe, the food is very well priced, I used to put Stingray in the same category as 'Little Bay' in Kilburn and Le Mercury in Islington, but the last time I went, I have to say the food was not all that, I strayed away from the standard menu and went for the specials, but it was not as good as their regular food!

The reviews from the press have been taken down and it does not boast how special it is anymore (which I always love) and have to say something has changed, not sure what?

I have been there loads, so I will wait until I try it one more time before concluding my views, as it hs always been good, just not the last timeI realy like Stingray Cafe, the food is very well priced, I used to put Stingray in the same category as 'Little Bay' in Kilburn and Le Mercury in Islington, but the last time I went, I have to say the food was not all that, I strayed away from the standard menu and went for the specials, but it was not as good as their regular food!

The reviews from the press have been taken down and it does not boast how special it is anymore (which I always love) and have to say something has changed, not sure what?

I have been there loads, so I will wait until I try it one more time before concluding my views, as it hs always been good, just not the last time

Lalibela - Ethiopian Delights by sokratis

sokratis — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:22:01 +0000

Review by sokratis

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7284 0600

Tags: lively, good value, takeaway

Do the words Tibs or Doro Wot mean anything to you? If not, then you havenâ¬"t been to Lalibela. Named after a beautiful Ethiopian city this is one fine African restaurant. Itâ¬"s on Fortress road and an easy walk both from Kentish Town and Tufnell Park.
The decor is warm and typically east-African with a varied collection of hand-carved wooden furniture (beautiful as they are they donâ¬"t make for the most comfortable seating unfortunately). The staff are very friendly and can be a bit cheeky, but always professional. Last time we went there we did have to remind them to get the bill after waiting for about 15 minutes, but we were happy chatting away and digesting anyway.
Ethiopian food is served as follows: you and you company sit around the table and a very large flat plate is placed in the middle. On it you have Injera, which is a Ethiopian sour flat bread, which also serves as your fork or spoon. The food comes in a variety of small pots and everyone places scoops on the main plate cuts out a piece of Injera (or uses some of the extra rolls they bring you) rolls or folds up and off he or she goes. If youâ¬"re the adventurous type this should make for quite a different first date experience. On second thoughts you may want to avoid that, depending on what you have in mind for later. More on that below...
The food is a fun and very tasty experience. Most of the dishes are mild stews with rich flavours, with fish, lamb, chicken and goat featuring on the menu (not sure if beef is there or not). A word of warning here. The food is tasty and very moreish. The Injera is also pretty good, but I do believe that it expands slightly once in your stomach. The result is a bit similar to drinking plenty of tequila sitting down and realising that your coordination is not what it used to be half an hour ago, when you stand up. With Ethiopian food youâ¬"ll stand up try to walk and then realise that you better order one of those really tasty coffees brewed over charcoal and give yourself a bit more time before engaging in any kind of physical activity that involves anything more than sitting down.
Do the words Tibs or Doro Wot mean anything to you? If not, then you havenâ¬"t been to Lalibela. Named after a beautiful Ethiopian city this is one fine African restaurant. Itâ¬"s on Fortress road and an easy walk both from Kentish Town and Tufnell Park.
The decor is warm and typically east-African with a varied collection of hand-carved wooden furniture (beautiful as they are they donâ¬"t make for the most comfortable seating unfortunately). The staff are very friendly and can be a bit cheeky, but always professional. Last time we went there we did have to remind them to get the bill after waiting for about 15 minutes, but we were happy chatting away and digesting anyway.
Ethiopian food is served as follows: you and you company sit around the table and a very large flat plate is placed in the middle. On it you have Injera, which is a Ethiopian sour flat bread, which also serves as your fork or spoon. The food comes in a variety of small pots and everyone places scoops on the main plate cuts out a piece of Injera (or uses some of the extra rolls they bring you) rolls or folds up and off he or she goes. If youâ¬"re the adventurous type this should make for quite a different first date experience. On second thoughts you may want to avoid that, depending on what you have in mind for later. More on that below...
The food is a fun and very tasty experience. Most of the dishes are mild stews with rich flavours, with fish, lamb, chicken and goat featuring on the menu (not sure if beef is there or not). A word of warning here. The food is tasty and very moreish. The Injera is also pretty good, but I do believe that it expands slightly once in your stomach. The result is a bit similar to drinking plenty of tequila sitting down and realising that your coordination is not what it used to be half an hour ago, when you stand up. With Ethiopian food youâ¬"ll stand up try to walk and then realise that you better order one of those really tasty coffees brewed over charcoal and give yourself a bit more time before engaging in any kind of physical activity that involves anything more than sitting down.