LDNGuide
The 14 Best Restaurants In Camden
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Much of life in London is built on the reassuring foundation of mistakes. That 2am text message, mistake. That 2.2x surge charge Uber home, mistake. That 8:45am snooze, mistake. Everyone makes mistakes in London and one of them might well be spending more than five minutes in Camden’s Cyberdog. All in all, this corner of NW1 is a bit touristy and a bit tacky but everyone has at least one good (slash messy) memory here, so you can’t help but be fond of it. And if you don’t have a happy memory of it, then that’s where these restaurants come in.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Hidden underneath the arches close to Camden Road station, this Mexican delivery-only restaurant deserves to see the light. The breakfast menu is excellent—chilaquiles with gooey eggs, mollete with sourdough. But don’t stop there. We think about the smoky, finely ground chorizo and Yucateco-style pork tacos (slow-cooked in orange and achiote paste) almost daily. You could happily order these and six other tacos, or go for chunky burritos and pillowy la torta buns. All are brilliant. While you can’t order in person or have it delivered further than Camden, you can order via Deliveroo to collect from the address itself, and head to St. Martin’s Gardens for a bench. It’s worth the slight logistical tetris.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Small plates and sharing are the best way to enjoy Mr Ji’s always-innovative flavour combinations. Their take on tacos, using dumpling skins and topped with super tender braised pig’s head, are both musts. Similarly all the small plates, from ox tongue to stuffed chicken wings, are cooked with enlivening combinations like wasabi vinaigrette or crab emulsion. The main dining room—all gun metal greys and modern lines—has the space and big round tables for groups sharing an invigorating whole fish with rice cakes and kimchi broth. However you play it, Mr Ji is going to make you chew the fat about, well, what you’re chewing.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
On Trap Kitchen’s menu of soul food-inspired classics, the star of the show is the XXL lobster tails that are so meaty and so perfectly juicy that we’d brave even the worst weekend crowds for. Plus with their buckets that include deep-fried bang bang prawns and creamy, spicy mac and cheese, it’s one of the best spots for a deeply satisfying seafood fix. This Camden spot has two levels—the ground floor has the kind of intimate, sink-into-your-seat booths that will have you ordering two more rounds of cocktails just to stay another half hour. Upstairs is where we’d go for a date night that starts with BBQ chicken wings and ends with a nap. It’s a popular place so book ahead and make sure to come with an empty stomach.
Our favourite place in Camden is The Farrier. Now you might think that suggesting a Camden Stables pub as the area’s go-to is a bit of a cop out but this modern boozer has a lot more going on than pints and people-watching. A rustic converted horse hospital—yes, really—the cosy barn feel makes it perfect for cuffing season kisses and casual group gossip sessions over huge braised steak pies and a round of cider-soaked mussels. There’s nothing slap-dash about the cooking and the menu reads like a who's who of quality seasonal British ingredients. Outside of Jersey royals and fresh Cornish crabs, you can also expect natural wines, negronis featuring local gins, and 28-day-aged beef as part of the hefty Sunday roast menu.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
This Caribbean restaurant on Kentish Town Road has one of the best Sunday roasts in the city. The jerk beef at Guanabana has the perfect ratio of rich jerk gravy to everything else. A perfect bite includes a little bit of everything: spicy, tender jerk beef, the edge of a crispy roast potato, a caramelised baby carrot, a piece of sweet plantain, and an unevenly cut corner of a beautifully deformed yorkshire pudding. It’s a laid-back spot that’s good for small groups, where you can see the chef chaotically put out plate after plate of roasts and, during the week, other Caribbean-inspired dishes like a peppery jerk chicken alfredo, or a lamb curry that feels homecooked.
Camden Town is pretty full on. Lots of people, lots of shuffling, and lots of CBD-infused Doc Martens. If you’re looking for respite from it all, head to Lemonia on Regent’s Park Road. This family-run Primrose Hill classic has been serving mezze and souvlaki to the young and old of north London for donkey’s years, and it’s a big old Greek restaurant that’s perfect for groups but also full of solo diners at lunchtime. You won’t be stunned but you will be very satisfied.
Much like when you go on a first date and find out they have an Amazon Prime subscription and a pet collie, we knew we’d be seeing a lot more of Namaaste after our first visit. A local favourite, this Indian restaurant serves a stupidly moreish yoghurt and pomegranate tokri chaat, and an apricot kofte zardaloo we’d pay double its £12.95 price tag for. Between the exposed brick walls and cream leather banquette seating, it has a bit of a ‘90s upmarket feel, but with food this good, it’ll work just as well for date night as for dinner when you’ve got family in town who need entertaining.
No other spot around Regent’s Park Road captures the totally effortless, slightly bohemian, down-to-earth, but also ridiculously rich style of this corner of NW1 quite like this casual and reasonably priced all-day cafe. Greenberry is where we come to eat an excellent plate of mushrooms, truffle oil, and a poached egg for brunch when we’re trying to pretend we live in one of the pastel-coloured terraces around the corner on Chalcot Square. And it’s where you should come for a daytime or evening meal when you’re trying to convince the person you’re dating that you’re a serious, understated person with good taste in salads.
Lume is the kind of low-lit, low-key neighbourhood spot that makes you want to live within walking distance, and find a way to make sure that the staff never let anyone else sit at your corner table on a Sunday night. The food here is broadly Italian with Sardinian influences, and pasta dishes like the excellent handmade mafaldine and the linguine with smoked eels and bottarga, set it apart from most other neighbourhood restaurants. The other thing that sets it apart is the extensive wine offering which is among the best we’ve had at a restaurant in this part of town.
photo credit: Buk
The smashburger is a special thing. And BUK’s special burger is not only halal, but it has some seriously outstanding ratios. A thin but substantial, flattened beef patty, a double portion of melted American cheese, plenty of that creamy, chilli house sauce oozing over the patty, and sweet caramelised onion to top it all off. This burger laughs in the face of the Big Mac. And we laugh in the face of anyone who hasn’t been to this laid-back burger spot in Camden and tried it.
Mildreds is a reliable vegetarian restaurant in Camden Town. This place is super bright, airy, and has a busy, upbeat feel that makes it perfect for everything from a low-key business lunch to a chilled catch-up. We’re big fans of the coconut-loaded Sri Lankan kiri hodi with roasted cashews and Mildreds also makes a mean pickle and ponzu gyoza. You can swing by for an entirely vegan or vegetarian brunch at the weekend, but be sure to book ahead—the £10 bellinis and buttermilk pancakes make it popular.
Nothing makes us feel quite as comfortable as a restaurant like O Tino. It has football playing silently on a screen in the background, and a jar of homemade hot sauce that creeps up on you like a cat burglar holding a flamethrower. It’s a simple Portuguese spot making tasty home-cooked food. Seafood soup with whitefish and prawns. Juicy and charred chicken slathered in peri-peri sauce. Casual, comfortable, and good-value, O Tino is a great little neighbourhood restaurant.
La Patagonia is a friendly Argentinian grill restaurant on Camden High Street that’s a good spot to know about when you find yourself in the area around Camden Town tube station and want to get clear of the vape clouds as soon as possible. You should get involved in one of the steaks, and whether you go for the top-of-the-range lomo or a rump and chips for around £25, you’re not going to have much room for anything else. Of course, you shouldn’t let that stop you from ordering some of their excellent empanadas, a side order of humita—a comforting corn, cheese, and béchamel side—and several glasses of malbec.
Here’s what we think happened. A few years back someone had some form of pagan ritual in Camden and somehow, ice cream got mentioned. That’s literally the only reason we can think of why every time we go to Camden with an out-of-towner they decide they want ice cream. And when that inevitably happens, head to Chin Chin Laboratories by Camden Market. Although there isn’t much seating, this place makes excellent ice cream involving nitrogen and, we don’t know, science. But it tastes excellent, especially the burnt butter caramel flavour.
