New to the Area!! Good pubs/Restaurants????

kingj · January 2009

hi guys, just moved in to stapleton hall rd, are there any good pubs around? how safe is this area?

slats · January 2009

My favourites:

Pubs - Dairy/Fullback
Food - Petek / La Porchetta

Check the 'in the area' map on the right!

andy · January 2009

Welcome. Best bet is to browse the map and discussions for pubs. I'm a long-time champion of the Noble on Crouch Hill, but there are lots of good pubs in the area. And the White Lion. It's pretty safe in my experience, but there have been a fair few burglaries over the last few months.

Ian · January 2009

Noble for pub.

The three restaurants I am concentrating my expenditure on to help ensure they last the downturn are Dotori, Petek and Cats.

verga · January 2009

Restaurants - Dudley's, Dudley's and Dudley's

rainbow_carnage · January 2009

For food, we like Jai Krishna, Petek, Cats and Hana. The latter isn't technically SG, but they deliver.

In the six years that we've lived here, we haven't found a single pub that we like. Not within walking distance, anyway. So I recommend Big Red on Holloway Road and The Birdcage in Stokey.

rainbow_carnage · January 2009

Oh, and how could I forget Good for Food on Blackstock Road. The only truly decent place for lunch around here. I just wish they'd get rid of the 'art' that's on their walls.

David · January 2009

OMG - Big Red is the best drinking establishment in this area? Fantastic stuff.

wisteria53 · January 2009

Favourites: Petek and Jai Krishna Also: was very pleasantly surprised by good food last night from Spice Zone on Crouch Hill, a first for that location Good News: Sylvain Hong (Liline's son) is back cooking at Chez Liline and cooking should return to the glory days (when he and his father were there in the 80s)

andy · January 2009

Big Red on Holloway Road? Anything on Holloway Road? (with the possible exception of the Indian Ocean) Takes all sorts I suppose. Good tip on spice zone - was that a take out or eat in?

unaesthetic · January 2009

there are three or four decent places on holloway road! indian ocean and big red are both great...

ok, big red is a bit of a "theme" bar, but personally i'm not a huge fan of the normal pub type places. there's very little going for them other than they serve booze. big red has a good bar selection (better than most pubs i reckon), plus great food (om nom nom veg chili nachos) and has one of the only decent juke-boxes i've seen. and i don't even like metal. where else could you get new order, bow wow wow, faith no more, depeche mode, johnny cash all in the same place?

rainbow_carnage · January 2009

Big Red rocks.

Good music. Cheap bourbon. Sailor Jerry's. Booths. No one bothers you, so you can drown your misery in peace.

They also have pool tables, but I can't play.

Best of all, no rugby fans. They do put on the odd football match, but the music drowns out the three or four people who are there to watch it.

Yay for bourbon. Yay for Johnny Cash. Yay for Big Red.

Other than that, the only other places I like on Holloway Road are The Indian Ocean and Tbilisi.

wisteria53 · January 2009

Husband has had takeaways from the Spice Zone after spending too long the Larrik pub.... but we ate in enjoyed prawn with spinach curry and bhindi bhaji.

Robot · January 2009

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned Tiffin Tin who are in Horney but do very good takeaways.

Also vote for Jai Krishna and Dotori.

The Triangle is unusual and often good.

Slightly scared by Porchetta's new paper menus though.

David · January 2009

I like Big Red, but it is a theme bar and my view of that is probably perfectly inverse to unaesthetic's view of normal pubs. My favourite moment in there was going out to the back and seeing six Lilly Allen lookalike's watching two Libertines type guys playing pool. Surreal in that they seemed completely unaware that they were verging on parody. Still, as ever, horses for courses. I've just come back from Fulham for the day and its like a different country out there - chain shops as far as the eye can see and a whole bunch of phoney f'lam people - long live North London and its quirky diversity.

graeme · January 2009

Despite it looking really really shoddy, Exotic of India on Crouch Hill (just up from the Larrik) is really very tasty.

Have to agree with the pubs - even the Fullback isn't as good as it thinks it is. That big back room with the trestle tables needs something doing to it. Handy beer garden though.

Nobel is pretty nice though, not rowdy and staff are friendly enough. Dairy is a bit of shed and overpriced.

Mujo · January 2009

The Old Dairy is a nice pub, the Faltering Fullback on Ennis Rd does really authentic CHEAP thai food, Papagones is great if you want a homely atmosphere and no-nonsense food, I love their gelato...
Molen's Cafe down the station end of Stroud Green Rd does a great fry up and it's very cheap, clean and friendly.
I think the area's quite safe, especially since there are always loads of people around, but yes, I've heard of quite a few break ins too.I guess like anywhere else.
Oh, and you have to be careful on the zebra crossings around here. Most drivers see them as a challenge...

andy · January 2009

I've grabbed a quick bite from Molens a couple of times. The staff are really friendly.

lucky · January 2009

i was in the sugar lounge last night for a drink- i thought the place was terrible, looks like i will be sticking with the noble

Philistine'sMonster · January 2009

I was in the Sugar Lounge last night and I thought it was great. Like Chapter One used to be when it first opened. Full of people having fun, loads of familiar local faces, and a good mix of age groups. Can't remember what the music was like because my hearing's fucked, but it seemed to be going down well. The only problem was the toilets. There's only one. Big queue.

Prices were pretty good too.

I'll be going lots.

bennyfromtheblok · February 2009

Welcome to the area. There are loads of good spots in the area and most of them have been mentioned, do try the Faltering Fullback - most Sunday nights they have a couple of guys in the front room playing classic songs from The Killers to Van Morrison.
The argument still rages on as to the best pizza restaurant on SGR, try them all....none are bad and you will be drawn to one for the atmosphere.
I also really recommend Dotori, the food is very good and they opened a few months ago...most restaurants go bust in their first year so important to support people doing something good in the area. Also, next door to it a place called Pendys just opened up. It's a Caribbean place so ox tail stew, jerk chicken, curried goat etc etc. They do take away and the portions are very big.
Finally, although not strictly SGR, a new place easily walkable up Blackstock Road is Garufa - new Argentine Grill in the same style as Buen Ayre, great meat and some cracking red wines - take the walk up there and stop on the way back for a few pints in The Woodbine, again on Blackstock Road where it's a great destination for a few pints (and they have a great jukebox).

tosscat · February 2009

Garufa has a 2 for 1 offer in Time Out at the moment.

tosscat · February 2009

The Sugar Lounge is pretty shocking. Whoever gave it 6 months is having a bubble. We went in last night, the decoration looks like they've knocked through to the back room of the Stepping Out shop - the only busy-ness was the staff's family.

bennyfromtheblok · February 2009

Thanks Tosscat, will make sure I get it this week then and take them up on their kind offer. Mmmmmm steak.

wisteria53 · February 2009

I keep getting accused of being a company stooge when I get enthusiastic about places, but I really want to put in a plug for __Chez Liline__. We went for a birthday dinner on Friday night and it was fantastic. We're still dreaming about the monkfish in tamarind sauce.... Sylvain was cooking and did a special tasting menu for us and our guests (although I noticed another table had this as well).

tosscat · February 2009

@bftb - you can get the voucher online, valid until 28th feb

Fin · February 2009

Went to Sugar Lounge on Friday and it was heaving. So busy in fact the service initially left a fair bit to be desired, until the very friendly owner apologised profusely and insisted on buying us a drink on the house. That cheered us up, as did the food when it arrived, very tasty. 20 quid for a shared starter and two mains.

Interesting decor, but on a busy Friday night with a DJ in it worked.

andy · February 2009

@benny - Garufa sounds like a great tip.

princess_l · February 2009

Make some time to start your day the sunshine way. It's part of the N4 experience.

katiejane · February 2009

what? the sunshine cafe?

Chapter none · February 2009

I'm with Princess_l here. Number 5 but switch the sausage for black pudding. Huge portions, tea and toast for £4 and a pint of OJ for £1. What a way to start to the day.

Sod toast at home; I might go there now...

Exotic of India do pretty good curries. The Old Dairy is good food but every time I eat there I promise never to again as it's far too over priced (the pie, £10, comes with no mash - a situation only punishable by a slow and painful death). Also beware any Chinese menus that are green, white and paper, I get stung by them every time I come home drunk...

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